Anthem

Made some good progress on the book yesterday.
I’d been blocked for several weeks on this one part, and it was driving me crazy. So I heeded some advice from MV: “give yourself permission to suck, and fix it later.”
Strange that I’d need to hear that from someone else, because it’s advice I give to people all the time, but I’m glad I listened to her. I wrote some stuff that sucked, and I still haven’t fixed it, but I was able to get past the block, and write some good stuff. I want to have my first draft finished by the end of the day tomorrow, and it’s looking like I’ll make that deadline.
The plan is to have it finished and available in time for Xmas, so we’ll see. =]

51 thoughts on “Anthem”

  3. Uncle Willie,
    My friend Manny really helped me get around my writer’s block reently when he suggested I do a little barn storming. It took a few phone calls, but eventually I was able to find a bi-plane pilot who agreed to strap me atop his plane and fly hell bent for leather through an opened barn.
    I’ll tell you what, it really helped me get through the chapter I was stuck on…since it was get back to writing or do that crazy s–t again. Needless to say I was a little at a loss when Manny informed me he had not suggested “Barn” storming but “Brain” storming. Oh well….
    All the best,
    Nephew Eric

  4. that’s actually good advice… that i wish i’d heard a long time ago. i get crippled with writer’s block far too often and end up putting things aside never to be seen again. maybe i’ll dig through them and let myself suck my way through the rough spots. heh.

  5. Yay!
    Don’t hurry, but take your time, get it right, hey? Fix that “sucking now” later, and I’m sure that more than fans will be willing to be buy it.
    ~Arcy

  8. “the plan is to have it available for Xmas”..
    THIS CHRISTMAS?!!! That is only 42 or so days
    away!!! Write faster grasshopper!!

  9. Oh no! THIS Christmas?!?!
    I usually mention Wil Wheaton in some respect to my friends every single day :O
    How many copies are they gonna get me for Christmas between them all?!? Of course, I’m gonna be buying it too 😉
    You go Wil! And mention Bruce Campbell!

  10. Hey Wil-
    Here’s another way to relieve writing stress while keeping the creative juices flowing. When I’m working on something book-size, I keep a few other shorter things going (which can either make great FREE Xmas gifts for family members, or just be exercises in lunacy for yourself) and then when I hit the doldrums I can jump back and forth from ‘the serious work’ to something completely off the wall. Also, having variety in the short stuff helps too- a goofy short story for a kid, a disgusting gore-fest for a friend, or just something for yourself.

  12. Have you read William Zinsser’s “On Writing Well”? I found it helpful in my writing. The book deals with non-fiction writing. But I’ve found that there is plenty in there to help anyone who wants to write anything -fiction, poetry, screenplays… In college, I took 3 writing courses. Zinsser’s book was more helpful than 2 of them.
    [Please don’t judge my writing abilities based on this post, I have yet to eat anything nutritionally -or even emotionally- beneficial today]

  13. Hey Wil…
    just a reminder to let you know that theres a lot of fans up here in Canada, that would like to know if the book will be available up here…(or atleast if we can order it )
    cheers….

  14. Call me crazy, but it seems like anyone can slap on the title of “writer”. Now what exactly do these “wannabe” writers know about writer’s block?
    At least your ramblings make sense, are interesting to read, and your memories of growing up are incredible. Which is much more than I can say for myself or the other long winded crap people put up out there.
    To finish by Christmas does seem awfully soon. It’s probably a good time to capitalize on the book while the Star Trek movie is still out.
    Since, I’m a broke slacker I’m looking forward to picking it up at the Thrift Store or the local “Everything a dollar or less” in 3 years. Unless of course you do a book signing and for the price of a book I get to shake your hand. Whoo Hoo!

  17. wil: if it’s on the shelves by 12-23 it’ll be just in time for my annual christmas shopping blitz…in the “for me” gift category…’cause i know it’s gonna be out too late for someone else to get me a copy!…by the way i was doing a google search and found a survey had reported over 1,000,000 hits on wwdn in october!…that’s a bunch of potential book buyers!…i wasn’t searching for wwdn data…but i found it anyway…congratulations on a very popular site.

  18. wil: if it’s on the shelves by 12-23 it’ll be just in time for my annual christmas shopping blitz…in the “for me” gift category…’cause i know it’s gonna be out too late for someone else to get me a copy!…by the way i was doing a google search and found a survey had reported over 1,000,000 hits on wwdn in october!…that’s a bunch of potential book buyers!…i wasn’t searching for wwdn data…but i found it anyway…congratulations on a very popular site.

  19. wil: if it’s on the shelves by 12-23 it’ll be just in time for my annual christmas shopping blitz…in the “for me” gift category…’cause i know it’s gonna be out too late for someone else to get me a copy!…by the way i was doing a google search and found a survey had reported over 1,000,000 hits on wwdn in october!…that’s a bunch of potential book buyers!…i wasn’t searching for wwdn data…but i found it anyway…congratulations on a very popular site.

