My trusty journal, the one I started back in September 2018, just ran out of pages. Time for a new one. So I was reading up on bullet journaling. No, really, it ran out of pages. It’s not just another cliché New Years resolution to journal more. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m a huge fan of writing stuff down and already love dot journals because they’re basically the perfect compromise between a ruled and a blank journal.
In digging around, I came across this guy Neil Gaiman. A writer. I never heard of him before and was intrigued. I found a page where he listed 8 good writing practices. I do in fact want to finish a few photography books I’ve started, including ones that date all the way back to my wife’s and my wedding and honeymoon four years ago. Yeah, it’s time to knock those out. Consequently, these practices were a good find in that respect.
I liked Neil’s list. Of the eight things he wrote, I liked the last one the best.
8. The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you're allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it's definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.
Neil Gaiman
Own it, basically. Or fake it 'til you make it. Or, as Brendan Leonard cleverly puts it, Make It Till You Make It. Good advice for the new year, or in the middle of the year, or on any random day of the year.
