How To Learn How To Write #2: Priorities, Please!

So you have an idea for something you might want to write, but you're not sure it's going to be worth reading?

What the hell is wrong with you. Don't concern yourself with whether something is worth reading. That's a question you can't answer.

Ask yourself: is it worth writing?

If the answer is "no," then you must not be much of a writer. It ought to be worth it for practice, alone. Write the thing! Oh, if you have something better to write, then of course: write the better thing first. Then go write the other thing.

Then write the next thing. Then write the next thing. Then write the next thing. Practice, as they say, is a m*****fucker.

Don't ever not write a piece that occurs to you, just because you think it might be no good. Write it and see if it's good. It's not a waste of time, unless something better crops up that you could be working on. And if that happens, no problem! Lay the cool project aside, while you work on the hot one. You can always come back to the other one later.

Or maybe you won't have time to - maybe you end up going on a streak from one hot project to the next. That's the entire point! As long as you don't stop writing, as long as you keep working, even on a piece that you think has little potential - the act itself will keep your hand hot, will keep your mind open to inspiration, will keep the creative juices flowing.

There's no such thing as writer's block: just too-fussy writers, too lazy to get their hands dirty on a bad idea. Holding out for the precious idea.

Don't hold out. Work. Work on the best thing you've got going now. Even working on the worst thing you've done is still better than doing no writing at all. Maybe you'll hit a breakthrough! Take a sad piece and make it better! Or maybe you won't. Maybe that piece is just going to turn out bad. It doesn't matter. Once you're done with it, set it aside and move on to the next. You do the best you can each time, and your best gets better. When you can execute a poor idea strongly, you'll be ready when a great idea comes along.

Even if a given piece turns out not to be among your best, you make it as strong as that idea can be. You pour your heart into it anyway, so your heart can grow. Even if you finish the piece and it's no better than you expected it to be, the writing you put into it will make you better.

Is it worth writing?

All writing is worth writing.