I can’t believe it is Wednesday already. Mid week and the next to last Wednesday in the month. A week left before we hit July and start summer vacations, celebrations and whatever extroverts do outside.
But, I digress. We have work to do, words to write and creativity to stoke. So let’s get to it.
I have recently found it disheartening to learn so many aspiring authors out there are waiting.
Waiting on what, I do not know.
You can see this apprehension in the questions that are asked, and the advice that is demanded. And out of all of these delay tatics one of the biggest and most common goes something like this:
“What is the best software or program to write with?”
Allow me to answer this quickly. It doesn’t fucking matter.
Do you realize that you don’t need anything specific? Do you understand how many millions of books were written by candlelight before we even had electricity?
Those that came before you didn’t ask which was the best quill or pen to use.
If you have a story to tell, write it down. Use a pen. Or use a crayon. Use the most expensive software program on the most expensive computer ever made.
Do you know why it doesn’t matter? Allow me to demonstrate. Go to your bookshelf, pick up any book at random (I’ll wait). Thumb through the pages. Read the blurb, pick a chapter at random and read it. Then tell me what program or device was used to write that book.
You can’t, can you? If it was really, truly and honestly that important, you would know.
Sure some programs can help you organize, or color your text pretty or highlight things. You don’t need any of it. Which brings us to today’s prompt.
June 23
Open your WiP on your computer. Find the last thing you wrote and type out the next sentence. Then, get out a notebook and pen. Write the next sentence from your WiP on the paper. Continue to alternate sentences on the computer and paper. For a bigger challenge, add in different software to write new sentences on.
If you follow along, you will have a paragraph or two written between two or more writing mediums.
If you do follow this prompt, you will also see how pointless the prompt is. Which is exactly the point. Writing in several different areas and trying to keep it all straight is as pointless as worrying about which one to stick with.
Prefer writing long hand? Do it. Do you prefer typing? Then do that. If you want to use a special program designed for novel writing, use it. Want a free text editor to handle your novel, fine.
The point is to stop making excuses. Stop doing pointless things and just write. You started writing because it made you happy, or you had a story you wanted out. So do that. Worry about the stupid shit later.
Stop waiting. Start writing.
