Writing Advice #4

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Since I've started my new work, I'll be putting in some more Writing Advice columns in here, mostly to remind myself of the things I'm supposed to be doing as I'm writing.

Come to grips with the fact that you're not going to be able to write at the same time & place all the time. Adjust and keep going. Writing on a train is great.

Certainly true. I think this has to do with the Fear of Getting Started. I had this right before I started Black Hole Son, and before Blood 2. It's that state where the idea exists so clearly in your head, so beautiful. And if you put it on the page, it can't be perfect anymore, because now it's concrete, and might not fit the vision you had. Well it certainly isn't going to fit the vision, because they are two different mediums, and the same art cannot exist in both. This is why you have books better than the movies and movies better than the books, but they are never the same, because one fit better for telling the story. If you have one solid place where you write, and one solid time, and you can't deviate from that at all or it'll ruin the creative process - get over it. The one thing that hasn't changed is your brain, and that is always with you. And that's the only thing you need. And it's the only thing the story needs. All the rest is window dressing - placebos and illusions that the lack of faith in yourself created. I've seen so many fan fiction stories half-finished or barely started, good ones even, that just stopped, never knowing if they were completed or the author died or what. You don't need anything but a brain and pencil & paper/computer. And hands, if you want to get technical.

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