The Greatest Commandment for a Writer
Hear O Writers, YHWH your God is one.
You shall love YHWH your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.
And you shall love your reader as yourself.
Your work is not just an act of self-expression. It is an act of self-giving. That means it is not enough for your work to be honest. It must be something that is prepared with love for others.
This takes practice and skill. It requires discipline and discarded drafts. Why? Not out of self-flagellation or perfectionism. But out of love for the person who reads it. And for the God who inspires it.
A good writer must read good work. So take in the very best of culture that you can. And practice your basics: read “The Elements of Style,” buy a dictionary, get an editor if you can afford one.
And then write.
Write. And write. And write.
The best advice for breaking through creative block is:
Think of the worst possible way to tackle the project. Quality may be elusive, but stupidity is always easily accessible; absurdity is fine, maybe even desired…If it is design for an exhibition of Ming Dynasty vases, brand it as an interactive show for kids, and put the vases on precariously balanced pedestals made of a shiny metal that asks to be touched. (The Shape of Design, Frank Chimero)
The momentum from writing an idea, even a bad idea, breaks through the blank page. The mind starts to correct the flaws, and the process begins.
The 10 Commandments for a Writer
- Write the kind of work you want to read.
- Assume your reader has read nothing of what you wrote before.
- Be concise.
- Be shockingly vulnerable.
- Be painfully specific.
- Root out all clichés.
- Surprise your reader.
- Read your work out loud.
- Edit. Edit. And edit again.
- If all else fails, throw out your draft and write it again from scratch.
