I do not mean, “I want it/need it right now, or else!” We don’t advocate that millennial entitlement nonsense on this website.

When should the story become interesting? Right now, is when. It begins with a letter, then words, sentences…You get the point. Each word should fall in the exact order to create a magical sentence. This is referred to as a person’s prose, the rhythm and cadence to their voice on the page. Believe it or not, this right here, is musical. Letters have masculine and feminine classifications.

I think you do believe it. Maybe the moments where you as a writer have done this isn’t on the level you see it done by the authors you read and love, yet- it’s still there. I’d bet you’ve written sentences that are timeless in their nature. I do know this is true for damn near every single one of us. Maybe even all of us have this within.

To hell with it: we all have the magic within. So where do we go from here? How do we consistently, effortlessly, write sentences bathed in magic? We write a lot. Plain and simple, we write as much as is humanly possible for each one of us.

The other thing we do is we read a lot. This includes non-fiction books, editorials, articles, blog entries, and anything else that is written down on a document or printed on a piece of paper. William Faulkner had a quote that I barely remember now, but I do remember him saying, “read it all”. I believe he meant to say read all of everything and anything you can. Why? Because he then says, you’ll come to know how it’s done well, how it’s done so-so, and what god awful writing/storytelling looks like.

Then, you write like those who do it well. You emulate how to flow like a champion. Again, the more any of us writes, the better we’ll get, at a quicker rate. This isn’t to discount those writers who struggle to write on a daily basis. I can say from experience that to write every day isn’t like making enchiladas. It’s work, plain and simple. We all may have an intense passion for words, as I do, still- it takes effort, we must push our imaginative boundaries, we have to scape the jars and barrels clean of their specific words. Straight up, writing is fucking work. I read about this idea of our profession, our passion if we’re lucky, still comes down to honest, hard work. We must labor to create, thus- it is a labor of love for those of us who do it on a regular and frequent basis. As it is for those of us who find it tough to write even a few paragraphs. It’s a labor of love for all of us. Sorry- ego was trying to mess with me for a second, but I batted that bitchy bat back, made it fucking leave.

So, what am I saying?

Read a lot.

Write a lot.

Do this, and the pieces will fall where they’re supposed to, where they were always meant to fall into place.

Also, try not to overthink. Don’t worry, if possible. If you feel your ego trying to fuck with you, to take you out of the moment, just let it pass. Do everything possible in your willpower to empty your thoughts. Practice breathing exercises. Be free from thought for a few moments. I guarantee you’ll feel better if you can manage to pull this off. It isn’t easy, and sometimes, an emotional reaction will happen, regardless of how much we might try our best to contain the emotional discord we feel within.

Trust the process. This craft, as is true for any craft, is about the process. It boils down to the process of writing, editing, revising. It comes down to reading, analyzing and perhaps giving a critical response of what worked well and what didn’t work as well for you as the reader. The more we are able to spot the meaning behind characters, plot, theme- the better writers we will become in our own writing. I’m freaking telling you the truth. I dunno the science behind this phenomena, but it definitely works. The more I read the more fluent and rhythmic my own sentences are.

Okay. That’s enough rambling for today.

Philip Webb