The Key to Writing is Writing

Stop. Read that again. The key to writing is writing. Just doing it. There’s no particular technique that will help you to be a better writer than just doing it. Write all you can. Read all you can. Move the cursor to the right1. Make the clickety-clackety sound on your keyboard. When you don’t have anything to say, write about how you don’t have anything to say. When you have writer’s block, write about your writer’s block: its shape, texture and hue. And before you know it, you’re writing. Don’t question what comes out, like why I thought writer’s block has a hue.

Just write. It’s what it says in the WordPress fullscreen post editor. It’s what’s in your head when you despair that you don’t have anything to write about. You already want to write and you think that you need the conceit of an idea before you do so. Wrong. Just write, and you’ll discover that a certain type of thinking happens as you move that cursor along.2

Writing is a craft that takes untold hours to master. I’ve had the guitar explained to me similarly: very easy to pick up and string together a few chords, arduous to master. You only need to read social media or YouTube comments to see that anyone can string a few words together.

Don’t hold back: that’s what rewriting is for. Just flow, just keep going. Don’t stop. Just write.


  1. Or whichever direction is forward in your language. 
  2. Or however your write. Pen, dictation, stone and chisel: just keep it moving. 

One response to “The Key to Writing is Writing”

WordPress Default is proudly powered by WordPress

Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).