top of page
Search
Writer's pictureEric Stuyvesant

Just Do It - Writing Tips

"Just Do It" - a vintage marketing campaign that has stuck with me for years, and wasn't that the agency's intent; memorable content that has endured the test of time? As a writer, I hope my content far exceeds my lifetime. I'd hate to think that everything I've spent a lifetime slaving over would fall on deaf ears just because I'm gone.


While I don't know the intricacies of how the "Just Do It" campaign was developed I'm certain it didn't happen in a vacuum. Like anything else that malleable billet was most likely forged in fire. I imagine it was heated, hammered, shaped, stressed, then heated and hammered again until it finally became the slogan we know.


As a wordsmith I have tended to be shiftless, always waiting on creative inspiration, praying that the next screenplay, novel, poem, or short story would rain down from the heavens and land on my fingertips. It never has.


So, if you're a writer - be it aspiring or established - here are the best writing tips I can offer in bullet point fashion:

  • Write! I don't care if you're not inspired, write anyway. Write (not type) letters, journals, recipes, an ode to your cat... just write. Write like your life depends on you scribbling out 5 million useless words by the end of the year. Write on your lunch break - describe, in fine detail, the texture of a potato chip. Not writing for lack of inspiration is the equivalent of holding your breath until life gets exciting. Just Do It.

  • Read! There's nothing new under the sun, just a unique way of framing the idea. Give me the same thing - only different. Take written notes while you're reading. There's no sense trying to rack your memory after the fact. You'll never find the page where inspiration struck, and even if you do the unique idea you had will most likely have escaped you.

  • Listen! If you're writing "fiction" each character's voice will most likely come from actual experiences. Listen to the voices in the room - even if they're spouting philosophies you vehemently oppose. Conflict is a necessary component of every story, and if you've shut out the voice you disagree with the conflict you create isn't going to sound authentic.

  • Turn off AI! I don't care to hear a computer-generated description of your potato chip. I want to hear YOUR voice, YOUR words, YOUR thoughts. Fuck the collective assembled intelligence of a computer - even if it assures you it "can make it better." You know what else will make it better? Practice. Tons of it. 5 million useless words scribbled in a notebook will make it better, and I assure you I'll read every one.

Writer's Block


2 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page