Timing is everything.
You’ve probably heard that before. You might have not known how it applied to you or the situation you were in, but chances are you’ve heard the phrase.
Timing is everything.
It is especially “everything” in writing. Not many people, to my knowledge, go over this, but timing is everything. Beyond important, really.
You see, I was writing a different article before this one. It was about an interesting subject, and when I started writing it, I had a burst of inspiration that made me want to do so.
Timing is everything.
But you see, I stopped writing that article. Really, I stopped writing it just a few minutes after I started it. I started it only about five minutes before I was picked up from school, and the next day was the beginning of a long, dreadful weekend full of homework, so I never worked on it again until Monday.
Timing is everything.
When I sat down at my desk on Monday, I felt at a loss for words. Sure, I wrote something and I more or less completed the article, but it didn’t have the same feel, the same force behind its words as it did the preceding Friday.
Timing is everything.
I’m saying this because that Friday, I got the timing right. It was extremely satisfying; I was in a euphoria for those five minutes, and my words reflected that euphoria.
Timing is everything.
The right timing can be hard to catch. First of all, you have to know when it’s time to strike. There has to be a sudden climax in your writer’s brain, a swelling of knowing not only what you want to write, but how you want to write it. And secondly (and perhaps just as importantly), you have to keep going with it once you start. You have to grab that idea, tackle it, control it – and then run. Run with it until you’ve exhausted yourself. Run with it until you lose your surroundings. Run with it until time runs out, until you’ve lost your sense of being, until you have nothing else left to say – and even then, don’t be afraid to push yourself.
I guess this article sort of goes hand-in-hand with the first story I’ve written for Quick Take. Once you’ve got that idea, don’t be afraid to grab control of that blank piece of paper the second it has popped into your brain.
Don’t give up on that pivotal chance.
