WRITING - ZOMBIE STYLE

WHAAAAAT? Zombies and writing? Those two things go together? Surely not! I mean, zombies can only say one word.
BRAAAAIIIINNNNSSSS!!!!
So if they wrote a book, how bad would that book be? VERY bad is the answer. Very bad, indeed.
Seriously. It would just be one word repeated over and over and over for 1000 pages, and yes, if that word had been fart, maybe that would be okay, but it won't be fart! It'll be braaaaiiinnnssss, and that will be boring!

So then, the question is, what can zombies teach us about writing? I personally think they can teach us a lot! Let's start with my top three things!
1.   Zombies don't care what anyone else thinks. They look gross and they smell disgusting and they're out to bite your earhole, but does that stop them trying to bite your earhole? NO WAY! I'm not saying we, as writers, or whatever we are, shouldn't care what people think. But in the end, we could show our work to 10 different people, and they could give us 10 different responses, from love to hate to indifference. Which one would be right?
Which one should we believe?
And if someone hates it, does that mean it's a bad story? NO WAY! This reminds me of a quote that changed my life with regard to my writing. It's from the master, Bruce Lee. He said, "I don't know what I will be writing, but just simply writing whatever wants to be written. If the writing communicates and stirs something within someone, that's beautiful. If not, well, it can't be helped."
This is BRILLIANT!!!! Bruce Lee got zombies, and he got writing. Not everyone is going to like what we write, so we just have to write, let it out, and if it connects with someone, that's awesome. if not, it can't be helped. We can't control how people will react to what we write, we can only write honestly and to the best of our ability.

2.   Zombies do it their way. Some shuffle, some run, some crawl, but they're all going after one thing. A juicy brain! Everyone writes differently. Some people plan, some don't. Some people edit as they write, others let it pour out and edit later or not at all! Some write late at night with a bottle of scotch, some write early in the morning and never drink. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you do it the way that suits you. Follow your instinct. Just because a famous writer plans every step of a story before they even start, it doesn't mean that will work for you. Try different methods, for sure, but in the end you have to write in the way that works best for you.  That's the only correct way to do it.

3.   Zombies love what they do. This is so important to us as writers! We have to love what we write! If I'm writing a horror and I don't think it's scary, or if it's a comedy I don't think is funny, what's the point? But if I'm laughing at my own work, or crying, or feeling tense, that is AWESOME! That energy is going to come through to the reader, and that's what we want in our words.
So don't feel embarrassed if you love what you write. It isn't boasting, it's INCREDIBLE! It's the absolute end goal. It means the magic is happening, and the magic will burst off the page and into your reader's mind.
And that is as beautiful as a zombie leaping off a building to get the brain 50 stories below.
Beautiful. Just beautiful.

So follow the zombie example with your writing. Don't be disheartened by critics, write in the way that suits you, and get your writing to a point where you honestly love it. Then go and eat some brains. Whatever you want. You deserve it.

That's it from me. Have a SPECTACULAR week!
#zombieinspiration