Is 'Just write it' ALWAYS good advice?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Stacia Kane

Girl Detective
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 23, 2006
Messages
8,142
Reaction score
2,668
Location
In cahoots with the other boo-birds
Website
www.staciakane.com
(We had a thread on this topic not too long ago; I've searched for it but can't find it, sigh. I'll keep looking.)

The thing is, I usually see "just write it" given as advice in response to questions like, "Can I have my MC do X?" or "Is it okay to have Y as a plot point?" There's really no other possible answer for questions like that; there's no other way to know if something will work, and no other way to find out if it's acceptable in context.

I agree some people need a strong outline, and for those people Just Write It isn't always going to be helpful, because they want to plot out their stories in advance so if there's a plot point--as in, how to get the characters from A to B--that needs to be worked out before they can write, it's not helpful to tell them not to do that.

But that's not every scenario. And as others have said, "Just write it" is also often given when we have people who start dozens of threads about things like what to do with their money and will they have a say in their cover art, when they haven't written a word.

It's always good for people to pay attention to what the OP says as far as being a pantser or plotter, and reply accordingly, but the fact remains that sometimes JWI is the best or only advice that can be given.
 

RichardGarfinkle

Nurture Phoenixes
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
11,140
Reaction score
3,082
Location
Walking the Underworld
Website
www.richardgarfinkle.com

shadowwalker

empty-nester!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2010
Messages
5,601
Reaction score
598
Location
SE Minnesota
No piece of advice is universally right. That's why it's called advice. But as Stacia and others have said, this advice is typically given when someone is doing everything except writing - whether that writing is the planning or the story itself. They aren't progressing in any way, shape, or form. It's also used when someone says "Can I..." and who the hell knows until we see how you wrote it?

Basically, I use it to tell people to get off their butts. If they don't need to be told that, I don't.
 

RichardGarfinkle

Nurture Phoenixes
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
11,140
Reaction score
3,082
Location
Walking the Underworld
Website
www.richardgarfinkle.com
Sometimes people need to get off their backsides and gather inspiration or information or do research or learn some necessary skills or shift to another project.

There can be more than one reason that a person might be stuck and incapable of going forward with their writing.
 

calieber

Couth barbarian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 7, 2006
Messages
787
Reaction score
58
Location
BK.NY.US
  1. If a writer is not sure if something will work or not, the only truly definitive answer is what critters/betas say once it's on the page.
  2. I'm a plotter, but I'm pretty sure I can't submit an outline and get it published; it has to be written sooner or later. That doesn't mean "so write it sooner," but it does mean, again, if you're not sure about something, write it anyway and see what happens.
 

jeffo20

Tyrant King
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
1,747
Reaction score
176
Location
Central New York
Website
doubtingwriter.blogspot.com
Sometimes people need to get off their backsides and gather inspiration or information or do research or learn some necessary skills or shift to another project.

There can be more than one reason that a person might be stuck and incapable of going forward with their writing.
Quite true.

When I give the 'just write it' answer it's because my perception is the writer is delaying and delaying and delaying, not because they need more time/info/research/whatever, but because they're just afraid of taking that next step. I could be wrong, but that interpretation is based on what they say in their posts. If I thought they honestly needed more time, I'd say so.
 

RichardGarfinkle

Nurture Phoenixes
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
11,140
Reaction score
3,082
Location
Walking the Underworld
Website
www.richardgarfinkle.com
Quite true.

When I give the 'just write it' answer it's because my perception is the writer is delaying and delaying and delaying, not because they need more time/info/research/whatever, but because they're just afraid of taking that next step. I could be wrong, but that interpretation is based on what they say in their posts. If I thought they honestly needed more time, I'd say so.

That's absolutely fine. My primary objection is to people who act as if Just Write It is the panacea for all writing problems. I think the alternatives do need to be laid out since the OP was asking whether it's always good advice.
 

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
9,232
Reaction score
1,897
Location
Providence, RI
For "just write it," read "just work on it." All the pre-draft notes and diagrams and outlines and research count.

Some do get trapped in the preparations, however. Look to Middlemarch for a cautionary tale, and don't let Mr. Casaubon's fate be your own!
 

Myrealana

I aim to misbehave
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 29, 2012
Messages
5,425
Reaction score
1,911
Location
Denver, CO
Website
www.badfoodie.com
Something is always better than nothing, and procrastinating is a huge problem for lots of writers. There are people who need to be told to stop fretting and dive in.

But sometimes I think this advice is given too quickly to people who are having trouble in the conception or planning stages of their work. "Just write it" has a very pantser bias. Sure, actually getting started on the writing produces something concrete. But if a plotter is prompted to start the writing process earlier than they're comfortable with, isn't it possible that they'll run into more frustrations and potential discouragements than necessary?

The brainstorming/worldbuilding/outlining processes can be very important for some kinds of writers. The "just write it" line should only be given when it's clear the writer's planning is getting in the way of their writing instead of facilitating it.

I agree. I am a very structured plotter. It's the way I approach everything - from balancing my checkbook to planning a vacation, and that includes writing.

I can't start writing if I don't know where I'm going.

I agree that sometimes over-prep becomes a way to avoid writing the actual story, but "just write it" is not a panacea for all pre-writing problems.
 

Stacia Kane

Girl Detective
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 23, 2006
Messages
8,142
Reaction score
2,668
Location
In cahoots with the other boo-birds
Website
www.staciakane.com
And I do wonder, how do you know that the people in question are actually putting off writing? Some almost certainly are, but is it always clear?


