I’ve been writing novels for over a decade. In that time, I’ve learned a lot of lessons about creativity and how to be a better writer. I’d like to share 15 of those lessons here—ideas and philosophies that have changed my life as a writer. Some are practical tips; others are new perspectives on the art of writing.
The way we approach our craft matters. Being a great writer isn’t just about knowing the technical side of things. I’ve found that the way I think about writing itself—my motivations, my artistic identity, my view of creativity—can have a profound effect. How we think about writing can hold us back, or propel us forward. So here are 15 ideas that have helped me as a writer. I hope they help you, too.
1. Memento mori, memento creare.
Why do I write? Because I’m going to die. Allow me to explain.
Memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning remember death, or remember you will die. That may sound morbid, but I find it deeply inspiring. When we recognize the fact that our time is limited, we’re compelled to make the most of it. I could put off writing that book I have in my head for another year. But that assumes I’ll still be around a year from now, which, dark as it sounds, I can’t take for granted.
Memento mori by itself can sound a little gloomy, but to remind myself of what it really means to me, I’ve added another part to it.
Memento mori, memento creare.
Remember you will die, remember to create.
I won’t be here forever. So in the little time I do have, I want to create things. Things that matter.
What do you want to do?
2. Writing is a way of understanding the world.
Writing is a way of understanding the world.
Through the lens of fiction, we can see the world more clearly. Storytelling has a magical way of transporting us to universes that don’t exist, letting us inside the minds of imaginary people. And however fictional they may be, great stories reflect something true. They ask real questions.
I don’t write to share a message. I’m too young, I think, to have anything profound to impart.
But I do have a lot of questions. Writing is the best way I’ve found to explore them. Because through fiction, we can translate larger-than-life mysteries into characters and worlds on the page. Through writing, we can wrestle with and better understand this vast, strange, and beautiful universe we find ourselves in.
3. Creative depression.
There’s this strange feeling I get when I watch a really great film or read a truly powerful book. It’s a feeling of despair. A feeling that I can never, no matter how hard I try, create something that good. And that feeling can be paralyzing.
And guess what? It’s probably not wrong. I may never create something that good. But if I let that feeling stop me from creating my own work… I’ll never know for sure.
If you’ve felt this creative depression, this feeling that you’ll never be good enough, don’t let it stop you from creating. Remember that everyone starts somewhere. You’ll never know what you can make until you try.
4. Empathy is the key to storytelling.
The key to writing a great story isn’t an exciting premise or a fascinating world. It’s empathy.
Film critic Roger Ebert said that cinema is a machine that generates empathy. Storytelling, at its heart, is about people—it allows us to understand and empathize with characters, even characters vastly different from ourselves. It’s the connection to your story’s characters that will carry a reader through to the end.
This doesn’t mean you should write all your characters as lovable, nice people. There are plenty of great novels with deeply flawed, even unlikable protagonists. But they’re still compelling because the reader feels some empathy for them, or at least other characters in their orbit. There’s something human, something understandable and real, about these characters.
So when writing characters, focus on what matters most: empathy.
5. You’re never too young to write a book.
I wrote a 50,000 word novel at the age of 7. Here’s the most important thing I learned from it.
You’re never too young or inexperienced to write a book. There are some who would say you should wait until you’ve lived more, or read a hundred books about writing. I think that’s ridiculous.
Look, there’s no guarantee what you write will be any good. My first book sucked, and so did the next, and the next, but I kept getting slightly better with each one.
You’ll never be ‘ready’ to write a book. As Lemony Snicket wrote, “If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.” No amount of preparation or experience will ever be enough. So don’t wait. Write. You won’t regret it, trust me.
6. The creative energy paradox.
There’s this strange paradox I’ve noticed about creativity. Creating things takes energy. But it also gives energy, and often more than it takes.
I might feel more creatively exhausted at the end of a long stretch of writing, but life feels more vivid and purposeful. I’ll wake up the next day wanting to create more.
Like a lot of things in life, starting is the hard part. It can feel like there’s something preventing us from getting the ball rolling.
Steven Pressfield calls this the Resistance in his book The War of Art. But if we can overcome that… well, to paraphrase Newton, a creator in motion remains in motion. Creativity begets creativity.
7. Writing tools don’t matter as much as you think.
Do you think you need that great new app or piece of tech to be a better artist? Think again.
Yes, it’s nice to upgrade your technology and software, but it’s not as necessary as some would have you believe. Don’t get caught in the trap of thinking you’re missing out or you’re a lesser artist just because you don’t have the latest tools. All you need to write a great book is a basic word processing software, or even a pen and paper, and your own mind.
8. Know your artistic identity.
What do you call yourself? An aspiring writer? An author? A creator?
The way we think about ourselves, the way we self-identify around others, can have a profound effect on what we do.
