The second best excuse to not write is to learn from the masters on how to write. The best excuse to not write is – you guessed it, reading. In all honesty, writing and reading feed each other. I will keep gathering applicable and practical writing tips to share with you. If you find it helpful, share them with a friend.
I gathered the writing tips from Seinfeld’s interview with Tim Ferris. I’d like to think that Seinfeld’s honesty (to himself & others) and his sense of self-awareness contributed to his success. He sounds like a master of process design. But, a perfect process means nothing if you are not executing on it. His a joke a day practice is something to be respected. Let’s look at what he shared and what I took away.
My 9 key takeaways:
1. Write everyday. Start small. For example, try 15 minutes and use a timer. When the timer runs, put the pencil down. It is harmful to keep writing sessions open-ended. Your brain cannot handle open-ended. It needs an aim and a reward for doing all the hard work. The reward is the sweet sound of the timer running.
2. Accept your mediocrity. It is perfectly okay to be a healthy and mediocre person, no shame in it. The only people who are exceptional and brilliant are the ones who put in a lot of time, energy and sacrifice a lot. Embrace your mediocrity. Don’t make life harder than it needs to be.
3. Don’t talk to anyone about what you write on the day of. Wait for at least 24 hours. You’ve written something, that’s worth celebrating. Savor it for yourself and edit, a lot.
4. Writing is the most difficult thing in the world. When you write, treat yourself and your brain like a baby. Be as nurture and gentle with yourself as possible, like a supportive and loving parent. The next day, when you are editing, be as critical as you can. This is when and where you want to be a perfectionist, only when you are editing. The mental switch between writing and editing is a practice of itself. Experiment a lot and find something works for you. Rule of thumb, when writing, write; when editing, ruthlessly edit.
5. In life, confront problems proactively. Do not run away. Simply confront. Confront. Confront. Confront. Go directly to the source of the problem. Ask, “Is there a problem? Let’s talk about it.” Weight training could be a great tool for people who want to build up both mental and physical muscles to confront difficulties. (I am going to *read* about weight training first. More tips coming your way on that.)
6. Practice. Practice. Practice. And don’t forget to take the leap of faith. Have a routine and some form of meditation practice can serve and save your creativity.
7. Learn how to encourage yourself. After you are done with writing, be proud of yourself that you’ve done something incredibly difficult.
8. Seinfeld still fights with depression. Accept the reality that sensitivity and creativity sometimes come with the dark benefits of depression. Get a pair of running shoes and seek help.
9. Whatever problem you are solving, make a game out of it.
Did you do your timed writing session today? 5 minutes count.
