Dan Harmon on Procrastination
Right now, there’s an arm wrestling match going on between your desire to write well and your fear that you write badly. Until one side gives out, you’ll remain in creative stasis.
A lot of people would tell you to drop the fear and ride your desire into the station. I say that’s horse shit, it will never work. We desire things that we believe we don’t have. We fear things that we believe are inevitable. You believe, in your heart of hearts, that inevitably, you will write badly.
Instead of pretending there’s a million dollar prize for writing the best script ever, pretend your very life depends on proving that you suck. Pretend there are Nazi soldiers going door to door in your neighborhood, shooting all the good writers in the head. They just got to your door and they want you to see a sample of your work. If you give them any indication that you have the slightest bit of literary talent, or style, or knowledge of storytelling, you are going to die. Save your life by making them say, “not only is this guy not a good writer, he’s not even a writer.”
That’s called a first draft.
(Source: channel101.com)
