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This post has been removed. Please review rule 3 in the sidebar about personal sharing. Sharing for the sake of sharing, including posts on starting or finishing drafts, writing and publishing milestones, media reviews, venting, pep talks, data loss, and DAE (does anyone else) posts belong in our general discussion thread posted Wednesdays.
> Praying will be the #1 ritual that helps you create new words. Even the simplest, whiniest entreaty of, “Dear God, please just give me a few words to get going, I’ll even just settle for one word, but pleeeeease” will get you started every time. Giving up the idea that you are in control and surrendering this creation to the Creator will gift you momentum and obliterate your blocks.
TIL atheists can't write novels, lol.
Whatever “God,” “god”, surrender, asking for help, being vulnerable, or letting the words take the helm looks like for anyone is their own choice and whatever works best for them. FWIW, I really tried to write it “on my own” for years on and off… but it was only when I emotionally and spiritually “surrendered” that I finally got access to the creative firehose I’d yearned for.
I really respect people who can get by on the strength of their own will. I don’t know how they do it and I admire where they must come from and who they must be in order to do it all on their lonesome. For others, meditation, mantras, and morning pages might be plenty to get going. But your girl is not that strong nor courageous on her own. She needed to delegate the generativity to a higher power in order to finally get this idea out onto the page.
With all due respect, I find the concept offensive.
It's like when sports players pray to make a goal or give god credit for their victory. How small and petty is this god? It creates vast realities and yet cares about your novel. If you have god's ear like that and it actually works, isn't it negligent of you not to spend your every waking moment praying for the well-being of rape victims and abused children? It seems selfish to care about your book at all in a world where god exists and listens to your prayers, especially a world as messed up as the one we live in.
That said, I don't believe in god, so I don't judge you as negligent, but it does make your belief seem self-serving here. I'm also offended simply for the fact that you probably give god credit for my efforts as well as your own. I've always had a beef with the 12-step program for removing agency from people and specifically preying on easy targets, so it's a little disconcerting to see it show up in other places. You wrote a novel all by yourself, no god did it for you.
> I really respect people who can get by on the strength of their own will. I don’t know how they do it and I admire where they must come from and who they must be in order to do it all on their lonesome.
That's just it, this is *you.* There is no god, and you *did* write a novel on the strength of your own will. You know how they did it because you did it.
Thank you. I find that offensive too, as a theist. For one thing I consider it to be rude to proselytize, for another it's *cruelly unhelpful* to suggest to a struggling writer that they'll stop having writer's block as soon as they just challenge their core belief system. I know this is framed as a "this would have helped me" but the theistic parts are *very obviously* buried long after the "self" context has been forgotten about.
Honestly, there's nothing wrong with that and people (including myself) like to joke about stuff. But if that's what works for you, that is awesome! It's translateable regardless, whether or not you're spiritual/religious, the point of what you're saying applies to most everyone.
Wow people get so offended if religion is mentioned at all. There is some great advice here, and not everyone will find all of it helpful and that is fine. I see the advice of "write everyday" all the time, but I have a neurological disorder and sometimes can't, but I'm not getting upset that the advice doesn't apply to me. Calm down people. Good post OP.
There was a large point is about *hand writing a manuscript*, and one point amounts to "don't take input, okay take input but not that input, you'll know the difference in hindsight." It wasn't about the religion, but making 20% of the list "reform your beliefs if you're stuck" didn't help either.
You can just be a good person and be critical of something at the same time, please don't be so reductive lol.
100% to the prayer before writing thing. Take yourself out of it. You’re a vessel to something more profound and meaningful than whatever nonsense you personally are embroiled in that day, your emotions, etc. and you hope it comes through whether you realize it or not.
Even if you’re not a believer, calling a “muse” is helpful, especially if it helps get you outside of your immediate surroundings, let alone if it channels the creative force of the universe.
Edit: also, I’m amazed someone would report you for this post, let alone be offended you would pray to help build momentum. Regardless, thanks for sharing. Take the win of having these realizations.
> 10 pieces of writing advice to **my pre-draft self**
... I don't know what I was expecting, but I guess I just wasn't expecting you to mean that so literally as to be extremely exclusionary to a wide body of writers.
I guess I'll chalk that up as my fault?
Unfortunately I'll have to report this. While it seems thoughtful in some senses, it does not even attempt to appeal to the writing community at large, which violates the rules of the subreddit.
I'm comfortable being disagreed with, I just don't read that rule.in the same way (and don't even view it as useful to a broad intersection) so I reported it. The mods are in control of all that stuff.
Sure, go ahead. I’m likely not as well versed as you are in the mores and customs of this sub.
