On writing advice
For years, I got stuck.
I gave up on writing when I entered business school, because I was not studying literature and I didn’t feel legitimate anymore. In addition, I was already convinced that my writing would be terrible, so then, what was even the point?
Every time I was thinking about writing, Amelie Nothomb’s voice kept popping in my head. Whenever she is asked about writing advice, the record bestseller author answers by recommending to read Letters To A Young Poet of Rainier Maria Rilke. Her advice is a form of provocation, but really it reflects her true love for literature.
This world-reknown bestselling author summons you not to write if you don’t feel a deep urge for it inside of you. Amelie Nothomb considers that before writing, you should make sure that it is an absolute necessity in your life, as much as breathing or drinking water. On one hand, it is quite great to push people to reflect counsciousely on what they chose to practice, and to make sure that they are doing it for good reasons. But it give such an essential depth to this choice, that at the same time it puts an enormous pressure on the topic that you are going to select.
La Masterclasse d'Amélie Nothomb - France Culture
Then I realized two equally important things.
Let’s forget about literature for a moment. I am not the next Nobel Prize, I just want to be able to express myself while entertaining readers. Then, even more important: if you are too paralyzed to even try because you don’t feel allowed to write, how sad is it to stop something before even really trying?
Then, let’s turn to another bestselling author’s advice, less reverential and more practical.
The Practice: Shipping Creative Work : Godin, Seth: Amazon.fr: Livres
For for Seth Godin, writing is a decision. He believes that there is no such thing as writer’s block. If tomorrow you decide to go running and you stick to it, very soon you can define yourself as a runner. And what will allow you to keep presenting yourself as a runner to your friends is that you simply keep on practicing.
This logic is so simple, it almost becomes ridiculous: of course you cannot become good at something if you don’t practice it everyday! Well, writing is no exception. Then, from the habit, will come the confidence (because slowly, it is not something new and scary for you anymore), then the competence, and soon after that the legitimacy. There is something reminding me a bit of the American Dream in this thought, because it implies that everybody can do it, if you show enough effort and commitment.
However, the doubtful French in me keeps wondering: sure, everybody can start a new habit, but can everybody really become good at it just by committing? And, more importantly, does everybody has a story worth sharing?
