Suck, Daily.
2 Comments 
Posted under: Brian Wrote This, Graphic Fiction (comics), Nonfiction, On Writing
Here’s some writing advice I took to heart (but have executed inconsistently). It’s a quote from comics writer Matt Fraction.
He did a session two years ago on Warren Ellis’ Whitechapel message board in which he took questions from the audience over the course of a week. Around 170 posts into a wide-ranging 600-post exchange, this:
What would be your one practical piece of advice for getting shit done?
write everyday. if you want the job of being a writer, do it every day. even a little: treat it like a job, not a hobby. i wish i’d done that sooner.
Any tips you might like to share?
get it done. bash your head until it’s done. it sucks, it’s awful, it’s the hardest thing ever. but just let yourself suck; give yourself the gift of sucking, promise you’ll do better next time, and remember it’s always easier to rewrite than to write.
and if you can actually have a real deadline, a there-will-be-blood deadline, that helps. i was amazed at how little time i had for preciousness when there was an artist being paid to draw pages I hadn’t written…
Fraction’s Casanova, with brilliant Brazilian artists Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, is an explosive delight, like a chocolate creme easter egg filled with napalm. Artistic napalm. But in a good way. I’m enjoying his Iron Man run, too, though I’ve seen mixed reactions to it. I think even the best writer is going to have a hard time pleasing everyone when doing legacy superheroes, whether because of fractured and occasionally stunted audience expectations or because Big Hero Comics’ editorial departments seem to be … broken. But however you slice it, I respect Fraction’s work and the persona he has presented in connection with it.
This advice is hard to follow. It’s also pretty common, but Fraction puts it eloquently. “Just let yourself suck” has pith. And it’s an important thought, because preciousness is the budding writer’s deadly enemy. That and sloth. So combining the commitment to produce something with the freedom to not be in love with the result is liberating.
Art Credit
The little thumbnail is from the Image hardcover of Casanova Vol. 1, Luxuria. Since reissued, recolored, by Marvel. Art by Gabriel Ba.
I started this year with a goal of writing at least 500 words a day, every day. Had a hell of a run in January and February, too. Ran out of momentum after that, despite having tons of free time as a not-overburdened freelancer. But my laziness is like water: It fills the container you give it. Having just finished the San Diego Misadventure (thoughts and reviews from the Con will trickle out here in time) and started a fairly demanding new full-time job, I’m trying to get back up to speed — despite a crushing freelance load on top of the full-time, and this new blog to develop with Adam. But strangely, I feel more energized about getting stuff done than I often did during the lazy idyll of my slowest freelance months.
Let’s hope I can turn it into something. Stay tuned.
2 Comments + Add Comment
Flavors
Back Issues
Links
- Badmouth.net: Pop culture snacks.
I just want to say that as a writer, I find this advice very encouraging, and also really hard to follow. I also find it’s easier to write when I don’t have time for it.
Ah, well.
Yeah. Professionally, the deadline crunch has always been a powerful incentive. But when I had acres of time sprawled before me, I got more done than I ever had before, but so much less than I might have. But acres of time won’t be the problem anymore …