I don't recall what I was going to write about, but it can't have been very important. I probably have nothing to say about it anyway. It's a job-related hazardi that, I'm told, we all must endure. But the more I consider it, the more I believe that teaching to be erroneous. I suspect it's the excuse used by those who are stuck, to justify to themselves their inability to pursue their craft. It also rationalizes a vacation from work. So it's not all bad.
I'm aware that such a stand may seem arrogant. But it's a malady from which I don't suffer. I don't know if the key word in that sentence is “suffer.” Perhaps I don't care enough about my writing, so I can ignore the results of failure. Perhaps I tolerate writer's block because I don't make my living from writing, so time away is tolerable and a situation with no significant repercussions. After all, I have nothing to lose if I devote my time to other things. I can get back to writing when the muse strikes me.
If you enjoy writing, though, that may not be good enough.ii The income, however important, isn't your only reason. You have something to say. There's a passion to feed, and the act of writing, the catharsis, takes precedence over other activities. You feel anxiety until you get your words down. You many forget them. Ideally your work will be of topnotch quality, but even if it isn't, it's your work, and you can improve on it later. So because I enjoy writing, I have some thoughts about ways to write and ways to avoid writer's block. And because I have something to say – and because I'm always right – I won't hesitate to list my suggestions in this message to others who may also glory in the art. But first I'd like to deal with some of what I consider the myths (in Bold) of writing.
------------------------------------------------------------
1. Write what you know about. – Why?iii It certainly won't be interesting for you. If you're at all creative – a fiction writer, for example – the world you create should come from your imagination, not your experience. I suspect that J. K. Rowling never experienced Harry Potter's world, nor did Homer romp with the gods.iv Your personal world may be too boring and restrictive. I know mine is. The problem with too many blogs,v as I see it, is that they're all about the author and his experiences. Who cares? Things are tough for all of us. We read fiction to be transported away from reality,vi not to get more of it. We have problems of our own.
Non-fiction writers would be doomed if all they could write about was their own experience. How much can you say about yourself before people start looking elsewhere? And how much will you learn? No, it's more fun to write about whatever strikes your fancy, doing whatever research is necessary. So learn and write. And write and learn. If you find something interesting, and your writing is good, the reader will find it interesting too. And if not, that's his loss. In the meantime, you've enjoyed yourself.
2. Always write in the morning. – Or afternoon. Or evening. Writing isn't a punishment. I've always operated with the philosophy that you do what you have to before what you want to, but the writing should be what you want to do, not something mandatory, so it can be put off until you have something you want to say. Forcing yourself to write at a particular time may be helpful in ensuring that you write, but not that you write anything of interest. So it's a waste of the morning if you sentence yourself to write then.
3. Write a thousand words a day. – I never knew if that was a minimum or a maximum. Either would be silly. From my perspective, the basic rule should be: Write what you have to say. Don't buy into magic numbers. If you don't have anything worth writing, don't write. If you have more than a thousand words that you want to write, write them.
4. Write for your audience. – That's fine if your audience is you. If you force your writing into a mold to suit some target group, the writing will be moldy.vii And, as is noted below in the footnotes, it is belittling to the audience if you write what you think they would like. Of course, that may be the way to get readers and for you to earn a living.viii People like to have their preconceived notions validated. I'm glad I don't have to cater to them.
5. It is helpful to start many different kinds of projects for future development, though this works better in non-fiction than fiction.ix If you seem to be hitting a wall in whatever you're writing, don't force yourself. Switch to another project. If you do this enough times, sooner or later you'll find one about which you have something to say. Fiction writers, however, can certainly start several stories and only develop them when it makes sense. With enough beginnings, it's likely that one of them will rate continuation or an ending at any particular time. But don't continue just so you can keep writing.
6. I was just about to make an important point, but I can't remember what it was. I didn't write it down. Ideas come and go, and you should be ready for them wherever you are. Some form of recording device – pocket recorder or other electronic device, or pencil and paper – should always be available.x Well, almost always.
7. I'm an inveterate letter writer. To the media, that is. Whenever I find something in a news or opinion column that is either wrong or debatable, I find a way to say so. The value of this kind of exercise is that it gives me the opportunity to work through a subject – often one with which I'm only marginally familiar – and, because I mostly write non-fiction (essays and the like), the result of thinking about a topic of interest is often the basis for a longer work. And if there is a moral dilemma involved, there may even be the basis for a short story, or the issue I'm considering may be worth incorporating into one that I'm writing already.
8. Consistency is not required.xi Times and opinions change, and you should never feel you're stuck in a rut.
9. Notwithstanding the cautions against writing when you lack a message,xii it's worth writing down whatever you think will eventually lead somewhere – even if you know you're not saying what you want as well as you want. It doesn't matter how bad it is. You can't do the second draft without the first.xiii
Obviously it's much easier if you're writing for your own enjoyment rather than for a living. Then, if you run out of what to say, you can walk away and get on with something else. The heat's not on. Not so if you have to earn a living.
It all boils down to pressure. Stress. If you can avoid pressure you have a better chance of avoiding whatever it is I'm talking about. I think it's writer's blog.
Next episode: “Best In Show” – Schrödinger's cat strikes back.
i Writer's block, that is.
ii Which is why I'm glad I don't have the problem.
iii Apart from correcting the terminal preposition in the previous statement.
iv Similarly, Tolkien, Juster, Golding and Dodgson created the worlds in which their characters lived.
v Including this one.
vi That's why “reality” shows have to be so heavily scripted. People are looking for entertainment, not reality.
vii Melinda Wagner, Pulitzer Prize winning composer said: “... to try to second-guess them [the audience] to figure out what they're going to like, and write that, would be an insult to them.” The same is true of writing prose.
viii Because I don't write for a living, I needn't be commercial nor meet any deadlines. I can write what I want and when I want. And since I have no expectations that people will be reading my work, I don't have to please anyone but myself.
ix But, as I already suggested, fiction writers also have many stories they want to tell, so they, too, can have many balls in the air.
x Vincent Persichetti, a prolific composer of keyboard, chamber and orchestra pieces, once claimed that since musical ideas often came to him in his car, he liked to tape a piece of music paper to his steering wheel, so he could jot down ideas and keep his eyes on the road at the same time. He didn't kill anyone, but that's carrying this concept too far. Like telephoning or texting while driving.
xi Forget Emerson. “Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are dead.” Aldous Huxley. And Bernard Berenson: “Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago.”
xii Actually there was a suggestion that you write about whatever you want to say, as well as a caution against writing if you've nothing to say.
xiii Or, for that matter, a tenth without a ninth.
xiv Footnotes give the illusion that you know what you're talking about.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I know you agree, but you can leave comments anyway.