At its core, this writer advice is a variation of the One True and Eternal Law:<\/p>\n
Always take the path that leads to writing and editing more<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This should be painfully obvious\u2014wanna swim faster? swim more!<\/em> wanna play piano better?\u00a0play piano more! <\/em>wanna draw better? draw more!<\/em><\/p>\n In truth, the secret isn’t the strategy<\/strong><\/em> (“write more!”); that’s self-evident. The tricks are the tactics<\/strong><\/em> that folks who excel use to make it a tad easier to get their shoulders to the wheel.\u00a0 Wanna write more? Here’s a tactic\u2026<\/p>\n It is very common for artists to spend a lot of time annoyed: You love a thing so much that you want to create more of that thing, and thus invest a lot of energy in honing skills at creating that thing.\u00a0 <\/span>Meanwhile, since you love the thing, you keep seeking the thing out. As your skills improve\u2014and noting the immutability of Sturgeon’s Law<\/a>\u2014you’re bound to come across plenty of examples of imperfect executions of that thing you live.\u00a0 <\/span>Profound, near-constant annoyance is the natural consequence of this.<\/p>\n You can do two things with that annoyance:<\/p>\n PRO-TIP<\/b>: Almost every working artist I’ve asked about this has landed squarely in Group #2.<\/p>\n Consider this SNL skit\u2014which comes very, very close to being The Best Twilight Zone<\/i> Episode Never Written:<\/p>\nAdvice for Writers: Use Annoyance to Fuel More Scribbling<\/h2>\n
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Advice in Action: Fixing a Broken SNL<\/em> Skit<\/h2>\n