I've been reading The Perks of Being A Wallflower again the past few days (oh, what a hipster I am, yeah, yeah, yeah) and while I could ramble on for hours about the merits of the book and how wonderful it is, I'm going to shut up and get to the point.
Charlie, the main character, is given a series of books to read over the course of the book by his English teacher (I'll tackle those later) and while reading one of them is inspired to try to write something. He only makes it one sentence in before giving up. Although it probably wasn't such a bad thing, Charlie was a terrible writer.
The point of the story here, is to talk about a few things most writers should probably have at their disposal before they begin an endeavor into the literary world. Some of these things Charlie had, most of them he didn't.
1) Imagination by the shit ton.
No really. Your imagination never should have left childhood.
2) A semi-ridiculous belief in the impossible.
This includes, but is not limited to, faeries, dragons, and magic. Indulging in these things doesn't make you immature as long as you limit it to your writing time. It helps you make the characters you create and their worlds more believeable.
3) The internet.
Were this 1976 I would have said a library, but you need to be able to back your shit up with thorough research. And you know what? Even though this is 2011, a library never killed anyone. I quite like them. They're quite often more helpful and less distracting than the internet.
4) Copious amounts of liquid.
Be it tea, coffee, soda, whiskey, scotch, or rum. Pick your poison and keep it on tap for when the Muse whacks you over the head and you get into a frenzy and forget to eat. The human body can go for weeks without food, but only days without water.
5) Someone sane.
Their job is to pry you away from your medium of choice and force you to talk to people, bathe, and eat. They can be crazy in their own way if you like, they just can't be your kind of crazy.
6) Liquor.
For those attempts at negotiating around writers block.
7) A Snuggie.
For when you write on the couch or in bed or something. Mostly just because I believe people need Snuggies.
8) A very diverse taste in music.
Some music isn't going to make you want to sit down and write. Some is. And more often than not, those tunes aren't in the same genre. So if you (for example) like Daft Punk and listen to only Daft Punk and any of their fellows, you're going to have to expand your horizons just a tad. Because while Interstella 5555 was amazing, the music might not make you want to crank out a chapter.
9) Good grammar.
I don't think I need to get too in depth on this one.
10) Someone you trust a whole helluva lot.
This person might also double as your sane person. Their job is to read your earliest drafts and tell you in complete honesty if they suck or not. They also get to read every draft after that and the finished piece. Try very hard not to abuse them, this person breaks very easily and is just as sensitive as you. You may need a few of these and not all of them at once.
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