Let’s have some fun.
The legendary Bob Ross.
One of the most creative minds of our time. The kind-hearted painter who graced millions of television sets around the world. He may have left us too soon, but his influence still lives on.
While his focus may have been on helping us all experience the joy of painting, I believe writers can benefit from his words of wisdom all the same.
“Three hairs and some air.”
This referred to carefully making soft brush strokes—very soft. In fiction, sometimes you want to give your editing a delicate touch. Too much of a particular creative element can ruin a scene, chapter, or even a complete novel.
Imagine having nothing but fast-paced action scenes or pure dialogue with no action for hundreds of pages. Or having too many exclamation points or characters SPEAKING IN ALL CAPS.
Eventually, it would get tiring no matter how engaging the story or characters might be.
Here, a gentle touch is the way to go.
“You really can do this.”
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a beginner or a bestselling novelist. As long as you keep at it, the happy little sky’s the limit. Bob believed in you, I believe in you, now it’s your turn to believe in you.
“Just beat the devil out of it.”
He loved to beat the devil out of that paintbrush.
He’d often say this whenever he had to clean his brush. He’d dip it into odorless paint thinner and then beat the bristles dry. Whenever he did, he’d always just smile (even if it made the camera crew a little upset).
It was clear he wasn’t taking things so seriously. Wanna make a mess of things? Go right ahead—Bob did.
Think of it this way: whenever it’s time to edit your manuscript clean, just beat the devil out of all those little grammatical errors and typos.
As you edit, you wanna make sure you make your manuscript as squeaky clean as your heart desires. No matter how many passes it takes. Go ahead, beat the devil out of it. Oh, and be sure to smile when you do 🙂
“Happy little…”
Trees, mountains, clouds…it really didn’t matter. Creating happy little anythings can be incredibly up-lifting. Such is the way of our beloved fiction. As you write, envision your happy (or not so happy) little characters. Let them do whatever it is they came to do.
They’re telling you their story, and I’m sure all they want is for you to—happily—get out of the way and write it down.
“As things get closer to you, they get darker in value.”
The further away you move from a light source, the darker things become. For fiction writers, this means the closer you get to your characters, the more they will say. And the more they say, the more you’ll learn.
The good, the bad, the ugly, and the dark. Particularly—the dark. Write it all down, even if it doesn’t make much sense yet. Your story will thank you.
“Everybody needs a friend.”
One, two, three trees and so on. Whenever Bob added one tree, he almost always added another…and another…and another. Why? Because he believed everybody needs a friend.
It really doesn’t matter what’s going on in your story. Is the world ending? Great. Are your characters spending a bit too much time alone? No problem.
Try giving your protagonist a friend or two and see what happens. That friend might just play a powerful role in your story. Or they might want to stab your lead in the back for hoarding all the food. Either way, at least they’ll have company, haha.
“Here’s your bravery test.”
When Bob picked a spot on his nearly finished painting and made one good long dark streak down the canvas—we were all left speechless.
Deep down, though, we all knew he’d make magic out of it somehow.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for your writing is to just go for it. Doesn’t matter what comes to you, just do it.
Not sure how to end your latest mystery novel? How about your first short story? Just write something down. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Even if you’re not sure how it’ll make the story better, but your characters insist — just do it. It doesn’t matter how unusual it is.
A little courage from time to time can make a world of difference.
“You have to make big decisions.”
This one s like the previous quote, but refers to key moments in your story that could make all the difference. This is most true during your editing phase.
At some point, you have to make big decisions. Decisions that could have far-reaching consequences throughout the current piece and beyond.
Does someone have to die? What ties all your characters together? Will there be a major plot twist that will leave your reader wondering whether you’re actually sane? Who is the actual lead character? Why are they the best fit? Do you need a point-of-view change? Will there be ice cream?
You know, BIG decisions.
“As you paint, you begin seeing things.”
This one speaks to all the intuitive writers out there. As you write, you see your world, characters, and story for the first time.
Say you just met your protagonist. Mary tells you how she wished her wicked stepmother would drop dead. All Mary wants is to invite her friends over to dance the night away. Then there’s a knock on her front door. It’s her ex demanding they run away together. Little does Mary know her stepmother has been dead for the past hour. A knife to the back of the head.
The killer? Her ex maybe, I don’t know; the point is I just made that up as I wrote. I started seeing things.
You begin with one little thread and start seeing others like a spiderweb. One thing leads to another. It’s like meeting a single character and having them hold your hand to show you all the wonderful (and not so wonderful) things in their life.
“We don’t make mistakes, we have happy little accidents.”
In nearly every episode of his show, Bob would drill this into us. They’re happy little accidents, because anything you write during your writing phase can easily get edited out later. Don’t worry so much about making a mistake as you write—you won’t.
Whatever you put on the page is supposed to be there. Just let it be for now.
“Let’s have some fun.”
Enough said. Seriously though, if there’s one thing I believe Bob wanted to give us, it’s joy. Pure and utter joy as we watched him paint some of the most beautiful landscapes. We just gotta take it to heart and—have fun. If you’re not having fun, what’s the point?
“Make up little stories.”
This one can be useful when you’re having a difficult time coming up with stuff. Maybe you’re facing the blank page—maybe you’re in the marathon of the middle. Whatever the case, it’s helpful to make up a little story within a story now and then, even if it makes little sense.
Instead of using a mythical sword against goblins, your red-haired tattooed heroine is using a stick to fend off vampire chickens. Why? Because she’s still a brave little ten-year-old who will someday defend her village against bloodthirsty goblins.
A little weird? That’s ok, Bob also said artists are allowed to be a little weird. Besides, it could lead to your next great big idea. Just a thought.
“Maybe in our world…”
Whenever Bob said this, you knew he was blissfully up in his imagination. Possibly imagining where his next happy little tree or happy little mountain would go.
That’s the key to this one—imagination. Don’t be afraid to use it. If your characters aren’t showing you much to go on for whatever reason, trying asking.
If they aren’t showing, what are they saying? Are you getting a gut-feeling about something? Go up into your head, check-in with your heart and see what wants to come out. Maybe in your character’s world…
Bob Ross wanted us to experience the joy of painting. Hopefully, with these inspirational quotes, you’ll also experience the joy of fiction writing.
Happy writing, my friend.
Jeff Aybar is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy writer, fiction writing coach, INFJ, and veteran. If you enjoyed this post and want to stay in touch, consider joining his happy little newsletter. Get personal stories, advice, inspiration, and exclusive content and resources by signing up here. You’ll also get a free workbook with writing and drawing prompts and notified of any upcoming book releases.