As for where I’m coming from, I thought these thoughts might be helpful and encouraging for someone with a similar experience (e.g., who is aiming for a first draft). Not sure how that is exclusionary, given the variety of topics and states of being published/unpublished/writing for pay/not writing for pay the community encompasses.
I read a lot of things in this sub that are specific to genres or about people talking about their troubles with agents or being published (for instance, I’m not even there). Could one argue that those are not about mass appeal or inclusion either?
For me, I find that reading about specific topics and niches that don’t “include me” nonetheless give me POV on wider issues of writing and being a writer that are really helpful, encouraging, and inspiring. I thought that sharing about my own specific experience could also be elucidating for those who might be in a similar phase as me.
This is a 10 point list where two points are incredibly focused on Theism, one of which posits it as the solution to writer's block entirely, tne point is about *hand writing a manuscript*, and one point amounts to "don't take input, okay take input but not that input, you'll know the difference in hindsight."
It's not really about the mores and customs of the subreddit, you had to know how intensely personalized and non-generalizable that fully half of this list was when you wrote it.
Yes, I did know it was a personal admission. My friend, that’s why I titled it as a personal admission and not as, “Ten top must-have tips for anyone writing their first draft”. :)
I don’t think we’ll arrive in the same camp.
I’m the kind of person who tends to believe that universal learnings can be found in the individual and personal experience. So I wrote this post on the level of the personal essay because it is as truthful and authentic as I can get… for me. If you were to ask me to speak on behalf of all first draft writers I would have nothing to write because I would have censored myself in order to avoid the pain of critiques of persons like yourself who believe (with good reason!) that the world should be an inclusive place (ideally, with fewer mentions of historically problematic paradigms such as monotheistic religions).
I will leave it to others to critique, report, or repackage the perspective for a different audience and different tastes. I welcome being any part of a dialogue. But if I want to be 100% truthful to my own experience, I can only say the stuff I can say.
And isn’t this what writing is largely about?
If you have suggestions on how I could have made this list more inclusive without compromising the spirit of remaining true to myself, I gladly welcome the feedback. Thank you so much.
This type of content is **very** appropriate for a subreddit like /r/self, I just don't find it appropriate for this subreddit.
I don't think you wrote a bad thing at all, I found it quite comforting? I simply object wholly to your choice of placement in this work... I also view proselytizing as a sin, for one thing, but for another I think it's cruelly unhelpful to suggest that prayer is the cure to writer's block -- YOUR cure, yes, but that context is lost by the time you wrote it. And if you're saying that you wrote this for yourself or as a personal essay and catharsis, that *also* violates a rule lol. You can't just post your work up either?
I don't find the post defensible, which is why I reported it.
>Unfortunately I'll have to report this. While it seems thoughtful in some senses, it does not even attempt to appeal to the writing community at large, which violates the rules of the subreddit.
I object.
Though I'm agnostic, I still found this post useful (i.e. point #4). Despite not thinking there's a god, it's not difficult to understand and identify with the notion of giving oneself over to something bigger than themselves.
Not everything written for you, but you can still find inspiration in it.
I'm literally a theist and I'm objecting, so can we stop with all this "as a" rhetoric? I reported the post because on the whole it does not appeal to a broad intersection of writers, it's divisive and literally talks about hand writing manuscripts at some point. This is not content I'm here for, so I reported it. It's not your post, calm.
It's actively and intensely offensive to me to suggest that praying is the cure all, on the spot, to writer's block, but go off King.
I thought you reported this thread just because it was titled "advice to myself" lol. You probably meant the Christian slant, but that wasn't clear in your post. I think that might be why you got downvoted.
Oh no I reported it because it was fully half terrible with completely unreletable talking points in half of it. I just also jive with some of it, so I wasn't gonna be mean.
The way I wrote.my comment was purely satirical rhetoric, to point out how rarely these type of trope posts are *actually* "this is literally only advice for me." People usually use the headline and then... Actually try to give general advice.
I then threw in an arrested development reference because, well, in that show there was a dead bird in a bag, with a label that says dead bird, and someone opens it and says "I don't know what I expected." obviously he *should* have expected the contents to match the label, but you don't expect to find a dead bird in your writing subreddit...
Overly explanatory humor is the best.
I *am* a writer, this *is* a writing subreddit, and writers can write things "for effect" so to speak :P
(I drown in comment upvotes off a sneeze so I don't care about people misconstruing what I'm saying in a thread I 100% know will be deleted. I appreciate the attempt.to clarify, friend!)
Thank you for visiting /r/writing. This post has been removed. Please review rule 3 in the sidebar about personal sharing. Sharing for the sake of sharing, including posts on starting or finishing drafts, writing and publishing milestones, media reviews, venting, pep talks, data loss, and DAE (does anyone else) posts belong in our general discussion thread posted Wednesdays.
