Every writer is different. Not just in their particular turn of phrase. Not just in their writing style, though that is often the difference most apparent.

Writers are different because writing is different. Writing flows from experience, it is intrinsically personal.

Everyone writes differently.

Maybe you plan, maybe the words just stream from you without thinking.

Maybe you edit obsessively. Or maybe you do the barest of checks before tossing the piece into the wild.

Maybe you write frenetically when the mood takes you, and then suddenly stop. Maybe you write at a set time each day.

Personally, I don’t know how I write. I just kind of…think onto paper. Inspiration particles strike me at random, setting off a web of lightning within my brain. Then the words stream forth, without thought. Or sometimes the words have to be coaxed out, dragged from the darkest recesses.

The reason I sometimes have a massive coalescence in my draft hell is because I suffer from editor’s block. Sometimes, I write a piece, but hitting publish then and there doesn’t feel right. For one reason or another, the words that flowed out . So it sits, and I inevitably return to it. Edit and re-edit, but something still doesn’t feel right.

I get caught in the trap of desire. Desire for perfection. A perfection impossible to achieve, so it becomes a cyclical death spiral. The only solution is to say ‘to hell with it’ and hit publish anyway. Spend too long looking backwards and you’ll inevitably trip over. Keep moving forward, keep publishing. It won’t be perfect — but is anything?

That’s how I break out of editor’s block. Just hitting publish.

Infinitely easier said than done. I have to stop myself obsessing over stats. I have to remind myself that each piece is an imperfect fragment in a still more imperfect overarching work. Writing is not easy, publishing is not easy. But it is worth it.

How you write doesn’t matter.

The important thing is that it is written.

Tell your story, yell it loud. Nobody else will.

Because nobody else can.

Thought for the day: Making mistakes is better than faking perfections