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I was recently reading a from Immediate Fiction, the wonderful book from Jerry Cleaver at the The Writer’s Loft in Chicago.
Cleaver pointed out the Ernest Hemingway quote that titles this post. Cleaver follows up by adding his own bit of wisdom … paraphrased: “If Hemingway thought all first drafts were shit, why should yours be any different?”
It’s a damn good question. I know in my own writing I often fall victim to the evil self-editor and I hate it. I talk to other writers — ones like me with aspirations and less-than-resounding successes — and they admit to the same. And reading about other authors, ones that have been published, also say they can’t always escape the pitfall.
I was inspired to write this little bit after reading a great post by Liz Strauss, who was inspred by a quote from the late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. He said, “Researching is much easier, because no one can help you write.”
Anyone who has written anything, and that’s just about everyone, can attest that writing is hard work. Harder than most people tend to give credit for. It’s hard in the same way that getting to the gym every day is hard, or raising kids is hard, or learning Chinese is hard. Making the choice to do these things is always the easy part. Getting down to business is where the stumbling begins.
A while back I decided to write 1,500 words per day. It didn’t matter what it was or about. Didn’t matter if it was any good because the process of writing is what’s important. The whole first-draft-is-shit thing. Just get the words written. I’ve fallen so far off that mark the goal is now just a faded memory. Like I said, this writing is hard work. Someone’s gotta do it.
Might as well be me.
Tags: books, chicago, goodness, reading, writer
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