dan’s writing tricks
1. Writing for a little while every day is much easier than writing a lot once a week.
2. Exercise. The body is connected to the head. The head is where imagination lives. When the body is sluggish, so is the head.
3. Prayer and meditation. If you have a spiritual practice, use it. Walker Percy’s prayer for writing was, “I am starting from nothing. Help me.”
4. If something’s not working, try turning it on its head. Try making the women men and the men women. Change some significant detail and notice if the story works better that way. Change a story about war into a story about dentistry. Be light on your feet. Don’t take yourself and your work so damn seriously.
5. When in doubt, remember: if you knew what you wanted to say, you wouldn’t have to write a story about it – you could just say it.
6. When you don’t know what else to do, recopy what you’ve written. There’s genius in your hand holding a pen. There’s genius in your fingertips on the keyboard.
7. Read as much as you can. Reading is like food to writing. Writing is also a version of reading. Great writers are always great readers.
8. Write about things you know, but if you don’t know about something, don’t let that stop you. You can learn about it while you’re writing about it. That’s what libraries and museums and smart friends are for.
9. Cultivate kooky interests. If your imagination wants to know more about naval aviation or fastpitch softball or Dean Martin’s youth in Ohio, by all means, let your imagination have what it wants.
10. Make friends with other writers. It takes a lot of courage to work every day, know what’s valuable in your work, and kill your babies. You’ll need help.