Anne Lamott, in
her national best-seller how-to book Bird by Bird, Some
Instructions on Writing and Life wrote:
"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years
old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had
three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin
in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder
paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of
the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's
shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by
bird.'"
That’s some of the best advice ever for writers . . . take
it one word at a time, one paragraph at a time, one chapter at a time, until
you’ve (surprise!) reached the end.
You won’t always feel like writing, not every day, and some
days, what appears on the page will look like pure crap to you. The thing to
remember is, you should expect that your first effort is ALWAYS a crappy draft. The goal is to write down the nuggets of
your story idea. On blank paper or on a blank computer screen. Doesn’t make any
difference if the spelling is correct, or the grammar, or the format. You can
fix all that later.
So many people I know have an idea for a story. They read a
book and say, “I could do that. If I had the time.”
If you really, really (notice there are two “really’s” here)
want to write, You. Will. Make. Time. Aren’t a morning person? Write at night.
Too pooped at night? Write before the rest of your family gets up. The
important thing is to make a habit of writing: same time every day. If you’re also
working a full-time job, no problem. I always found that when I was super busy
at work, I was more efficient with my time at home.
Do your story research one day and write the next. If you
try to integrate the two, you’ll surely find yourself down an interesting but
time-consuming rabbit hole and having not written one word of your novel. That
also means No Facebook, No eMail, and No Twitter. They have No Place in your
writing time. They’re for personal time or marketing your book.
Writing a novel takes dedication and discipline. Think of it
as a commitment, a job (or another job) that you go to every day. Set up a
place and establish an hour or two or more for just for that purpose. Let your
family know you’re not to be interrupted when you’re at work . . . just as it
would be if you worked at a job away from the house. Set a realistic daily goal
for your writing. Maybe it’s five pages or a chapter or “x” number of words a
day. Whatever it is that you know you
can accomplish if you stay disciplined. The result will be that you can also
set a deadline for completion, that exciting ultimate goal: The End. And the novel won’t linger on
for years and years (as I have been known to do).
Just to make sure your writing is not all work and no play,
when you achieve one of your interim goals, reward yourself. Take a break. Take
a walk in the park, a trip to a coffee shop, a visit to a library or book
store. Take time to feel good about those little successes and re-energize.
cj
Note: The photo is by Jeff D. Johnston. What looks like a snow-covered shoreline is really the pale, warm sands of Dauphin Island, AL.