Because they often tell us, either in that thread or in another post elsewhere. I know I'm not the only one who looks at posting histories here.
 

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess
Kind Benefactor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
6,704
Reaction score
1,314
Location
Far from the madding crowd
Website
www.victoriastrauss.com
I can't start writing if I don't know where I'm going.

I agree that sometimes over-prep becomes a way to avoid writing the actual story, but "just write it" is not a panacea for all pre-writing problems.
Same here, and agreed. I am definitely a plotter; I need to have the story and the major character arcs worked out ahead of time, or I feel as if I'm floundering in a shapeless morass, which I find really demoralizing. Plus, however well I plan, the plan always changes in the actual writing--whether because I have a better idea or because when I get to a certain point I realize it can't really happen the way I thought it should--so I'm always re-plotting.

I do get frustrated with myself sometimes. And I am a procrastinator (didn't use to be; this is something I've developed as I've gotten older), so I'm aware sometimes that I'm planning or plotting in order to avoid "just writing." But I've developed a reasonably good sense of when I should pause to re-group, and when I should push through.

- Victoria
 

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Messages
8,943
Reaction score
3,151
Location
In God I dwell, especially in Eugene OR
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I agree that no advice is ever 100% true. (including that last statement)

I can't write without an outline. I can't just rush through the words and fix it later. They have to be right for me to continue to write.

But....if it's procrastinating... Then, yeah, just write it is the advice I give.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

backslashbaby

~~~~*~~~~
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
12,635
Reaction score
1,603
Location
NC
I think some of the questions could be discussed for the benefit of the poster asking about specific things instead of telling them to just write it and see. Granted, we won't know whether their version is good until it's written, but we can tell them where we saw it done well or poorly and give advice, imho.

It depends on the question, of course, but I try to go on and answer it if I think I can be helpful at all. For me, it's up to the writer to figure out whether they are procrastinating or truly learning as they go. But I do believe you can learn as you go, meaning that others' advice on what authors to check out, etc, can happen as you write, especially for a long work like a novel.
 

jaksen

Caped Codder
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 6, 2010
Messages
5,117
Reaction score
526
Location
In MA, USA, across from a 17th century cemetery
Beat me to it.

And I'll echo what Stacia said, above. Ruminating about thinking about considering that you might intend to plan to begin to commence to start an outline, if only some commenters could provide reassurance of how good the intention is . . . isn't writing.

caw

Wow. If I could say that, I'd say I couldn't have said it better.

:D
 

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
25,582
Reaction score
3,785
Location
New Hampshire
Website
madhousemanor.wordpress.com
My primary objection is to people who act as if Just Write It is the panacea for all writing problems.

Who are these people?

Do they post at AW?

------------------------

Still and all, someone could spend fifty years researching, fill a storage shed with notebook after notebook of detailed outlines, write character sheets for every major character, minor character, and household pet in the story, cast horoscopes for those same characters, do a pre-writing exercise every day until their fingers are strong enough to crush coal to diamond -- and yet, seventy years later, if they haven't actually written the book, there is no book.

How many people do you know who say, "I'm going to write a book some day," and ten years later are still saying, "I'm going to write a book some day"?

What advice would you give that person?
 

RichardGarfinkle

Nurture Phoenixes
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
11,140
Reaction score
3,082
Location
Walking the Underworld
Website
www.richardgarfinkle.com
Who are these people?

Do they post at AW?
Some do. See previous threads on the subject.

Still and all, someone could spend fifty years researching, fill a storage shed with notebook after notebook of detailed outlines, write character sheets for every major character, minor character, and household pet in the story, cast horoscopes for those same characters, do a pre-writing exercise every day until their fingers are strong enough to crush coal to diamond -- and yet, seventy years later, if they haven't actually written the book, there is no book.

How many people do you know who say, "I'm going to write a book some day," and ten years later are still saying, "I'm going to write a book some day"?

What advice would you give that person?

These seem like extreme cases. The question isn't whether Just Write It is ever good advice. Of course it is sometimes (especially in the first of your examples). The OP was whether it is always the right advice, which it isn't.

The advice I would give your second example isn't advice it's a question, "A book about what?" If the person had no answer to that, then they're only day-dreaming and need no more discussion. If they have an answer I'd discuss process with them.
 

Mr Flibble

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 6, 2008
Messages
18,889
Reaction score
5,029
Location
We couldn't possibly do that. Who'd clear up the m
Website
francisknightbooks.co.uk
I can't think of any advice, including "Don't hit your thumb with a hammer," that's always right.

Don't eat yellow snow?

No advice for writing is ALWAYS right. They aren't rules etc etc

But many things, such as apprehension about writing, can actually be allayed by actually writing (this includes to my mind working on your timeline etc as long as you aren't doing it to avoid writing the book)

For the OP of the other thread (perhaps I shoudl post this there too....because I have a confuddle) - you have one timeline complete. There is nothing to say you can;t noodle the other timelines in your head as you bash out the first scene of the one that IS complete. (I quite often brainstorm projects I will write, while I am writing this project.)

The thing is this: Whatever advice anyone here gives, it is up to you to decide what works for you. Because there are as many different ways to write as there are writer - perhaps more, because not every book works the same way.

If you feel apprehensive, then perhaps writing a scene or two will help to settle you in. Then again, maybe you're the kind of writer who needs it all down first and it won't work.That's cool. But you won't know that until you try. Try everything, until you find what works for you
 
Status
Not open for further replies.