There are two ways to write: The Printer Method and the Pixel Method.
With the Printer Method, you write and rewrite every sentence until it’s perfect. Nail the first sentence, then the second, and so on. Perfection is the name of the game so you don’t advance to a new sentence until everything before it is perfect.
The Pixel Method is the opposite. Instead of making every sentence perfect, you put all your ideas on paper — knowing that each one will eventually need to be refined. But instead of refining the sentence immediately after you write it, you wait until you have all your ideas on paper. Then, you rewrite each sentence until you’re happy with it.
Most people who have Writer’s Block are using the Printer Method. With it, their standards for perfection are so high that their ideas can’t take shape, and eventually, they suffocate their own brilliance.
Writing and editing require different states of mind. You can’t be generative when you’re too critical of nascent ideas, which is why the Printer Method silences the creative spirit.
Embrace the Pixel Method instead. And remember, even the best ideas are born blurry.
Cover Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash
