Toxic Preconditions (And How to Fight Them)
Or: Stop dreaming and start writing
How do you go from dreaming about writing, to actually writing?
The simplest answer is “just write,” of course. But that’s unsatisfying. It’s like saying that the way to stop smoking is to “just quit.” It ignores the covert mental war hidden behind discipline. People who ask how to write are actually asking how to fight this war. Saying “just write” is like saying “LOL. Just win.”
I struggled with writing for decades. As a student, I wrote prolifically when deadlines threatened to chop my ‘A’ off, but disciplined writing eluded me. Instead I collected notebooks, carrying one with me everywhere, filled with sentence fragments, to-do lists, and doodles — and I started a good half-dozen projects, none of which lasted two months. I dreamed. A lot.
In 2019 I changed. I started writing daily, and whoa hell did it upend my life. My notebooks filled with ideas that I upcycled into essays. I developed the unholy ability to finish term papers two weeks in advance. My writing powered me through drafts of academic articles, scripts for lectures, and a hundred articles for Medium, most written using a fountain pen.
I feel happy saying that. It’s not often that I can just state what I’ve accomplished. I’m proud of it, not…
