Writing Tips from the Hillfire Team: I started; what now?
You’re no longer a writer-to-be: you have now written words on a page, you’re a writer. Believe me, you may not be a published writer, but you’re a writer nonetheless. You can say that when introducing yourself—don’t impostor-syndrome us—you’ve done the only thing that defines a writer.
But you’re stuck, you can’t really continue, you watch movies about stuck writers finding love but they don’t help. Here we have some advice from our writers.
Hillfire poet M.H. Monica told me to remind you that seeking perfection is pointless. “No writing is perfect, no matter how much you edit and no matter how many people read it and give you criticism, it can't be written to perfection, so it's better to get it to a degree that you like and to move on to the next piece.” She adds, when you’ve published it and you realise you should have change that, you can “just work on it afterwards and send out a second edition 😛”. Smiley included.
This is the attitude: Stop thinking, start doing. Do or do not, there is no try. I could quote a hundred different motivational sentences that say this same thing, which is proof that it’s easier said than done: when we repeat something, it’s usually because it’s not happening.
So, you, like me, are thinking and not doing. Don’t punish yourself, seek learning. Making mistakes is like walking: it gets you to your goal.
Hillfire writer Emerson Rose Craig has a nicer way of saying this: “I think the piece of advice I have been trying to keep in my own head lately has been 'Allow yourself the mental space to just write without worrying about genre, tropes, or any other aspect of marketing.'”.
We’re all trying here. We all idealise the others. Many of the writers in Hillfire come from the MSc Creative Writing program at the University of Edinburgh. When I (Julia Guillermina) was there, I sometimes thought everyone was better than me, and other times, I was convinced I was the best of them. This is all pointless thinking. The fact is that we all think along the same lines, we all struggle, and talking about it makes us feel a bit better.
Look at what Hillfire poet Anthi Cheimariou wrote to me: “Everything you'll ever write is going to be horrible and of course not good enough, just keep writing!” That’s the spirit. Whether you want to be snarky, dark, funny, or hopeful about it, the main advice is keep going.
And if you’re struggling with writing longer pieces, work on smaller stories or poems first. This is another piece of advice from M..H. Monica. Shorter pieces can be like an exercise. “You are more likely to build discipline for it that way and won't give up mid-way on your bigger pieces".”
Good luck persevering!
Writing Tips from the Hillfire Team is a three post series, compiled and edited by Hillfire Team member Julia Guillermina. When you write The End, come back for Tips for Writing — I wrote something, what now? (coming next week).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Julia Guillermina is struggling with writing pieces, which makes her the perfect option for writing these blog posts. On top of that, she’s a teacher. She has a huge culture on literature and will always give you references from this or that French or Spanish writer. She’s the financial advisor for Hillfire and has published “Wild Wind” (From Arthur’s Seat, Volume V), “The Flatmate Chronicles” (Together Anthology), “Vale of Tears” and “The front row” (Hillfire volumes 1 and 2).
