5 Neil Gaiman Insightful Tips For Beginning and Aspiring Writers
Ever since joining Masterclass and taking Neil Gaiman’s Masterclass on writing, Mr. Gaiman has been one of my favorite authors to listen to and learn from.
It is especially great for aspiring writers, whether you are a beginner or not.
As aspiring writers ourselves, when Neil speaks about writing it’s hard to not get inspired and want to create better stories and more interesting stories.
The way he talks about writing makes you want to be adventurous in your writing and throw caution to the wind. Not every idea has to be the pinnacle of all writing ideas ever. Just write down the idea in your idea journal and write a short story for the ideas that are really stuck in your head.
Neil is very good at motivating aspiring writers to go ahead and just write and not worry about everything coming out perfect the first time and his career speaks for itself.
So with that in mind for our aspiring writers, here are some great writing tips from Neil Gaiman:
# 1 Write.
I love it.
For years I’ve lived under the principle of just write. Just get it out on the page. Don’t stop and think about it, just write and get out it and then come back and think about it later.
It is easy for me and other aspiring writers personally to get caught up in trying to think out every corner of an idea and that it has to be perfect in order for me to get started.
But certain professional writers will tell you that that is a paralyzing fate and I couldn’t agree more, so I just love this simple advice from Mr. Gaiman.
Write. Just Write.
Don’t overthink it. It doesn’t have to be perfect the first time. It really doesn’t have to be perfect at all, but if you don’t get the story out, no one will ever read it and no one will ever be able to enjoy it. And there are too many stories that have never been told or heard for this reason alone and the world is worse off for it.
# 2 It’s Your Writing, You’re Allowed to do Whatever You Like With it.
As aspiring writers, we have to be very careful not to let others change it away from what you really want it to be.
The thing is, everyone has an opinion, even us at DTWT. I have my certain opinions on what elements of storytelling make a great story and my wife does too, and we don’t always even agree with each other.
The important thing here is that you have to feel confident in what you want the story to be and you MUST do your best to tell it as such without worrying about others’ opinions, just tell your story the best way it can be told and that’s all you can do.
A sure-fire way to become a better writer is to start a blog of your own in a niche you are passionate about: All You Need to Know To Start a Blog Right Here!
# 3 Write the Story the Best You Can. Write the Story the way it NEEDS to Be Written.
At the end of the day, just do your best to write the story you see. You know the story and you’re the only one that knows the story (unless you are co-authoring of course.)
Envision each moment in your imagination and do your best to put the words out so that your reader will be able to enjoy the adventure, the mystery, the suspense, the way you saw it and felt it.
Make them feel what your characters are feeling, the pain, the joy, the surprise. Make your reader see what you see so that you are just passing along the story to someone else so that they could tell it next.
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# 4 Fix It, But Remember that Perfection is Like Chasing the Horizon.
Perfection is an impossible task.
As aspiring writers, we can’t fall into the trap of editing over and over and over and never being satisfied with what it turns out to be.
At some point, it is like a child. You have to let it go make noise of its own and see how it does out on its own.
If we wait until it’s perfect we’ll never let it go and it will become nothing.
# 5 Put it aside. Read It Later Pretending As You’ve Never Read It Before.
I love this advice and I couldn’t express more how important it is in the writing process for aspiring writers. As a copywriter and blogger, I have made this a priority in my work and do it with almost every piece I write.
You’d be shocked at the things you see differently a day later or even a couple of hours later.
I am very much of the opinion that we as aspiring writers should write it all out first without editing almost anything.
Writing involves creating whereas editing involves more deep thinking. They are a little different in terms of work and energy so it seems to be a better workflow to do them separately. (Of course, you’ll end up doing some writing and editing simultaneously, but for the most part, try to make them different sessions in your workflow.)
As aspiring writers at some point, you’ll get very good and won’t feel like you need to edit much, but at first, you want to do your best to save your editing for after the entire document exists in its first draft.
Minor edits are okay but don’t get lost in the paralyzing habit of editing over and over and over again and not moving forward.
The best way for aspiring writers to keep moving forward is to just keep writing and come back to edit once the entire first draft is done.
I hope these writing tips help you as much as they have helped other aspiring writers!
If you’re aspiring writers or know aspiring writers and haven’t checked out Neil Gaimen’s Masterclass and love to write and learn I can’t recommend it more.
A sure-fire way to become a better writer is to start a blog of your own in a niche you are passionate about: All You Need to Know To Start a Blog Right Here!
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
6 Easy Practical Steps to Becoming a Better Writer in 30 Days or Less
Why Start a Blog? 6 Reasonable Reasons to Quickly Start a Blog in 2019
What Should I Write About: 22 Writing Prompts to Give You BIG IDEAS
Never be afraid to use Grammarly to help edit.
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