Quit While You Still Know What Comes Next

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THE TIP. Hemingway told the Paris Review you write “until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next,” and then you stop. On purpose. Then you try to live through until the next day.

Most of us do the opposite. We catch a good stretch, ride it until the tank’s bone dry, and quit at the wall. Next morning it’s a blinking cursor and a pile of yesterday, and you burn the first hour figuring out where the hell you were.

So steal it, whatever you make. Writers, stop mid-sentence and scribble the next few words under the break. If it’s a song, leave the loop running and write the next chord on a sticky note and slap it on the monitor. Painters can leave the eye undone and mix its color before the brushes get washed. Newsletter folks, write tomorrow’s opening line tonight and walk away from it.

It feels wrong, y’all. You’re hot, the thing is finally moving, and you’re getting up from the table with food still on your plate. Every part of you wants one more page.

Get up anyway!

Tomorrow you sit down already knowing the next move, and the first five minutes do themselves. Those are the exact five minutes most of us spend talking ourselves into doing the dishes.

What do you leave on the desk for tomorrow’s you? Hit reply and tell me. ~ J.D.