John Lennon’s Advice on Writing - Writing and Editing Advice by Greg Luti
- Greg Luti
- Jun 26
- 5 min read
A writing and editing advice post that draws on wisdom from an unexpected source. In “John Lennon’s Advice on Writing,” Greg Luti explores the idea of finishing creative work during the initial burst of inspiration instead of delaying it in pursuit of perfection.
John Lennon’s Advice on Finishing Your Work
There are times when a person’s advice can stay with you longer than it should. The words they say are so damn profound you hang on to them, like an old photo. I am not even sure if we mean to hang on to these statements, but they are with us anyway. One of the most useful pieces of advice I ever heard from an artist regarding their work is from the Beatles' John Lennon, and it showed the guy not only understood the music, but that there is a business side to all of this you can’t ignore.
First, let’s get to the advice. He basically said that you should try your best to finish whatever you started. When he started writing a song, he tried his best to record it all in that one sitting. Now, did he do this for all of his work? No, of course not. Nobody can do that. But the idea behind it is why I think you should try to replicate that approach with your own art.
The Creative State When Inspiration Hits
There is something about how you are thinking, or your mentality when you first come up with an idea or a story, that is different than when you are editing it. Your mind literally is functioning in a different way than it will later on. In that moment, you should milk all the creative juices you have, because, let’s face it, you might not have them later on.
I think the reason for this mentality is that our brains respond differently to the newness of inspiration. You are naturally going to think differently for that brief of time, because there is a story, or a song, or a poem, or whatever, that you just came up with, and you are responding to your own inspiration. Not only are you inspired, but you are responding to being inspired.
Think of it like an athlete who is all overcome with adrenaline and just playing out of their mind. They are not really reacting as they normally would, nor do they want to, because that would get in the way of their adrenaline. I think something happens to artists when they first have inspiration for their art. When that happens, capture that feeling, because you may not have it again.
Why Finishing Right Away Helps You Improve
I also support this way of thinking about your art, because it forces you to improve at it right then and there. You are in the lab putting together your stuff. You are not planning out the story, or thinking about the outline, or pretending to write. No, you are there, actively trying to use your own ability as an artist, with the sudden burst of inspiration you got. The only way to get better at that is by doing it. There are no motivation posts or cliched quotes you can read that are better than the first-hand experience.
Life Can Change — Capture It While You Can
Another reason I like this way of handling your work is that you just don’t know where you will be tomorrow. I don’t want to be a downer here, but your life may change drastically (perhaps even in a good way), and that story, that inspiration, is all gone. You no longer feel that way, so the art will not be as authentic as it would be if you were to write it down, or as much of it as you can down, right away.
My Own Experience with Lost Inspiration
I have an example of this for myself. I wrote a YA novel when I was just out of college. It is about a punk kid, basically being a wiseass to everyone he meets. He hates people and then learns something at the end. I wrote it at a time when I hated the school system, and I had an edge or a roughness that I just didn’t like people, for no other reason than that is how I was. Now, I can’t write that story because I don’t have that fire or cold streak of sarcasm in me. I grew up. I am sure I can put on the writer’s hat, as John Lennon did with his music, and write a book with the character again, but the original emotion would be gone, so much so that I am not sure if the character would even be the same as when I started with him. You can always go back and edit, but you can’t always go back and capture the way you felt about a moment or event.
Your Art Is Also a Product
The last reason I appreciate the advice by Lennon is that it addresses something that is not talked about enough, I feel. Your art is a product. It is to be consumed by people. You don’t have all day here. There is a time limit, and that deadline needs to be met. If you think that you are going to go about this life and make art as you please and never worry about bills or the actual business side of the field, then you should not consider yourself a professional. I am all for writing for the love of it, as I have given you the advice to write to improve your natural word flow before, but that doesn’t mean you are to completely ignore the sales side of things. You gotta release this art to the world eventually. It won’t be perfect. Don’t expect it to be. If John Lennon can release a song that he feels he underperformed on, and wasn’t his best work, then I am sure the world can live with your art being released before you are ready.
The Bottom Line
So let’s wrap things up: Do your best to finish your art when you start it, for inspiration is fleeting and it may not come back to you again. By doing this, you are also forcing yourself to produce something then and there, which can only help you improve as an artist. You should know that life can get in the way, too, so this moment of inspiration may be more of an opportunity than you think. And don’t forget that your art is a product at the end of the day, and you should not sit on it forever. Heck, if this approach was good enough for John Lennon, then I think it will be fine for you, too.
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