Dark fantasy novelist (and fellow Wisconsinite!) Neil Gaiman has done his fair share of writing. From novels turned blockbusters to television series and any form of graphic novel or short story in between, Gaiman is truly a literary rockstar of our time. He didn’t just magically get to his position, however, years of hard work and dutiful writing- much of which was done with a fountain pen, have given Gaiman a refreshing and organic tone that effortlessly fits for each genre he works with.
Tell your story. Don’t try and tell the stories that other people can tell. Because [as a] starting writer, you always start out with other people’s voices—you’ve been reading other people for years… But, as quickly as you can, start telling the stories that only you can tell—because there will always be better writers than you, there will always be smarter writers than you… but you are the only you.
One way you get through the wall is by convincing yourself that it doesn’t matter. No one is ever going to see your first draft. Nobody cares about your first draft. And that’s the thing that you may be agonizing over, but honestly, whatever you’re doing can be fixed. … For now, just get the words out. Get the story down however you can get it down, then fix it.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.
Write more. And remember that everyone who writes anything good wrote a lot of bad stuff first. You are learning, be kind to yourself, just as you would be kind to anyone learning to do something hard, like juggling or ballroom dancing or surgery.
One of Neil's tricks to beating writers block is to write something every day- even if he's uninspired. In some cases he even has a backup journal to write in as a secondary precaution. See if you can write something every day for a week. A month? How long do you think you can keep your streak going?
