Posted by Jordan Keane, CNF Reader for Issue 4.1
Alright, let’s face it: writing is difficult.
It’s hair-pulling, teeth-grinding, insomnia-inducing, head-on-the-desk difficult. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but sometimes it can feel like an abyss of technique, structure, style, and voice from which it is impossible to draw words.
In 2008 at the Buffalo Irish Center, I had the opportunity to talk to someone I now hold in high esteem, author and a family friend, Rich Blake, about this struggle. My father mentioned that Blake had recently published his nonfiction novel, The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up, and encouraged me to talk to him. Though at first I was nervous, once we got to talking about writing and publishing, I was overcome with excitement. From that conversation, I took away a piece of his advice:
Don’t go back. Don’t edit. Don’t revise. Don’t read what you’ve already written. Just keep writing ‘til you’re done. Then go back.
I carry this mantra with me. In the seven years since, I’ve continued my journey as a writer, and have found myself as a nonfiction editor for our lovely Gandy Dancer. In light of Blake’s recent publication, Slats: The Life and Legend of Jimmy Slattery, it only felt natural to reach out for some insight into the world of writing. Continue reading