We teach what we need to learn

[breakinglight11]

I'm a pretty good writing teacher at this point. I have a knack for breaking down the creation of good writing into a process, one that has comprehensible theory behind it that I can explain, and quantifiable steps that can be followed to the end of producing meaningful work. I'm a half-decent example of the rare good athlete who also makes a good coach— I focus on the active measures a person can consciously take to do well, rather than relying too much on talent or good instinct. I know not everybody is going to find my particular highly deliberate, intellectualized process conducive to the way their brain works, but I like it because it emphasizes a reliance on making active choices, rather than being at the mercy of "flow" or "inspiration" or some other ineffable, ungovernable factor. If nothing else, it's something to turn to when you get stuck.

One of my most fervently given recommendations is to embrace drafting, particularly when you're not feeling it. Just puke out the shitty garbage terrible vomit draft so that you have SOMETHING to work with. It's vastly superior to a blank page, and you will have something you can fix up. Chances are, there's something worth salvaging, and the next editing pass will bring it closer, and the next one closer after that. Basically everything I've ever written that was any good at all was generated that way. And honestly, the stuff I DIDN'T use this method on... basically doesn't exist, because I never really could make myself finish anything any other way.

But sometimes, much as I believe in this approach, I struggle with practicing what I preach. I still feel indordinately nervous about my lousy early drafts. Like, why is it coming out so badly, why isn't it working? I know that the last three Mrs. Hawking plays felt brutally difficult to initially write, and I don't know if it's just more recent struggles feel sharper, but each felt worse in that way than the last. Yet, each one of those not only came out great, probably each of them came out BETTER than the previous one. So I have pretty solid evidence that the system works, even when it feels at its most precarious.

I'm having a hard time with that now. I have an early draft of something in progress that I hate. And I don't have a lot of examples of similar pieces to look back on to reassure myself that things tend to turn out in the editing. But I need to trust the process and go through it. I hammer it so hard because I know it works, even when it doesn't FEEL like it is. We teach what we need to learn.

So, just do it, Professor Jagoff. Practice what you preach. Write the shitty first draft and let it be as bad as it needs to be. The only way out is through.

Comments

[jducoeur]

Sympathies. And a possibly-amusing side note: the same technique is pretty much the best way to do programming. I usually stare at the problem for a while, trying to understand it, then say "Screw it" and start slamming out code. Once I have something vaguely working, it's usually much easier to poke it and prod it until it's correct.

(NB: This approach doesn't *always* work, and some engineers look scornfully on it. But I've found that it's the right way to go about 90% of the time.)

Anyway: right there with ya. I've been staring at a somewhat intimidating new system for too long, and it's time to just force myself to start hammering on the keyboard...

[breakinglight11]

Thank you. ❤️ And that's fascinating! I never would have guessed that it would be an applicable approach to programming. But I guess any creative process that's developmental and iterative could use it.

Good luck on your new system! I hope hammering helps...

[jducoeur]

Thanks, and good luck with the writing project!