Writing for the rest of us: More rock stars of writing: Satchel Paige & Mariano Rivera by Mark Bellusci

What do two immortal baseball players have to do with writing? In the case of Satchel Paige, a perennial star of the Negro Leagues, the oldest rookie to play in the major leagues and an all-star well into his forties, it’s his famous saying:

“Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you.”

Apply that to writing, and you have one of the most important rules to follow:

Keep putting words on paper, no matter how hard that may be.

That leads to future Hall-of-Famer, Mariano Rivera. It’s not what he says that makes him a writing rock star; it’s what he does. He finishes.

For writers, that means:

Finish what you’re writing before you start editing.

How many times have you written the first few sentences, then lost all momentum by going back to review what you’ve already written?

Editing something you haven’t finished not only wastes time, it derails your train of thought and could sap your writing confidence. To paraphrase Satchel Paige, by looking back at your incomplete piece, you’re letting all those negative “never-good-enough” thoughts gain on you.

Here are 8 steps to being a writing closer:

  1. Start with an outline to build momentum and stay on track. Check on my prior article about another writing rock star, Frank Lloyd Wright.
  2. Remember that you have nothing to edit until you have a finished first draft.
  3. Go back to a prior rock star in this series, Plato, to borrow his writing inspiration: an alarm clock. Set it for a short time, like 15 or 20 minutes, and don’t stop writing until you hear the alarm.
  4. Even if you think you’re writing a crappy first draft (we all do), keep filling the page. You’ll feel much better seeing words on paper instead of a blank page.
  5. If you’re not done after the alarm rings, take a quick break. When you’re ready to resume, pick up where you left off.  If you have to read the last paragraph for context, fine.  But don’t review from the beginning since that will put you in editing mode way too early.
  6. Write “The End” when you’re finished. Even though you’ll delete it while editing, it will feel good knowing you’ve finished a rough draft like Mariano Rivera finishes ballgames.
  7. Celebrate your first draft. You deserve credit for putting all the words you need on paper.
  8. Only after your first draft is done can you start editing.

As the baseball season heats up, you can thank Mariano and Satchel for making your writing better, faster and less painful.

If you have other writing topics you’d like me to cover, let me know through 45dgree, and I’ll find the writing rock star who covers them.

Mark Bellusci is a freelance copywriter, published playwright and award-winning filmmaker. And he does it all in twenty-minute bursts, using his trusty phone alarm clock and never looking back till he has that first draft finished. See his stuff at markbellusci.com and markbellusci.com/video.

Copyright © Mark Bellusci, 2012

 

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