The Process of Writing

[vurtomatic]

Um, just something I came across on the net.

The Process of Writing
by Roland Fishman, The Writers' Studio

Many people have a lot of misconceptions about writers and the process of writing. One of them is that in order to write, you have to be in the mood and that successful writers feel wildly enthusiastic and inspired every time they sit down to write.

In fact, just the opposite is true for most writers.

As author Joyce Carole Oates said, "one must be pitiless about this matter of mood. In a sense, writing will create the mood. Generally I've found this to be true.
I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another five minutes... and somehow the activity of writing changes everything."

After a busy day at the office or a frantic week, people often don't feel like writing at home or when they come to class. But when they do, they're so glad they did. You can see it in their faces. There's no feeling like having written.

But it is a discipline, like anything worthwhile. And the more you write, the better, more inspired and grateful you become. So when you're at home, don't wait until you feel like writing. Just do it.

The act of writing from your imagination will bring your writing to life and nourish your spirit, making you feel connected to something greater than yourself.

Anne Lamott, author of a great book on writing, Bird By Bird, puts it beautifully.
"I encourage anyone, who feels at all compelled to write to do so. Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises.
The thing you had to force yourself to do - the actual writing - turns out to be the best part. It's like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward."

 

[rewiiired]

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[ButrosButros_Grantos]

That all seems a big wank just to say: write... even if you don't feel like it.

 

[(Wordy)]

Hi vurt!

"After a busy day at the office or a frantic week, people often don't feel like writing at home or when they come to class. But when they do, they're so glad they did."

True. But it can be so damn hard to break the pain barrier, the mental fatigue barrier, the apathy barrier, the quickfix barrier...

Discipline. Drag yourself kicking and screaming.

Franz Kafka used to work long hours in an office, only to write feverishly through sleepless nights, then find himself again at the office, flitting ghostlike through a double life of insomnia. A man possessed. Said, "I am literature." Requested that all his unpublished works be put to the fire upon his death. His friend and executor Max Brod went against Kafka's wishes. What possessed him?

What possesses us?

 

[(Wordy)]

Thought I'd give this a bump, just in case anyone missed it the first time, or just as a reminder.

 

[EntrenchdMentalist]

I used to find myself getting caught up in what I was writing and worrying about if it was poetry or a story or whatever and that would stop me writing. Now I try to write as unconsciously, as automatically as possible, just to get the ideas out. THEN with that raw material, I spend a lot of time editing, cutting, pasting, expanding, subtracting, substituting and generally buggerising around with it. There's no need to sit down and write a complete finished piece on the first go, this is what I learned. Worrying about doing that stopped me from sitting down to write so many times (so many words got wasted), but now I just do it when I get the urge, get the ideas out of my head and onto paper/notepad where they're safe and can't get sucked back into the constant flow of thought, and then fuck around with them later. Bits and parts, concieved inconsecutively, often meet up later in the cut and paste process to form cohesive pieces. Let it flow. Yeah.


Following on from this, I no longer worry about not using cliches when I'm in that idea-extraction mode. They can be substituted later for something more original - people only need to see the finished product

So I guess my point is that once you stop worrying about what the writing is going to come out like, you'll probably find the times when you're inspired will be more often - because when you admit it to yourself that you're not really uninspired, but that you're afraid of what you might write or that it might not come out the way it's meant to (it probably wont), then it's much easier to overcome that block. At least, if you're me (and some of you are) it is

 

[(Wordy)]

I try to write as unconsciously, as automatically as possible, just to get the ideas out. THEN with that raw material, I spend a lot of time editing, cutting, pasting, expanding, subtracting, substituting and generally buggerising around with it.

Yeah, I think this is a good approach, and it's a pretty close approximation to what I do.

I no longer worry about not using cliches when I'm in that idea-extraction mode.

Like you said the other night, placeholder clichés! I think that's an awesome term. All clichés must be weeded out, or else blindfolded and led to a place they've never been before. Who was it that said, "Clichés are dead poetry"? I forget... I can't find it on the web, but I read it in a book - I'll look it up when I'm at home. Basically, when it comes to clichés, unless you're a necromancer, you have to leave them for dead.

Did you know that "cliché" was originally a term used by printers, to describe a pre-assembled piece of typesetting which could easily be inserted into a document (i.e. phrases / sentences that were likely to be used over and over again)?

At least, if you're me (and some of you are) it is

Bwahahahaha!

 

[Raz]

I kind of agree and disagree.

I find that I can always write. It doesn't matter where I am or what mindset I'm in, I can always write something.

Writing something specific is a problem. I'm doing an online serial called The New Humans at the moment (check the link in my sig), and I haven't updated it for ages because I can't get back into Cypra's head for some reason, and haven't been able to for ages.

In the meantime I have come up with some stuff I would much like to follow up, but I am having lots of difficulty applying that to the one writing task that I have actually committed myself to...

 

[(Wordy)]

Yeah, I don't know whether I'll ever have the dedication to write a novel... I guess time will tell. If I ever wrote a novel, I think it would probably jump around a lot, with lots of disparate narrative threads. I doubt I could commit myself to focusing on the realisation of one concept, one setting, one set of characters for 300 pages or whatever.

I usually have a lot of things on the go at once. For me it's not always a case of trying to start something new, although as a writer, for me there's nothing like the buzz of finding a new entrypoint into the unknown from out of nowhere. Mostly this comes from experimenting, letting oneself go, without the shackles of expectation and doubt, as discussed above. But often it's a case of working on half-finished pieces, reworking old stuff, or finding a line that doesn't work as well as it should, and trying to 'fix' it. This often occurs while going for walks, while shaving or showering, or just before I fall asleep. Any time when I'm not preoccupied with other things.

I guess from a certain point of view, I never stop writing.

 

[EntrenchdMentalist]

I can always write something.

Writing something specific is a problem.

Bingo.

I don't know whether I'll ever have the dedication to write a novel...

Me either And yet there are at least two novels which I must write in my lifetime! Hopefully I will learn that dedication as I learn the skills required to complete them.

This often occurs while going for walks

I have had some of my best ideas while walking! It's a great way to just let your mind wander, without the pressure of trying to be creative, at the same time as getting good excercise :D