I love reading suggestions from established authors on the processes of writing. Recently, while sitting under a very hot dryer at my hairdresser's salon, I came across an article by Walter Mosley. It was a great article and after reading the small excerpt, I decided I would buy it.
Walter's book discusses the avenues of novel writing and I would love to comment about each one of the steps, however one of his steps really stuck out; he suggest writing every day. I've read other articles or books on writing, and that is a common statement. Could this be possible, I wonder? Is that how they were able to have a career as a writer?
Mosley states that the first thing he does in the morning is write and he writes 3-hours a day. Wow, 3 hours a day? That would mean that I would have to start writing at 4:30am before work and that would be hard for me 'cause I loves gettin' my sleep on!
Then I start thinking about these authors and their lives and I wonder how they were able to pull it off. Did they have a full-time job, do they have kids and were they able to work at home? Did they have a husband or wife or significant other who let them take time off to write or were they financially able to write full-time? Or did they have daily struggles and obstacles, but still had the drive and the passion to write daily?
Even though Walter Mosley mentions the circumstances that might keep you from writing daily, he states that he doesn't have an answer for how to get around them and how could he? We each have our obstacles.
I don't think there is one single writing process. I believe it's different for each author. I've written short stories, poetry, screenplays and am now working on my novel. For each story I've written, I was always at a different stage of my life. I've been out of work and written. I've been working full time and going to school and written and I've had the opportunity to work at home and written. But I've also had all those things and never wrote a thing.
Do I agree with the many authors who say you should write everyday? Possibly, especially if you are trying to finish that novel or screenplay. Especially if you feel that if you work one more 9-5 job you're going to loose your ever lovin' mind. Especially if you want to see the fruits of your labor come into fruition. And especially if you want to be able to make a living as a writer.
So I will try to write daily and if I can't, I won't stress myself out. But what I will do is try not to miss more than 2 days because for my own mental state, how can I afford not to write?
For more information on writing see links below:
Walter Mosley, This Year You Write Your Novel
The Writer's Digest
2 comments:
Some great insight here! For about a year and a half I've been working on a memoir. It's pretty intense stuff so I feel I have to be in "that place" emotionally to really get at the core words. My biggest challenge however is remembering the day-to-day details of the events from a year and a half ago. If only for this reason I wish I'd written everything down back then - even in sketches. We'll see what happens. I know I have a couple of similar family stories in me yet to put on paper.
Dear Laine,
It's hard keeping track of things that happened years ago especially if you are trying to write a memoir. It's totally different for me since I am more a creative writer. Basically, I take what I remember from my life and the parts I don't remember, I make up. That's what helps me create my fiction. For instance, I am writing a novel about foster care. I can relate to that because I was a foster child, however there are things I can't remember (or don't want to) so I make up stories.
I'm sure if you take the time to talk to family members or look at pictures, these will help you remember details. You'd be surprised what you can remember if you just take the time to sit, visualize and listen to your thoughts. They are key in the process of writing.
I feel that when we try to force words, the story will come out looking stale and lacking of passion.
Writing takes creating pieces/peaces; peace of mind, peace of spirit and most of all peace of time (meaning it does not need to be rushed.)
If you remember those key points, I'm sure the memories will start flooding.
Hope this helps!
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