How I learnt to write.
I know what you’re thinking regular readers: When did you lose it again?
Ha ha. Very funny.
Let’s put that to one side for the moment.
For the purpose of this article we’ll assume I’m at least competent.
Oh, hello.
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Appalling
It wasn’t always the case.
Throughout school I was an appalling writer.
I spent hours held behind after class. Copying lines off the board. Each mistake sending me to the beginning.
And that was just copying.
Give me an actual writing exercise, where I must conjure up words myself, and I was stumped.
I’d painstakingly pull together the opening few words and give up. Left with one clunky, unfinished, sentence and an empty white space looming out of the page.
As I progressed through school my incompetence didn’t waiver.
Next came essays.
Every line was agony. Each end result an uncomfortable mismatch of sentences. It flowed like concrete.
By my early twenties I’d given up on writing.
Scribbled diagrams on the back of napkins seemed an adequate substitute. I got by.
And then everything changed.
False Starts
The change can from a book. Or more specifically a chapter from that book.
The book: Bird by Bird: On writing and life by Anne Lamott.
The chapter: Shitty First Draft
Anne’s advice is simple. Don’t worry what you write at the beginning. Just write a shitty first draft.
And that’s it.
Write a shitty first draft.
It changed everything for me.
Previously my dyslexic brain couldn't piece an essay together. I couldn’t get started. Defeated, I’d quit.
But the secret, I found, is to write anything. Don’t worry. Just get it out. Get down a shitty first draft.
When you do that you have something to work with. You have momentum. The daunting task seems far less daunting.
And it’s not just for writing.
Rule for Life
What a rule for life!
Whether it’s creating something, starting a hobby, meeting new people:
Just do a shitty first draft.
I had a chance to practice this week- asked to take over Unplugged’s instagram for an “IG live”.
I had no bloody what that was. Still not sure.
It was far from smooth sailing. My phone packed in halfway through. Fitting, given the business we’re in, but not ideal.
And yet, some great learnings.
Had a wonderful guest. Somewhat wiser for next time (if I get the call up again). I got out a shitty first draft.
My challenge for you today is to look for the resistance.
What have you been meaning to do but are unclear on the path forward?
Just start. The path will appear. It always does. 🙏
My Week in Books📚
A Life on Our Planet by David Attenborough
Amazing. Not sure I’ve read a more inspiring, or alarming, book. I’d urge anyone & everyone to read it.
"In my lifetime, I’ve witnessed a terrible decline. In yours, you could and should witness a wonderful recovery. That desperate hope, ladies and gentleman, delegates, excellencies, is why the world is looking to you and why you are here.
Thank you.”
👏👏
I’ll be updating the books I’ve read this year here. Any recommendations? Let me know! See 2021’s books here.
A Final Thought 💡
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
- Arthur Ashe