Use the Force to improve your writing

Star Wars probably isn't the first source you'd turn to for writing advice, but a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a couple Jedi masters shared a few words of wisdom with their padawan learners that may also help you on the path to becoming a better writer.

So grab your lightsaber and power-up your protocol droid. Let's see what they have to say.

"Do or do not. There is no try."

You're either a writer or you're not. You either write or you don't. There is no in-between. The moment you put pencil to paper and begin to form words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs, you're a writer. Professional, hobbyist. Doesn't matter. Similarly, thinking about writing but never actually writing gets you nowhere.

"You must unlearn what you have learned."

There's a lot of misinformation out there, words of advice that are sometimes taken too literally. Being told to never use coordinating conjunctions at the beginning of sentences, for example, or warnings to never use sentence fragments. But these "errors" have their place in writing. It's important, however, to know when they work and when they don't, and why they work when they do (for instance, sentence fragments may be used to accentuate a tone or emphasize a point). As I've said before, know the rules so you can effectively break them.

"Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. Trust your instincts."

When working on your first draft, it's best to not worry about the little things. Don't preoccupy yourself with superficial details. It's good to be mindful of what you're doing, but if you spend too much time thinking about how the last sentence sounds, where that comma should go, or how to spell the word "boondoggle," you'll end up slowing yourself down and losing that natural flow. Save those thoughts for after you've finished the first draft.

"Your focus determines your reality."

It's difficult to focus, especially today. So many distractions. But to write clearly you must think clearly, and you'll need to focus to accomplish either. Close the door, turn off the cell-phone, log off the Internet. Do what you need to do.

"There's always a bigger fish."

You could be the best. Or not. Does it really matter? Chances are, there's someone out there, many people out there, who are better at this writing gig than you are. There are people out there who are worse, too. Meaningless details. Bottom line: don't worry about it.