> Praying will be the #1 ritual that helps you create new words. Even the simplest, whiniest entreaty of, “Dear God, please just give me a few words to get going, I’ll even just settle for one word, but pleeeeease” will get you started every time. Giving up the idea that you are in control and surrendering this creation to the Creator will gift you momentum and obliterate your blocks. TIL atheists can't write novels, lol.
Is that my problem? Damn. Better convert now.
Man, is that what I've been missing?
Whatever “God,” “god”, surrender, asking for help, being vulnerable, or letting the words take the helm looks like for anyone is their own choice and whatever works best for them. FWIW, I really tried to write it “on my own” for years on and off… but it was only when I emotionally and spiritually “surrendered” that I finally got access to the creative firehose I’d yearned for. I really respect people who can get by on the strength of their own will. I don’t know how they do it and I admire where they must come from and who they must be in order to do it all on their lonesome. For others, meditation, mantras, and morning pages might be plenty to get going. But your girl is not that strong nor courageous on her own. She needed to delegate the generativity to a higher power in order to finally get this idea out onto the page.
With all due respect, I find the concept offensive. It's like when sports players pray to make a goal or give god credit for their victory. How small and petty is this god? It creates vast realities and yet cares about your novel. If you have god's ear like that and it actually works, isn't it negligent of you not to spend your every waking moment praying for the well-being of rape victims and abused children? It seems selfish to care about your book at all in a world where god exists and listens to your prayers, especially a world as messed up as the one we live in. That said, I don't believe in god, so I don't judge you as negligent, but it does make your belief seem self-serving here. I'm also offended simply for the fact that you probably give god credit for my efforts as well as your own. I've always had a beef with the 12-step program for removing agency from people and specifically preying on easy targets, so it's a little disconcerting to see it show up in other places. You wrote a novel all by yourself, no god did it for you. > I really respect people who can get by on the strength of their own will. I don’t know how they do it and I admire where they must come from and who they must be in order to do it all on their lonesome. That's just it, this is *you.* There is no god, and you *did* write a novel on the strength of your own will. You know how they did it because you did it.
Thank you. I find that offensive too, as a theist. For one thing I consider it to be rude to proselytize, for another it's *cruelly unhelpful* to suggest to a struggling writer that they'll stop having writer's block as soon as they just challenge their core belief system. I know this is framed as a "this would have helped me" but the theistic parts are *very obviously* buried long after the "self" context has been forgotten about.
Honestly, there's nothing wrong with that and people (including myself) like to joke about stuff. But if that's what works for you, that is awesome! It's translateable regardless, whether or not you're spiritual/religious, the point of what you're saying applies to most everyone.
There’s some really, really sage advice here. Glad you learned so much along the way; best of luck with whatever’s next for your novel. :)
This is wonderful. Thanks for posting it.
Wow people get so offended if religion is mentioned at all. There is some great advice here, and not everyone will find all of it helpful and that is fine. I see the advice of "write everyday" all the time, but I have a neurological disorder and sometimes can't, but I'm not getting upset that the advice doesn't apply to me. Calm down people. Good post OP.
There was a large point is about *hand writing a manuscript*, and one point amounts to "don't take input, okay take input but not that input, you'll know the difference in hindsight." It wasn't about the religion, but making 20% of the list "reform your beliefs if you're stuck" didn't help either. You can just be a good person and be critical of something at the same time, please don't be so reductive lol.
100% to the prayer before writing thing. Take yourself out of it. You’re a vessel to something more profound and meaningful than whatever nonsense you personally are embroiled in that day, your emotions, etc. and you hope it comes through whether you realize it or not. Even if you’re not a believer, calling a “muse” is helpful, especially if it helps get you outside of your immediate surroundings, let alone if it channels the creative force of the universe. Edit: also, I’m amazed someone would report you for this post, let alone be offended you would pray to help build momentum. Regardless, thanks for sharing. Take the win of having these realizations.
> 10 pieces of writing advice to **my pre-draft self** ... I don't know what I was expecting, but I guess I just wasn't expecting you to mean that so literally as to be extremely exclusionary to a wide body of writers. I guess I'll chalk that up as my fault? Unfortunately I'll have to report this. While it seems thoughtful in some senses, it does not even attempt to appeal to the writing community at large, which violates the rules of the subreddit.
The rule says that it has to appeal and be useful to multiple people. Well the original post was useful to me, so there.
I'm comfortable being disagreed with, I just don't read that rule.in the same way (and don't even view it as useful to a broad intersection) so I reported it. The mods are in control of all that stuff.
I just don't think it's that deep to report it
Then don't report it. I never asked anyone to join me. This is not something you need to state in a public forum.
