“The desire to write grows with writing.”
Desiderius Erasmus

I’m always excited when I come across writing advice that seems helpful — anything we can all take advantage to keep ourselves up and running. Recently, I came across a site which featured some useful tips from an award-winning nonfiction writer and novelist, Cory Doctorow. Cory is the author of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and a number of science books. Here’s what Cory advises:

1. Write every day: Anything you do every day gets easier. If you’re insanely busy, make the amount that you write every day small (100 words? 250 words?) but do it every day.

2. Write even when the mood isn’t right: You can’t tell if what you’re writing is good or bad while you’re writing it.

3. Keep writing: Write when the book sucks and it isn’t going anywhere. Just keep writing. It doesn’t suck. Your conscious is having a panic attack because it doesn’t believe your subconscious knows what it’s doing.

4. Stop in the middle of a sentence: Leave a rough edge for you to start from the next day — that way, you can write three or five words without being “creative” and before you know it, you’re writing.

5. Write even when the world is chaotic: You don’t need a cigarette, silence, music, a comfortable chair, or inner peace to write. You just need ten minutes and a writing implement.

I like the straightforwardness of these suggestions: Write every day, write even when you’re not “in the mood,” just keep writing, stop at a place where you can restart easily, and write anywhere. Great advice — let’s see if we can make it work for us. Write on!