How Professional Writers Write
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It's this mindset that leads people to start thinking things like: "If only I had a cabin in the woods somewhere with a nice espresso machine, I could really do this right."
I once had to write a first draft of a full-length screenplay (160+ pages) for a screenwriting class I took for fun. Our professor made it clear that we shouldn't worry about our scripts sucking because he was 100% sure that they would.
Once you accept that your art will suck in its early drafts/stages, you can focus on cooking out ideas/material to start improving upon. This will be so easy that you will want pen and paper, recording equipment, camera, etc. with you all the time.
The basic problem is that almost any creative process is iterative and recursive. When you think it has to be perfect the first time through, it by definition can't be. You've set yourself up in a loop with no exit conditions. Get to the rest of the program.
"Some Thoughts on Writing"
http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm
"Magazines, editors, agents - they all employ young people making $22,000 a year whose job is to read lots of manuscripts and send back letters telling you that you aren't good enough yet: LET THEM DO IT. It's their job. Don't pre-reject yourself." -Elizabeth Gilbert
After I wrote the above paragraph, I recalled the recording of pg working on an essay (http://etherpad.com/ep/pad/slider/13sentences) and how different it would probably look if it were Stephen stream-of-consciousness King. There's a lot of backtracking as pg hones his words, sentence by sentence. It would be really interesting to see how authors of different backgrounds approach the creative writing process, and whether target work length (essay vs novel) and style (argument vs entertainment) dictates your approach.
* could not find the exact quote - something about taste vs. craft or art.
I routinely tell friends that this is one of the most important videos I've ever watched.
Interesting observations on the road blocks to creating in the book, The War of Art.
http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/04...
Successful professional writers are amazingly disciplined (even Hemingway, for all his boozing, had a strict regimen of rising early and writing for many hours first thing, day in and day out).
For non-fiction, good writing correlates strongly with sharp thinking - meaning, thinking topics through carefully to be able to offer important insights that others have missed, understanding context so as to put things in a format, and in a style, that is strongly aimed at those who will be reading it, and having a deep reservoir of technical proficiency from which to draw so as to phrase things sharply and vigorously.
And write, write, write. William Zinser once used an illustration about an exchange between a writer and a brain surgeon where, in response to the surgeon's casual reference to doing "a little writing on the side," the writer gave as a riposte the thought that he would do a "little brain surgery on the side" as well. The point: we all think we can write because we all do it, but quality writing comes only through hard work, severe discipline, careful thought, and lots of practice - just like brain surgery.
Alternatively: if anyone tells you there is one true way of writing ... then they're a charlatan.
(I speak as a professional writer, on the basis of (a) personal experience and (b) knowning a bunch of other professional writers.)
(I speak as a Sci Fi fan).
* Research a lot of stuff on it, including things that seem orthogonal or at best tangential. Interview people, chase down primary sources, etc. Keep an eye out for surprises (in the Paul Graham sense [1]): new information that expands, challenges or outright debunks something I believe about the topic.
* Free-associate and try to tease out some dimensions along which the information can come together.
* Gradually settle on a thesis that's strongly enough supported by the evidence for the type of writing I'm doing.
* Get a good night's sleep. (Crucial step - do not skip!)
* Write a draft in the morning when my mind is fresh and the system of supporting arguments and information is still present. This may take one or more mornings depending on the length of the paper.
* Edit and format the draft, insert references, etc. Then set the paper aside and do something else.
* A day later or so, edit the draft again to cut out the fat, streamline the structure, fix spelling and grammatical errors, and so on.
* If it's intended for publication somewhere, give it to a friend to review.
* Make final edits and then submit.
Obviously, the size and complexity of this exercise depends on how big the subject is and how long the essay is going to be.
In any event, to become a good writer you have to a) write a lot and b) read a lot (not necessarily in that order). Some of the books listed at the link will help get you started.
I have two usable slots for writing: get up early and write before work or write late at night. I'm really not a morning person so in the morning I just do half an hour immediately after I wake.
In the evening I have roughly 7pm - 11:30pm to play with. I normally sit down to write between 9pm and 10pm and then go through till 11 - 11:30. I don't think this is really enough and I'm looking at how I can get another hour or so a day from somewhere.
The most important thing is to set a regular time and stick to it. Certainly, for fiction anyway, making this time as close to sleep as possible seems to help.
In contrast, all the writers did something to isolate themselves. That seems more concrete and clear advice....
I should sign off NOW!
Everyone needs to find what works best for themselves, but I'm pretty sure now I was just being macho when I thought I did best at night.
Unfortunately, this means that half the time, I end up falling asleep before I get into that zone.
The time between 2pm and 6pm is the absolute peak of cognitive weakness. The only thing I do well in that time is sleep. It's like a dead zone.
Note some the advice is so general as to be useless. Plenty of professional writers write at night. Plenty of professional writers write in public spaces (just about almost any newspaper writer, for a start).
The observations made are interesting but don't really fall under "advice" any more than copying the writers' bowel or eating habits would.
For coding, on the other hand, I don't really mind distractions.