It’s perfectly ok to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly.
C. J. Cherryh
It’s perfectly ok to write garbage. I do it every day. Sentences, for the most part, don’t spew out perfectly formed. I write it out and then I go back and edit. The whole point is to write something, get your main ideas out there. Give it a messy birth and then clean it up after.
Some people get frozen in fear and don’t even start because they’re afraid to put imperfectly formed sentences on paper. But why do you expect perfection from yourself each time, but expect your favorite sports team to practice before their games? Or encourage your children to study before a test? Shouldn’t they get it perfect too if you’re expecting yourself to be perfect?
Give yourself a break. Write some garbage for a change. Then write some more. Write every day. Don’t worry what it looks like. Just get into a habit. Then go back and see if there is something salvageable. Sometimes there won’t be. But sometimes? Gold can be found in that garbage!
Especially now, in these uncertain times you need to get it out. Don’t let fear of the unknown interfere. Don’t let it stop you from writing crap!
How true that is! And I write garbage ALL THE TIME. I find that letting it sit also lets me know how stinky that garbage is. Usually. So I can edit it. But this vomiting out on a page and hitting POST? Not for me! But then again, I made my living by the written word during a long career, so I had to learn this early!
No truer thing has ever been spoken, I usually write at night and edit in the the morning and half time I’m thinking what in the hell was that sentence all about!
Too true. You have to get it out. Then it’s best to leave it a bit and edit carefully later. I don’t always take my own advice as I didn’t have the time to wait when writing articles for newspapers.
As they say, you can’t edit an empty page…
Wonderful suggestion Jennifer. Visiting you at #MLSTL and glad I did. Be safe, stay well.
Thanks for stopping by!
I realized that I do write every day…. in my journal and quite often it is “garbage”! I like that term, actually. If I have written something that could turn into a blog post, I’ll note in the margin in some way and go back to it. I also write blog posts and edit them at least twice before anything gets posted. I’m in awe of anyone who writes and immediately posts! But it’s not me, and I’m OK with that.
I carry a Moleskine with me every day and write whatever comes to mind. Quotes, snippets, the start of blog posts, etc. And then I pull them out whenever I need an idea.
An interesting thought Jennifer – I’m feeling like my blogging inspiration is winding down with the lack of stimulation during lockdown. Writing garbage might be a way to kick start things again – I’ll give it a go!
Thanks for linking up with us at MLSTL and I’ve shared on my SM ?
I agree with Jennifer. I wouldn’t write otherwise. So much of my writing is rubbish. I usually write it in one setting and edit over a couple of days #MLSTL
Sound advice, Jennifer. That’s how I have to initially do my blog posts. I have to also write them out in long-hand, then go back in to correct before I type it. Thanks for sharing.
Amen Jennifer! This is excellent advice for writing and for life–we can’t expect every first attempt to be good, and if we are waiting until we are perfectly prepared, we’ll never start anything at all. Thank you for reminding me of this today. #MLSTL
Oh I agree. As long as we write every day!
This is my favorite advice to people who ask me how to get into blogging. Their biggest concern is not having enough to write about. Write garbage every day and the fountain of topics will be never-ending!!
Always carry a notebook and write everything down!
I look at it like baseball. Great hitters fail 70% of the time. I think writing is the same, odds are it’s not going to be a great sentence the first time around.
Recently came across a great app to help with the editing, it was $20. May have been the best $20 I ever spent. The hemingwayapp.
I usually write it and then leave it for an hour or two. Then I go back and fix it. I rinse and repeat this several times and still find mistakes once I post it.
Some of the things that I’ve written down, I’ve left for years. I keep all my old notebooks and when I’m looking for a new topic, I start paging through them. A notebook goes with me at all times in order to catch those thoughts. Recently, though I got a Samsung Note with the S-Pen. I’ve been pulling that out when I want to write down some thoughts. Maybe I don’t have to lug a notebook on short trips anymore.
It is part of theprocess, isn’t it? 😉