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1.14.2014

You Know You're a Writer When...

There's no end of advice on the web where writing a book is concerned and most of it, I confess, irritates me. Writing is a subjective process. It's personal and no one rule or set of rules fits all. I tend to be rather free-form when it comes to just how I write. Let's face it. If writing were dancing I'd be Martha Graham, not Busby Berkeley...

I wish could be one of those people who follow clearly defined steps and formulae. Oh, how I aspire to being a disciplined writer like that when I grow up! I attempted it while writing With A Bullet, but I was miserable and didn't enjoy the writing process at all, until I finally gave in to my chaotic muse with her mussed, J-effed hair, rumpled toga, and deliciously mussed, cluttered boudoir.

The thing is, I haven't always been like this. My first real novel, Night Music, was written the way most authors write, probably because I worked a full-time job that required a 30 minute-to-two hour commute (each-way), depending on the weather. I'd come home, make dinner and take care of all that business, then, at 7:00 I went into my little writing room and pounded on the keyboard until midnight. I had neither the time nor the energy to be precious about it. I had my outline and my numerous research books, and I wrote from them. This was before the internet so I didn't have a million-and-one writers telling how I should and should not do it, I just did what was most practical, which is probably the best advice anyone can give. Do what works for you.

My life is less structured these days, which gives me the luxury of pondering, brooding, and mulling over my work as I write it. Not the most productive, efficient path to finishing a book, I know, but it is a more organic approach. Outlines leave me cold; I'm much happier following my nose as it leads me into unknown dimensions. Still, there's always that voice in my head gnawing away at my self-esteem. "You know you're a writer when..." as the meme begins. Sod it. I'm a writer not only when I write, but when I move through life with a certain mindfulness, an eye for characters and stories, and an understanding of human psychology.

As with many things in our modern world, people think too damned much, and I'm the worst offender. Just write the story using whatever method works best for you and don't listen to all of the would-be, self-appointed experts. Accept yourself as the writer you are and always remember that the keyword that applies to any and all of the arts is INDIVIDUALITY.

You understand, of course, that I'm talking to myself.

Here's a wonderful little article that inspired today's entry.

9 comments :

  1. I love this! I know I'm a writer because I woke up with a start in the middle of the night worried that in an essay I'd published I had defined "I" as a pronoun and oh-shit-maybe-I-was-wrong. Seriously? Who does that crazy shit but a writer?

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  2. I do, my friend. I found what was, to, me a glaring, hair-pulling typo in my Special Edition: instead of "David Bowie tee" I'd typed "Davie Bowie tee". I panicked and even thought seriously about re-publishing the entire book. Then, my better self reasoned, "Heh. People will just think you meant it, implying that people on the inside track called him Davie."

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  3. I mean, if they see it at all. Most readers skip right over things that keep us writers up at night, clutching our pillows. :)

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  4. I'm finding most writing advice these days to be a giant waste of time -- not that any of it is BAD advice, it's just not aimed at me. A lot of it is motivational, and believe me, I do NOT lack for motivation. Nor am I a beginner. So I like to INTERACT with writers more than offer or receive advice, which I'm likely to ignore anyway.

    My approach? You know it already, but I'm a "pipe-layer" kind of writer. I just keep plugging away, every single damn day. It's the only way I know how to work, and I'm paranoid about losing time!

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  5. I wish I could be more like you; I think it would make the writing process a lot clearer for me. You inspire me.

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  6. PROOF comments before you post them, Waller! My reply to Jayne should read, "I do, my friend. I found what was, to me, a glaring, hair-pulling typo..."

    [sigh] I'm such a Charlie Brown.

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  7. PROOF comments before you post them, Waller! My reply to Jayne should read, "I do, my friend. I found what was, to me, a glaring, hair-pulling typo..."

    [sigh] I'm such a Charlie Brown.

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  8. When I'm writing, I'm a writer more like what Kelly describes. I get up early and try to get a couple of hours of writing in before I have to get ready to go to work, and then after work, I come home, eat dinner, spend a little time with Steph and then I'm back at it from about 8:00 to 11:00. On the weekends I'm at the computer all day for two days, for as long as I can stand. It's harder when you're working a full-time job, so you have to be more disciplined about it. However, I don't push myself to write so many words a day. I write what I write. If some of that is going back over what I have already written, so be it. It's still getting it done and it's still creating. It's been a couple of years now since I published my last book and I'm itching to start another one, but I have to make sure that I'm ready and that my family is ready for the process and discipline that it takes for me to do it.

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  9. I've always envied your discipline when you write. You just truck on through it. You say you're going to write a book, then the next thing I know, you're finished. No one even knows you're doing it. With me, it's a whole deal... LOL.

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