We tend to act in a way that lines up with our identity; we do the things we think someone like us would do. If you think of yourself only as an aspiring writer, you’ll aspire to write. If you think of yourself as a writer, you’ll write.
9. How to find what you love to write.
How do you find what you love to create? How do you choose what stories to tell? It takes time and a lot of experimenting.
Radio broadcaster Ira Glass has spoken about the gap between our artistic taste and our artistic ability when we’re starting out. It’s your taste that will guide you across that gap, so pay close attention to what you’re drawn to.
What kinds of stories move you most? What works of art make you think, I wish I had thought of that! That’s the direction you should head in.
Don’t write the stories you think will sell, or what’s popular at the moment. Follow your artistic taste instead.
10. The unexpected power of a creative habit.
Winter is one of the worst times of the year for me. My creative energy usually feels at an all-time low in January and February, when, here in New York, skies are gray and trees are bare.
But this year is different. This year, I’ve committed myself to creating a new video every day.
That creative habit turns every day into an exciting opportunity. Since I’ve set no rules for myself other than the simple requirement of making a video, I can experiment and have fun with it.
If, like me, you tend to find you’re writing or creating less in the drearier months of the year, consider challenging yourself to a daily creative habit. Make it fun—allow yourself to experiment. You might be surprised how it transforms your outlook on each new day.
11. Lower the bar.
One of the best ways you can make progress in creative work is to lower the bar for yourself. It might sound counterintuitive to lower your own standards to produce something better. But here’s the thing.
Creating a lot of projects and finishing them, no matter how bad they turn out, will teach you far more than starting a lot of projects you abandon because they’re not ‘good enough.’
Lowering the bar—which is what I’m forcing myself to do by making videos every day—means you’ll produce more work that’s not great in the short term. But, you’ll learn quicker and get better sooner than if your standards were so high that you rarely finished a project.
12. Ignore the numbers. Be an artist.
A mantra I’ve been trying to live by this year is ‘Ignore the numbers. Be an artist.’ Easier said than done.
Whether it’s followers, subscribers, likes, views, or word count, anyone who writes or creates things on the internet is faced with a barrage of numbers. And it can feel like they’re all very important.
But I’d like to remind you, and myself, that we’re not defined by numbers. Our art is more than the sum of its parts, more than the numerical impact it has.
It’s about “self-expression,” I guess, but more importantly, it’s about using our creativity to better understand our world and our place in it. The meaning of what you create, to both you and your audience, can far exceed what numbers might tell you.
So next time you find yourself obsessing over the numbers, remember what making art is really about. It’s not the numbers.
13. Look back.
It can be embarrassing to look back at your older work. My first attempts at writing books, making videos, and posting online were… to use internet parlance, cringe.
But that feeling of mortification is a positive sign. It shows you just how far you’ve come since then. If we’re focusing only on our improvement day-over-day, we can miss the larger upward trajectory of our skills.
And remember—you made something. Even if it was bad, you should be proud of the fact that you made it. Only by taking that first shot, only by failing repeatedly, can we eventually master something, whether it’s writing or painting or riding a bike. Be proud of yourself for taking that step, and recognize that feeling of cringe as a marker of your progress.
14. Be a lightning rod.
You should be a lightning rod. Let me explain.
A creative person who’s alert and open to new ideas is a lightning rod for inspiration. There’s no guarantee lightning will strike, but there are things you can do to make it more likely.
First, expand your surface area. Read books, watch films, and discover art and history from as many places and time periods as you can. Museums, libraries, and the internet itself are vast treasure troves of inspiration. You just have to know where to look.
Second, have some place to send inspiration when it strikes. Lightning rods actually send the electrical charge of lightning down a cable into the ground. So when you get a flash of inspiration, put it somewhere. Write it down, draw it, take a picture.
Make yourself a lightning rod for inspiration, and you never know what great ideas might strike you.
15. The value of creative constraints.
Complete creative freedom can be a curse disguised as a blessing. Putting constraints on your writing can actually improve it. Especially for a novelist like myself who tends to write at length, imposing a word count limit for a story can be a good challenge. It might seem arbitrary or unnecessary, but this kind of creative constraint is valuable—it forces you to think outside the box. Writing without rules or limits is fun, but it doesn’t take us outside our comfort zone in the same way.
So every once in a while, set constraints for your writing. You can challenge yourself to write a story set in a single room, or using a specific writing prompt or incorporating a random set of objects. Give yourself a word count limit or a deadline to finish it. Not only do creative constraints challenge you, but they also free you from the paralysis of having too many options of what to write.
I’d love to hear which idea resonated most with you in the comments.
If you want to watch the video versions of these blog posts, head over to my YouTube channel here, and subscribe for more videos on writing.
– Grayson Taylor
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