There are, first of all, two kinds of authors: those who write for the subject’s sake, and those who write for writing’s sake. The first kind have had thoughts or experiences which seem to them worth communicating, while the second kind need money and consequently write for money. They think in order to write, and they may be recognised by their spinning out their thoughts to the greatest possible length, and also by the way they work out their thoughts, which are half-true, perverse, forced, and vacillating; then also by their love of evasion, so that they may seem what they are not; and this is why their writing is lacking in definiteness and clearness.
- Schopenhauer, On Authorship and Style
I now realize that the ability to fully concentrate on a task for a long period of time is one of the hardest skills to acquire in the modern age. Nike's "Just Do It" is really apt here. Don't think so hard about doing it. Just do what needs to get done. Right now I'm so frustrated by my inability to sit through one project. Every time I'm about to latch onto something, I think "Wait, what if this isn't a good enough peoject?" and then I start writing other stuff, or just stop writing altogether.
As far as my frustration is now concerned, last year I wrote a novel by writing aimlessly and without pressure for 30 pages, then the whole thing got more and more of a direction and I eventually finished at some 200+ in book format pages. It's not a perfect or well planned-out product, but I can always edit afterwards.
