Writing Tips: Always Bring Two Pencils On a Plane

On Saturday, The Atlantic Monthly posted a list of ten rules for writing by renowned author Margaret Atwood. As a die-hard pencil fanatic, I was of course glad to see my favorite writing utensil take the top two spots in this list of writing tips:

1. Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can’t sharpen it on the plane, because you can’t take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils.

2. If both pencils break, you can do a rough sharpening job with a nail file of the metal or glass type.

All of this set me pondering my own “Rules for Writing.” Granted, I make absolutely no claim to being in the grade of Atwood (I think my writings would be barely sufficient to line her dust-bins!), but I have earned a living from my pen, and it is something I enjoy doing beyond almost anything else (things I enjoy more than writing: ten extra minutes of sleep, October skies, reading someone else’s writing, hugs. That’s about it).

Making a living as a writer, in my experience, involves a good degree of discipline. The dreamy ideal of lounging around in some “La Vie Boheme” garret, snatching up the pen with a fervor when the muse strikes, is a great way to make rent collectors angry and friends roll their eyes, but very little gets accomplished in terms of production. Or personal hygiene.

That being said, here are my own ten writing tips. I hope you’ll leave yours in the comments, and that we can start a conversation about what it takes to write. Here’s a starting point.

Writing Tips

1)     TURN OFF THE INTERNET. I know, I know, you’re reading this article online, thereby defeating the purpose of rule number one, but I’m serious. Nothing kills the writing impulse for me as much as Facebook/Pinterest/Google News/etc. Some of my most prolific, polished and cogent periods of writing were accomplished in the Dark Ages, when Starbucks still charged for WiFi access. Being a broke college student, I would purposely sit in their café without internet when I knew I needed to write.

2)     Write consistently, good or bad. I had the privilege of hearing author Matt de la Pena speak last week, and what he said about consistency has stuck in my mind. He compared writing to visiting a friend in the hospital, and that if you didn’t visit that friend on a daily basis, the friend would die. Your writing is your friend; even if you can only touch base with it for thirty minutes a day, it keeps it alive.

3)     Never settle. Fight for the right word, the right sentence, the right paragraph. Your words have power, and they remain when you are long gone. Make them count.

4)     Be succinct.

5)     Tell me your story. As a reader, I want to hear your voice, your perspective, your style. If I wanted to hear Henry James, I’d go back and read “The Ambassadors.” I want to take journeys through the eyes of your characters, and for you to show me the way.

6)     Be honest. Don’t BS yourself, or your readers. It’s an insult to you both. You’ll know it when you’re doing it.

7)     Be interested in the world around you. One of the biggest mistakes writers (myself included) is trying to be interesting, which is a poor substitute for being interested. Interesting gets you invited to the occasional dinner party. Interested opens the doors of possibility.

8)     Set up a ritual that gets you in the writing zone. For me, this can be as simple as headphones with a playlist that sets the mood for what I’m writing, a cup of coffee, and a chair facing the window. Writer’s block, however, calls for reinforcements, usually in the shape of my lucky “Jane Austen is My Homegirl” t-shirt, an enormous bedazzled Starbucks cup, and Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer.” Writing is not always pretty, people, but you’ve got to go with whatever works.

9)     Want to be taken seriously? Then take what you do seriously. When I was starting out as a writer, the most common question I heard was, “No, but what do you REALLY do?” Don’t flake on deadlines (I can hear Alexander laughing at me from here), show up to meetings on time and don’t dress like a sleepy-eyed undergrad, hand out business cards, always have a resume on hand. Opportunity could knock at any time; don’t be caught in your pajamas.

10) Never lose your joy. All of the writing tips in the world won’t help you if you do. You can make a living as a writer, but chances are good that you’ll never be a millionaire. Take pride and pleasure in what you do – otherwise, what’s the point?

What do you think about these writing tips Studio 602ers? What are some of your writing tips? Sound off in the comments section!