No, I’m not really calling you stupid, but yeah, that’s how we learn, from day one … listening to stories, and sharing stories.
So if you can learn how to tell a good story, you are off to a great start with creating great content – for your blog, your website, whatever method of written or verbal communication you want to master.
If you struggle to write your stories down, don’t stress … focus on the verbal first … then start writing the way you speak – we all have a natural sense of the correct grammar and syntax as we speak, but some people get all bent out of shape when they go to write it down – don’t! (Switch off the voice of that nagging teacher who kept telling you off at school for not writing formal English the way she wanted it.)
If necessary, use a dictaphone – just talk your stuff into it, then go through and type it up later. Don’t worry about making it perfect first up, just get it down.
Many years ago, when I was doing a course in radio, we received some great advice from one of the tutors who was teaching us how to write news stories for radio … just start by putting a piece of paper in the typewriter (yes it was that long ago) and start typing.
Don’t try to get the perfect opening sentence … don’t stress, just start. And even today, that advice still works for me. Once you start writing, the thoughts will start to line up and flow – I promise.
Barbara Sher talks about a similar process in her books – she calls it making “shitty first drafts” and it applies to written work and art – any kind of creative process really. You liberate your creativity by giving yourself permission to do it badly to start with …. And know that you can throw away those shitty first drafts if you want to. Or not.
What it does is shut down that perfectionist “but it’s not good enough” voice that might be running in your brain … put it right back in its place, because after all, this is not your “best” version, its just a starting point. Which frees you up enough to just start.
Sometimes there is nothing more daunting/intimidating than a white sheet of paper or a blank computer screen. And we all know that if you are feeling daunted and intimidated, your creative juices are not likely to be flowing.
That’s it for today.
Don’t be daunted by the blank screen, just start. And be inspired to create a shitty first draft.
Your story will thank you for beginning to get it written.
Karen
p.s. my next post will be about editing that first draft.