  21. Writing is like acting…sometimes you just need to give yourself permission to ‘do it wrong’ before you can get it right.
    Keep on keepin’ on.

  22. If it’s on the shelves before this Christmas, I’ll be very impressed! I take it we’re talking about some sort of Print on Demand venture? Wil, just so you know, this is one farker who won’t be buying a copy unless it’s put out by a real publisher. If you have to pay to have it printed, I won’t pay to read it.

  24. Wow Larry, I guess you got old Uncle Willie there. That is, if he is indeed self-publishing his first book. So you refuse to support the likes of Walt Whitman, Mark Twain and John Grisham as well? I mean, those losers had to self publish their first works. Come on Larry, out with the jive and in with the love, baby!
    Nephew Eric

  27. That’s great news Wil. I’m sure that you’ll decide that the part you put in that sucked will end up being either good enough to leave in with only minor changes, or you’ll just look at it and say “Wait a minute, that doesn’t work at all, but THIS does” and have something completely new and kickass to put in there. When I used to write a lot, i’d find that happened to me all the time. Well, good luck and i’m looking forward to seeing the book under the tree this Christmas. 🙂

  28. I suck every day… you just have to get it on paper and then go back and fix it later. That’s why it’s a first draft 😉
    And about the “real publishers…” Real publishing, or traditional publishing is a relatively new concept. Self publishing is a time honored concept, and no different than musicians cutting their own CDs to build promotion, or actors starting their own production companies – and POD has made it possible for more people to get their work out there. Sell enough POD and the big boys sit up and take notice. And then they crack open their wallets in a MAJOR way.
    I don’t care what publisher is on the imprint. I’ll read it and probably buy a couple copies for friends. It only matters if it’s good, not how it gets to market.

  30. Thats awsome that you got past your block. I would like to write a book one day. Just another thing to put on my “To Do Before I Die” list…

  32. Your friend is exactly right — just write the damned thing. NO ONE ever gets it right first time; that’s what first drafts are all about. If you wait to get it exactly right, it just turns into the perfect excuse not to continue on. Just keep going past the rough spots, and when you go back to edit, two things can happen:
    1) the rough spot will hit you in the face like a wet fish and cry out to be fixed, which you now do, or
    2) the rough spot will sail right past your eyes and not even worry you, upon which point it wasn’t that rough, was it?
    Just keep writing, babe. I know I’ll buy it …

  34. Quote:
    “give yourself permission to suck, and fix it later.”
    Isn’t that Monica Lewinskies motto?

  37. wooooooo hoooooo! wat to go Wil!
    its beginning to look a lot like christmas everywhere you go……… (sry just had to point that out i mean, it really is)

  38. Aha, I’ve never thought of that.
    I’ll keep that in mind when I have a writer’s block
    next time.
    Mucho gracious,
    -b

  39. Not only do I give myself permission to suck, I usually require myself to do so.
    And Hey Wil, heard you on MacRadio, and sakes is your voice DEEP.
    Later.

  43. “Give yourself permission to suck.”
    Hehehe…I can do that without giving myself permission…!
    Hope you sell millions!

  44. Hey Wil. A few months ago I sent you some unsolicited advice about writing under a pseudonym, on the theory that the pseudonym would help free your words a little. Forget everything I said. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.
    I was standing in line at one of the big chain bookstores the other day when a little kid walked up to the register and asked when the next Harry Potter book would be coming out, and it occurred to me that any author who has kids hopping from foot to foot waiting on their next work has done something right. I mean, he could have been home with his Game Boy, but instead he was anxious and excited about continuing his foray into the world of imaginative literature.
    Say what you will about the quality of the work or the ham-fisted hype that drives today’s publishing market, but if the end result is a kid curled up with his or her imagination for a few hours, the result is worth it.
    Best of everything to you, Wil. Looking forward to the book.

  45. Wil,
    Revise, revise, revise used to be some of my teachers favorite word. Think of it as your masterpiece paper without a due date. When it is good enough for you it is finished.
    FG

  46. I was being serious in my post. Well, not really. But I will buy your book, Snoop Willy Wil. I swear.
    All you have to do is buy mine when it comes out in 86 years, or you can post a comment on my website and make me feel nice and snug, eh?

  47. Hey Wil
    I’m giving book too. From what Mr Stephen King says – dn’t worry too much idf the first draft sucks, fix it in the second. Mine’s gonna need a lot of fixing.

  48. I like the idea of giving oneself permission to suck. I’ll have to adapt that as my personal motto from here on out. I wonder, could I get that stitched on a pillow somewhere?

  49. Yeah, I read “Anthem” followed by “Made some good progress on the book yesterday” and my first thought was NO! Ayn Rand is bad! Stay away! But that wasn’t at all what you were talking about. Still, Ayn Rand is EVIL.

  50. “Give yourself permission to suck, and fix it later.”
    Damn, does that ever ring true. I’m in the middle of a master’s thesis, and I have a helluva time following that advice. But it’s good to know someone has the same problem with writing.
    Thanks!

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