When Good Advice Proves Its Worth.

I was railing the other day about good advice (“write every day”) given too often in the wrong circumstances. But today I feel rhapsodic about the one piece of good advice that has never failed me. It comes from Mark Twain who, as always, is funny but also completely on point:

“Writing is easy,” the great man said. “All you have to do is cross out the wrong words."

Now, you might think this is advice best attended to in the editing/revision stage rather than in drafting. Conventional wisdom is just to get words down as inspiration strikes—now is not the time to pause for fixes. And as someone plagued with fear of the blank screen, I agree wholeheartedly...

But inspiration, for me at least, doesn’t come in full chapters. It comes by the page; sometimes by the paragraph or even (sigh) the sentence.

And while I’m waiting for the next bolt of lightning, why not occupy myself with the agreeable task of pruning and improving my word choices? It keeps me focused so I’m not drifting off into thoughts of dinner, and the results are always positive. And because I’m focused, that next bit of inspiration seems to find me more easily.