This phrase is one I've encountered in the world of video game speedrunning. When a streamer is bemoaning the difficulty of a section, or demanding to find out the "trick" to beating it, chat often responds with a quick and peremptory "git gud".

These are harsh words, but there is hidden wisdom in them.

These two simple (nay, simplified) words have such deep pragmatic implication. They speak to the person struggling, saying "You think this challenge is unfair, but it is fair. You struggle because you are not good enough. But you can become good enough! Continue to strive, continue to build your skill. And when that skill has increased sufficiently, you will be able to succeed. Until then, stop complaining."

These are lessons that we can take to heart in pretty much any skill-based endeavor, but I'd like to touch on what it has meant for my writing. Those six little letters have become something of a mantra, the ready answer for any of my complaints.

This scene isn't coming out the way I want.

git gud

I'm so sick of revising this story.

git gud

After all that work, and now I'm getting bad reviews?

lol git gud

It is the essence of personal responsibility, distilled into purest form. The game is fair; or even if it's unfair, it's the game I chose to play. If I don't like it, I could just quit.

Or I could get up, dust myself off, and fail again. And again, and again, until that failure starts to crack and chip away and show the success underneath. Until I get good.