The Transformative Power of Randomness
How to Be An Anti-Fragile Writer — Part 2 of 5
“I learned I could deliver pages at five in the morning with a nuclear war going on,” screenwriter Jason Fuchs told me, while writing Ice Age 4.
It’s a level of focus unlike anything most of us have ever experienced.
Because, naturally, writers write when they feel like writing.
At least in the early days.
Before deadlines. Before paychecks. Before external accountability.
But to truly be anti-fragile, you must learn to write regardless of the elements.
It’s romantic to think of writing alone in a cabin by the roaring fire.
Or in the middle of Paris in the 1920s as Hemingway sips a coffee at the next table.
Or even in the late hours of the night with a deadline as you cover a political scandal.
But these are exceptions. And we need rules.
When you’re serious about putting words on the page, you find the time to do so, regardless of that which happens around you.
And the more often you find the time, despite what random occurrences are happening out of your control, the more proof you have that you are in fact a writer.
Don’t suppress the randomness and chaos of your day.
Let it seep into your work.
But do not let it derail your work.
It can transform you. It can make you stronger. It can destroy your comfort level and it can simply make you better.
Finishing the day’s work despite the random chaos proves you are anti-fragile. It proves you are a professional, and not a hobbyist.
[Stay tuned for the next post: Take Lots and Lots of Small Risks]
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