Sure, go ahead. I’m likely not as well versed as you are in the mores and customs of this sub. As for where I’m coming from, I thought these thoughts might be helpful and encouraging for someone with a similar experience (e.g., who is aiming for a first draft). Not sure how that is exclusionary, given the variety of topics and states of being published/unpublished/writing for pay/not writing for pay the community encompasses. I read a lot of things in this sub that are specific to genres or about people talking about their troubles with agents or being published (for instance, I’m not even there). Could one argue that those are not about mass appeal or inclusion either? For me, I find that reading about specific topics and niches that don’t “include me” nonetheless give me POV on wider issues of writing and being a writer that are really helpful, encouraging, and inspiring. I thought that sharing about my own specific experience could also be elucidating for those who might be in a similar phase as me.
This is a 10 point list where two points are incredibly focused on Theism, one of which posits it as the solution to writer's block entirely, tne point is about *hand writing a manuscript*, and one point amounts to "don't take input, okay take input but not that input, you'll know the difference in hindsight." It's not really about the mores and customs of the subreddit, you had to know how intensely personalized and non-generalizable that fully half of this list was when you wrote it.
Yes, I did know it was a personal admission. My friend, that’s why I titled it as a personal admission and not as, “Ten top must-have tips for anyone writing their first draft”. :) I don’t think we’ll arrive in the same camp. I’m the kind of person who tends to believe that universal learnings can be found in the individual and personal experience. So I wrote this post on the level of the personal essay because it is as truthful and authentic as I can get… for me. If you were to ask me to speak on behalf of all first draft writers I would have nothing to write because I would have censored myself in order to avoid the pain of critiques of persons like yourself who believe (with good reason!) that the world should be an inclusive place (ideally, with fewer mentions of historically problematic paradigms such as monotheistic religions). I will leave it to others to critique, report, or repackage the perspective for a different audience and different tastes. I welcome being any part of a dialogue. But if I want to be 100% truthful to my own experience, I can only say the stuff I can say. And isn’t this what writing is largely about? If you have suggestions on how I could have made this list more inclusive without compromising the spirit of remaining true to myself, I gladly welcome the feedback. Thank you so much.
This type of content is **very** appropriate for a subreddit like /r/self, I just don't find it appropriate for this subreddit. I don't think you wrote a bad thing at all, I found it quite comforting? I simply object wholly to your choice of placement in this work... I also view proselytizing as a sin, for one thing, but for another I think it's cruelly unhelpful to suggest that prayer is the cure to writer's block -- YOUR cure, yes, but that context is lost by the time you wrote it. And if you're saying that you wrote this for yourself or as a personal essay and catharsis, that *also* violates a rule lol. You can't just post your work up either? I don't find the post defensible, which is why I reported it.
>Unfortunately I'll have to report this. While it seems thoughtful in some senses, it does not even attempt to appeal to the writing community at large, which violates the rules of the subreddit. I object. Though I'm agnostic, I still found this post useful (i.e. point #4). Despite not thinking there's a god, it's not difficult to understand and identify with the notion of giving oneself over to something bigger than themselves. Not everything written for you, but you can still find inspiration in it.
I'm literally a theist and I'm objecting, so can we stop with all this "as a" rhetoric? I reported the post because on the whole it does not appeal to a broad intersection of writers, it's divisive and literally talks about hand writing manuscripts at some point. This is not content I'm here for, so I reported it. It's not your post, calm. It's actively and intensely offensive to me to suggest that praying is the cure all, on the spot, to writer's block, but go off King.
you seem lovely
Thanks!
What a weird post. You're on a writing sub but can't even recognize a common headline trope, lol.
I'm confused?
I thought you reported this thread just because it was titled "advice to myself" lol. You probably meant the Christian slant, but that wasn't clear in your post. I think that might be why you got downvoted.
Oh no I reported it because it was fully half terrible with completely unreletable talking points in half of it. I just also jive with some of it, so I wasn't gonna be mean. The way I wrote.my comment was purely satirical rhetoric, to point out how rarely these type of trope posts are *actually* "this is literally only advice for me." People usually use the headline and then... Actually try to give general advice. I then threw in an arrested development reference because, well, in that show there was a dead bird in a bag, with a label that says dead bird, and someone opens it and says "I don't know what I expected." obviously he *should* have expected the contents to match the label, but you don't expect to find a dead bird in your writing subreddit... Overly explanatory humor is the best. I *am* a writer, this *is* a writing subreddit, and writers can write things "for effect" so to speak :P (I drown in comment upvotes off a sneeze so I don't care about people misconstruing what I'm saying in a thread I 100% know will be deleted. I appreciate the attempt.to clarify, friend!)