Douglas Adams On The Difficulties Of Writing

What if you want to throw in the proverbial towel as a writer? Then please read Douglas Adams’s advice on the difficulties of writing.

Douglas Adams, born on 11 March 1952 and died on 11 May 2001, was an English writer of speculative fiction, a comic radio dramatist, and musician. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the Dirk Gently series. Each year, on 25 May, the world celebrates ‘Towel Day’ to honour Douglas Adams.

Don’t Throw In The Towel: Douglas Adams On The Difficulties Of Writing

On ‘Towel Day’ (25 May) Douglas Adams fans from all over the world walk around with a towel over their shoulder. Astronaut Tim Peake even celebrated on the International Space Station!

It’s a humorous bow to author Douglas Adams who declared a towel as the most important item for space travel in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. All his novels are insanely funny!

Everyone would imagine an author this creative to be in a joking mood the whole time. Nothing could be further from the truth. Adams knew first-hand what it’s like to hate writing, to give up, and to throw in the towel he wrote about.

This darker side to his personality became apparent in 2021 when several articles appeared. They published ‘A General Note To Myself’ written by Adams to remind himself to hang in there when writing became tough. Let’s look at some quotes from this General Note and see how we can turn the proverbial towel into a safety rope.

1. Writing involves worrying. It’s a natural part of the process.

‘Writing isn’t so bad when you get through the worry. Forget about the worry, just press on.’

Writers worry about so many things: finding good ideas, finding the right words, finding publishers, finding readers that will want to read them, let alone pay for their stuff. And then there’s the worry of what to write next.

Do you notice how much worrying is part of the artistic process? Douglas Adams realized that it’s this obstacle that has the power to prevent talented people from expressing anything. He believed you needed to work through that worry.

What if you just delay all of that? Until you’ve finished writing? Easier said than done, I know. But think about it. Give it a try. Tell yourself that you need to separate the act of writing from the act of worrying. First things first. And writing is always first, right?

2. Writing can be good and bad.

‘Don’t be embarrassed about the bad bits. Don’t strain at them. Writing can be good. You attack it, don’t let it attack you.’

Whatever the profession, no human can deliver 100 % quality all the time. Writers are no exception. Not every word can be 100 % excellent. That’s because human attention waxes and wanes. So, writers need to expect criticism. What’s important is how you deal with the bad bits.

Don’t worry too much about them. Why? Because worry is unproductive. It keeps you from writing. It sets you off on a downward spiral. You can get out by getting into attack mode. Whenever you attack, you’re active, you’re in charge. That’s the headspace to be in if you want to improve your writing.

3. Writing Can Make You Angry

‘Today I am monumentally fed up with the idea of writing. I haven’t actually written anything for two days, and that makes me fed up as well.’

We all know that feeling, right? We know we should be writing; we know we should be enjoying this, and for some reason, it just doesn’t work. Maybe we’re sick, maybe we’re uninspired, or maybe we enjoy procrastination too much (here are some ideas on how to beat it). Welcome to every writer’s guilt trip.

The trick is to get as fed up as Douglas Adams. When you’re that fed up, you’ve had enough, and you’re angry. At yourself, at writing, at the whole wide world. Good! Because then you’re in attack mode. And that puts you in charge again (see above).

4. Learn to love editing and second drafts.

‘Give yourself time. You can come back and do it again in the light of what you discover about the story later on.’

Don’t try to rush the creative process. Time is essential. The story needs to develop and so do you as the writer. Once you write the ending, you will have developed more skills as a writer, skills you didn’t have when you started. That’s why it makes sense to delay editing until you’re done.

Don’t forget that constant editing as you write is an excellent source for procrastination. The idea is to accept that writing and editing are separate processes. Writing becomes easier if you permit yourself to write badly in the first draft. Editing that first draft will save you from publishing the embarrassing bits.

Need some reasons to love a good rewrite? Here’s just the article for you.

5. Writing can require unusual sources of inspiration.

‘Arthur Dent is a burk. He does not interest me. Ford Prefect is a burk. He does not interest me. Zaphod Beeblebrox is a burk. He does not interest me. Marvin is a burk. He does not interest me. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a burk. It does not interest me.’

This quote isn’t part of the general note but was found alongside it among Douglas Adams’ unpublished papers. It was written after the Hitchhiker series was completed. Nobody knows why Adams felt that way about his famous creation. But he’s in good company.

Artists often dissociate themselves from their creations. We can only guess why. What is interesting though is what happened right after Adams complained. The author of this article in The Guardian says Adams continued by switching to a ‘conversation with a dragon named Lionel.’

A dragon? It doesn’t matter how you get inspired, it only matters that you do. So, imagine a dragon, talk to your kitchen sink, sing in an elevator, and write your poems on a tissue box. Whatever opens your faucet. Do what you need to (inspiration is a myth anyway). But do let your creations go. Distance yourself from a finished text. Because that’s the only way how you’ll find fresh ideas.

The Last Word

If a writer as brilliant and funny and celebrated as Douglas Adams can have dark moments, then you’re allowed to have them, too. Just don’t stay in these dark places. Write a ‘General Note’ to yourself!

Further Reading

1. 10 Tips For Writers From Douglas Adams
2. Why It’s Okay Not To Write (& Simple Steps To Start Writing Again)
3. Writing Advice From The World’s Most Famous Authors

Source for Image: Michael Hughes, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Douglas_adams_portrait_cropped.jpg

By Susanne Bennett. Susanne is a German-American writer who is a journalist by trade and a writer by heart. After years of working at German public radio and an online news portal, she has decided to accept challenges by Deadlines for Writers. Currently she is writing her first novel with them. She is known for overweight purses and carrying a novel everywhere. Follow her on Facebook.

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