How to Write a Book

What a writing professor taught me

I wanted to share an enlightening experience I had freshman year of university.

It relates to John Steinback's #2 writing advice, shared last chapter, which to summarize was, Write freely and as rapidly as possible. Throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite. It interferes with flow and rhythm.

The writing professor told us to open an empty document on our laptop and get ready to give our response to a topic. Before giving us the topic, he made us dim our laptops completely down. Have you ever dimmed your laptop completely down? It looks like you have completely powered off the laptop. The screen was entirely black, we couldn't see a thing.

Then he told us that as soon as he gave us the topic, we had to pretend our fingers were glued to the keyboard. No matter what, we couldn't stop typing. Just type, he told us. Don't stop.

He gave us the topic, timed us for two minutes, and my goodness, for the first time in years, writing came so easily. The combination of having the screen completely black and typing fast, throwing all my ideas on paper without hesitation or worry about it being "pretty", allowed me to write so completely free. This quick lesson taught me so much.

Mind you, the writing came out horrendous. But because I never stopped typing, I never paused my train of thought. I wrote this consistent flow of thoughts, everything in my head without hesitation, messily written sure, but when I turned up the brightness and saw what I had a written, I saw truth in my writing, It wasn't this pretentious text forced to be pretty. I saw something different. Truth. Rhythm and flow. The editing process became easier. In fact, that small piece of writing ended up becoming one of the best things I've written.

I urge you to try it. Dim down your laptop completely. Tell someone to give you a random topic and then time you for two minutes. Never lift your fingers off the keyboard. Just write. See just how much your writing changes.

The writing professor taught me the importance of Writing freely and as rapidly as possible. Throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite, for it interferes with flow and rhythm.