Just Do It.

Joyce Carol Oates couldn’t have said it better. “Write your heart out”. Those four words have influenced me immensely. So plainly put they communicate exactly what I need to do: let go and just write. Although articulated in a very different way, Annie Lamont pointed this out as well in her article “Shitty First Drafts”. She talks about how you just need to write a draft where no judgments are made, where you let your mind roll and jot down what you really want to say. By allowing yourself to write your heart out without the pressure of being “right” or “well-written” you create real and natural writing. 

I love how Joyce Carol Oates put it because she adds a sense of passion and purpose to the idea. She makes more than just writing what is on your mind, but rather writing what you care about, what you want to share with the world, and writing it with passion and intensity instead of complacency. To me, that is a priceless piece of advice that more young writers need to realize and understand in order to succeed in the wild world of writing.