Writing

My good buddy Jason sent me a link on a site about tools for writers. One section had something I wanted to babble about. Roy Peter Clark wrote:

America is not a nation of writers for many reasons. One big reason is The Writer's Struggle. Too many of us talk and act as if writing were a form of procreation without the sex, all labor and pain, all dilation and contraction, with none of the romance and excitement at the point of conception.

For those of you who want to write well, I'm about to reveal a great secret: The Writer's Struggle is over-rated. In fact, the struggle turns out to be not just a confidence game, but a con game, a cognitive distortion, a self-fulfilling prophecy, the best excuse in the world for not writing.

"Why should I get writer's block?" asked veteran newspaper columnist Roger Simon. "My father never got truck driver's block."

There is much more that resonated in me in this large website. But this brings up an interesting point: the dreaded writer’s block. For some time, this was an excuse I would use when I was not writing. I’ve got writer’s block. Or even worse, I will absorb myself in research to avoid getting back to what I am working on.

This happens often with Tangled Threads. I am creating a whole world, so I want to be concrete with things like faith systems, laws, philosophical beliefs so research is necessary. But it masks something else. I am being lazy.

There are times writer’s block is legitimate. I can stare at a page and my brain freezes. I hit a brick wall and stare at it, dazed. The problem is I let the wall stand in my way and then writer’s block becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

At the same time, though, I am in a situation where I have to work. When I get home, I am tired, often stressed out. I just want to unwind and relax. And weekends, I just want to recharge my batteries. But again I have to be careful because this just becomes excuses not to write.

One interesting point Clark brings up is to get into a habit when it comes to writing. Do it in the morning, when you get up. Take your coffee and spend some time before heading off for a full day to write. He uses running as an example.

When you get up, there are no excuses. So you do your run. But if you put it off until after work, you have all day to make excuses not to run. And they are ready when you get home. You are tired, you have to clean the bathroom, you have to make dinner. And in the end, you don’t run.

In some ways, I have used that strategy for this blog. I have tons of ideas for posts I want to write. I have notes and scribbles for 27 potential posts, most in just point form. I do work on them when I get home, but most of the formation is between 5-7, in the morning.

After I have organized my coffee and checked my email, I can focus on what I want to say for the day and put the final touches on the day’s post. And except for weekends, my posts are faithfully online before 7.

But this has been dangerous. Whereas this blog is important to me, and I have tons to say, some of this time should be spent on Tangled Threads. I have to be careful not to have this blog become an excuse not to write other things.

So what is my point? This blog has helped me start to find a voice, which helps me with Tangled Threads. Many of the themes I am talking about are echoed in my series. But I have to find a balance and let Tangled Threads come forth.

My start here lead to the important step has been urbis, for me. By putting some stuff on, I have been getting honest feedback. I see that I didn't have writer's block but lost steam. My passion for writing had burnt out. My foray into urbis has rekindled my passion. I have already finished a new very short story, that I wrote on Sunday. I have the beginnings of a new short story. I am starting to look at my German journal to see if it might be something for review. I am now reviewing the first two main chapters of Tangled Threads.

At the same time, I am starting to implement some of points Clark recommendations which I will share and paraphrase from Clark's words:

Distractions

Set a work area. I find when works starts to pile up, it affects my flow. All too often, unimportant things attracts my attention, be it messages, research notes, etc. Pulling me away from my writing. So have a clean work area just for writing.

Watch your language. Be it spoken word or thoughts, negative words like "procrastination" and "delay" and "sucks" sets a negative mood. Turn words into something more productive. Call it "rehearsal" or "preparation" or "planning."

Habits

Adopt a daily routine. As Clark points out, fluent writers prefer mornings. Afternoon and evening writers have the whole day to invent excuses not to write. The key is write rather than wait.

Trust your hands. Forget your brain for a while, and let your fingers do the writing. I find just letting go often gets the juices flowing and the words pour out.

Draft sooner. All too often, writers use research to fill up the available time (I should know). Whereas research is important, it can making writing tougher. As Clark points and I am finding, by writing earlier in the process, you discover what information you really need.

Count everything. As Clark points out, for the fluent writer, every word counts. Learn to judge your own work by quantity, not quality. Some days, there may only be a line or two, while others it will be ten to twenty pages.

Rewrite. The quality comes from revision, rather than from speed writing. Fluent writing gives you the time and opportunity to turn your quick draft into something special.

Feedback

Find a confidant. Clarke suggests finding a rabbi; for me it would a confidant. We all need one helper who loves us without conditions, someone who praises us for our productivity and effort, and not the quality of the final work. Too much criticism weighs a writer down. Someone who will be honest.

Find a circle. Classics like Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Naria did not appear from a vacuum. Tolkien and Lewis were part of a group called the Inklings. They read parts of their developing stories to get feedback. What is important of this circle is honesty. Tolkien did not like Naria and told C.S. Lewis so. Yet it did not stop Lewis from getting it published.

Journal

Keep a journal. For me, this is a critical point. I kept a journal from 1981. Things like story ideas, key phrases, a startling insight, a character study is fleeting. Something jumps into your mind and then it is gone. Having a journal or notebook lets you write it down for another day.

One of the most painful things with the psycho I lived with a few years ago, is I lost all my notes I had written from 1981 to 2002. Concepts, ideas, studies that might lead to something. I remember snippets of ideas I had written in 1984 lead to a story in 1986. But now all those notes and ideas are forever lost.

But one should not obsess with writing in a notebook. I have gaps in my journal for Tangled Threads as long as a year. And then another spurt comes in. Yet the notes I have written down, at the spur of a moment, has come in handy afterwards.

For me, the journal should be paper and pen. Something you can have in your knapsack or purse. When an idea comes to mind, you can be on a bus, subway, in a cafe, who cares, but you can jot down the ideas and come back to it later.

Be it ideas for dialogue, a character issue or a bizarre thought from having a couple of pints, you don't want to lose them. And using pen and paper makes you focus, unlike typing on a computer.

Writing is not easy. Most people do not see that. Creating art is not just throwing things together and hope it works. I need a kick in the ass every so often. The past couple of weeks has given me that. I forgot why I write. I forgot the sheer excitment one gets when one creates. The amazing thrill when someone gets what you are saying. Be it Clark, or the other influences that have come together the past couple of weeks, I am now back in the saddle. I have not been so excited in a couple of years. And people at work wonder why I want to leave early so I can focus on all of this.