Love letters
Charlotte Rains Dixon  

The One Right Way to Write (A Love Letter)

Photo by June Admiraal on Unsplash

Okay, this is it, I’m going to tell you how to do it. After all these years, I’ve finally decided to share the secret. I am going to tell you the one right way to write. Are you ready? Here it is:

The one right way to write is the way that works for you.

The only secret is that you have to know yourself and your habits. And then you have to apply those to your writing. If your best-selling novelist neighbor rises at 5 AM to write every morning and exhorts you to do the same, but you prefer to stay up late to write, don’t listen to her. If you work all day Saturday, every Saturday, but don’t even think about your novel during the week and it is working for you—go for it. Ignore those people who say you need to write every day to establish a writing habit.

You do you. Do what works for you—and the words and pages will pile up.

I sometimes work with people who tell me what they are doing and then say, “Is that right? Is that okay to do it that way?” Yes, it is okay. It is okay habit-wise, and it is okay story-wise.

Provisos:

Habit-wise. If you are getting to the page regularly, whatever you are doing is working. Keep it up. Do not get swayed by glamorous writing gurus who tell you otherwise! But if what you are doing starts not working, then figure out a new schedule. And maybe consult those gurus for some ideas.

Story-wise. As long as you can make it work on the page, you can do it. Making it work on the page might take a bit of jiggering, revising, and editing, but that is what makes writing fun. Amiright?

So trust your own damn instincts, not someone else’s. You’ll be a lot happier in your writing, and after all, isn’t that why we do this? It’s not like we’re going to rich at it so we might as well have fun.

Prompts

Here is your prompt of the week:

It’s my way or the highway.

Something New

I’ve been thinking about starting a Patreon, but haven’t quite managed yet. In the meantime, I found Ko-Fi, which enables people to contribute a small amount to cover my coffee costs. Oh, who am I kidding, I’ll buy wine with it. Anyway, this is a total experiment. If you feel so inclined to buy me a glass of wine, click here for more info. I think it is user friendly-ish.

Happenings

France 2019—Would you like to study writing in the south of France with me? You can! Find all the details here.  Space is filling up fast so hop on over and check it out!

Facebook Group

And of course, don’t forget to join the Facebook group if you haven’t already. I post lots of good links and often we get some good conversation going.

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