No one starts off by being excellent at writing, they learn what people want.
The worst thing about writing is how easy it is to fall into similar ways of thinking, becoming direct copies of other media.
I’ve noticed this mainly in scary monsters in popular media.
As of the last 10 years, there has been one movie creature design that just keeps happening again and again.
It’s the creatures from A Quiet Place, the Demogorgan from Stranger Things. The long limbed gangly grey monster.
Although it’s done well, it’s done too much.
I want to see more unique creature designs in entertainment.
The Beginners Mindset
The reason beginning writing is often not very good is because the writer doesn’t know the rules.
They don’t know how a story flows, how to create meaningful dialogue, or what makes a bad idea.
This is both a blessing and a curse.
The thing about beginner writers I’ve found is their ideas are more interesting they just don’t know how to write them.
This makes sense because who among the human race has the most out-there ideas?
Children.
They come up with the craziest ideas because they have no screen through which they pass their creativity through.
This is why we want to foster the beginner’s mindset.
To create truly revolutionary ideas you NEED to step back and look outside how the world expects you to behave.
Limiting Expectations
In my writing practice, I optimize for the beginner’s mindset in my entire waking hours.
There are 3 main ways I and you too can adopt a beginner’s mindset and write truly interesting things.
1. Find What You Like
The biggest problem your writing is falling flat is you don’t enjoy what you’re writing.
An unenthusiastic writer makes for an uninteresting read.
I make sure I only write what interests me.
This is when I watch a movie or read some writing I take some time to write down what excited me about the story, what didn’t, and what I would have liked to see that I didn’t.
Eventually, after a while, you have an extensive collection of what you like and how you like it done. This collection acts as a file for you to look through and pick out anything that you can write about, that also is deeply interesting for you.
2. Let Your Writing Simmer
This may sound disconnected but I think video games are extremely valuable for your writing.
I’m not talking about games like Tetris, Call of Duty, or The Legend of Zelda but sandboxes like Minecraft that force you to make your own ideas.
I think games like Minecraft are so valuable for the creative process because not only do they let you take a break from your writing but they distract you with a new world with a new set of rules, that you have to make up.
Switching your focus from your work to another world that you get engaged in like reading resets your creative juices and when you revisit your words you will find so many new ideas and creative solutions to problems.
All because you are looking at your work through new eyes.
3. WRITING IT DOWN
The biggest problem with your writing is not the character’s intentions, story flow, or even how good you are at writing, it’s that you’re not writing enough.
The thing about writing is that when you write enough ideas come to you out of anywhere at any time.
It’s easy to disregard most ideas because of what you have come to expect to do well.
This is missing out on so much value.
An idea not written down is an idea lost.
Write your ideas down when they come to you, and do it often.
In Conclusion . . .
It’s as simple as that.
Your writing WILL get better because you are interested in what you are writing, your ideas are unique and you’re thinking like a beginner.
Enjoy your writing and you’ll make great things, and that’s exactly what we all need.
More good stuff.
Happy Writing 🙂
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