Goodreads asked Chip Scanlan:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Chip Scanlan LOWER YOUR STANDARDS! Many beginning writers, and veterans, too, that I work with are hobbled by writer's block. They want immediately to write a best seller, but they have trouble getting words on the page or computer screen. The solution: freewriting, brief sessions where you type as fast as you can without judging the result. They are amazed what they produce when they outrace the inner critic inside us all and open the gates of their creativity. I recommend they read "The Watcher at the Gate," an essay by the novelist Gail Godwin. https://www.gailgodwin.com/watcher-at...
Of course, they must raise the bar when they revise to make sure their stories are accurate and well-written, but lowering your standards at first produces prose that can be massaged into greatness.

flag