Nathan Baugh is a writer and the founder of World Builders.
Please enjoy his 280-word Micro-Interview:
Thanks, Nathan.
Let’s get started:
"Do you have a work routine?”
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Oddly enough, I write what I post to Twitter or LinkedIn the day before. The newsletter is sometimes the day before, as well. But for writing fiction, I write for 1-3 hours each evening.
"What do you wish you'd known about your work when you first started?”
It takes many bad or meh ideas to come to a great one
Speed and volume are differentiators in almost everything
You can science your way to a good story; it takes art to make it great
“What did your biggest professional failure teach you?”
Taking care of my mental health needs to be priority one. From there, good work follows.
“Has anything helped you shorten your craft's learning curve?”
Copywork. I keep a backlog of the best passages from books and essays, then copy them by hand. It's the fastest way to become a better writer.
“Do you have a book recommendation?”
Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t by Steven Pressfield
“Any parting piece of advice?”
"Write down everything that happens in the story, and then in your second draft make it look like you knew what you were doing all along." - Neil Gaiman
I overanalyze my writing. Is that sentence needed? Can I find a better word?
But when I'm at my best, there's a clear line between writing and editing. Writing is fast. Get as many words on the page as possible. Don't worry about grammar.
Then editing is slow. Start high level. Does the structure logically make sense? Will the audience be hooked from the start? Then get into the nitty gritty.
Write fast, edit slow.
