I have a confession to make: I’d rather do anything
rather than write! I have even been known to do ironing rather than write, and
I’d do anything rather than iron clothes. I love coming up with an idea. I love
it even more when my agent and editor both say that they love the idea and here
is a very nice contract with a deadline date on it.I adore the research. I love driving around,
toying with that idea, thinking of upcoming fun scenes and witty dialogue. But
the actual writing?
I write two books a year so that is pretty much a
full time occupation. Many people are under the misguided impression that
writers waft up to their special room (usually an attic with an open window
looking out over the ocean) and tap away at a typewriter when the muse hits. Or
they sit with a pad and pencil under a big magnolia tree and let the thoughts
come to them.
I have to get a first draft done in three months.
That way I know I’ll have enough time to edit and polish and turn in the
manuscript on time. This would be no problem except that I am on the road,
doing research, teaching a writing workshop or doing a book tour, all of which
may eat into those three months. So I feel the pressure constantly. You’d
think, wouldn’t you, that this would make me get down to work, sit at my desk,
and spew the words into a computer?
Alas no. I give myself a target of about five pages,
1500 words, a day. I am not allowed to quit before that. So I go down to my
computer after breakfast and start work. In theory. Oh wait, there is a load to
be thrown into the washing machine.
Starting work now: Five good sentences written.
Going well. But wait….
Perhaps I should check that the drip system came on
in the garden last night and the deer haven’t eaten any more expensive plants.
Back to work. No more distractions. Wait… is the
varnish chipped on my toe-nails? Perhaps I should touch them up before I can go
for a pedicure.
Back to work. One page done. Georgie storms out of
the room and then…
Then….
Is it time for coffee yet?
Coffee started. Back to work. Getting serious this
time. Wait…
Shouldn’t I write that blog post I promised? I don’t
want to forget it?
No, concentrate. Georgie’s about to face the man we know
will turn out to be the killer. Such tension….
Don’t pick up that iPad. Do not click on Facebook.
Oh, look at that cute puppy! No. Put it down.
Four pages done. Reaching the big scene, the climax
Is it time for lunch yet?
Okay, so not all days go like this. Sometimes I
storm ahead and get eight pages done. But there are parts of the book when we
have to give the reader information or the heroine has to move from one place
to another and it’s not quite so exciting or funny but it has to be done. And I
tell myself if it’s boring for me it will be boring for the reader, so I have
to make it funny or exciting. But how?
Time to go for a drive. My best ideas come to me while driving around in the car. The problem with this is that I am so wrapped up in my thoughts that I look up and find I've driven ten miles in the wrong direction. (Of course I never confess to any of this when I teach writing courses. I've been asked to repeat the workshop in Tuscany next summer, by the way.!)
So Reds, do you go through the same thing when you
are writing or are you super-disciplined?
I’m glad you persevere with the writing, Rhys, and give us such wonderful books to read.
ReplyDeleteI know that I do procrastinate a little when I have a review due. But I do make my deadlines so at least I have the discipline to meet those due dates.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean, Rhys. Especially in the middle of a book, which is where I am right now. I start every day at seven am with an hour-long uninterrupted sprint, inspired by Ramona DeFelice Long and the rest of her sprint club. Or in theory it's uninterrupted. Yesterday two or three hours of that and I had a whopping 250 words out of my own daily (except Sunday) 1500. So today I'm facing down a 3000-word goal - and it's a good thing nothing else is scheduled!
ReplyDeleteHmm, let me just check all my favourite blogs, first. JRW is sure to have some post today that will revolutionize my writing habits.
ReplyDeleteRhys, you make me feel much better about my own writing process! Isn't it interesting how appealing ironing and cleaning become when faced with writing?
ReplyDeleteI don't have deadlines so it's harder to motivate myself to actually write. Then there's my day job (teaching college writing). By the time I've spent the day in the classroom, grading papers, and interacting with my online class(es), the last thing I want to do is write!
I'm impressed with your perseverance, Rhys, and I'm so glad you stick to it.
Ha ha Ha ha ha. You have just described my life! Thank you! At least we are in this together…
ReplyDeleteThe most difficult part is starting, that is definitely true!
Thank you, Rhys! I have written some things and have some good ideas for other things, but writing is hard work and takes discipline! So I would much rather read, than write, although as always it would be wonderful to have written!
ReplyDeleteSo I'm not the only one! I do my best plotting and dialogue practice when I'm walking the dogs or weeding the garden. I try hard not to do it when I'm driving, especially when I forget where I parked the car.
ReplyDeleteMy problem is (sort of) the opposite. I get so wrapped up in what my characters are doing in the day's scene (my goal is a scene a day rather than pages or word count) that I end up not having time left in the day to get all those pesky little things that need doing done. You know--grocery shopping, dusting, running the vacuum cleaner, laundry, going to the post office while it's still open.The dust bunnies have to be the size of a horse before I even notice them! I do wash dishes (no dishwasher) and that's a good thing, because that is when I get some of my best ideas.
ReplyDeleteBack when I wrote for a newspaper, the motivation was easy: no words = no money = no food. I'd come home from whatever I was covering for the day, grab a soda, and sit down to write. I turned everything in by the 6 pm deadline and, oh look! Beloved Husband has made dinner!
ReplyDeleteThese days I'm mostly writing program notes and grant proposals. I do need to take brain breaks from time to time, but I mainly do this work at the office, where my coworkers can see if I get sucked into Facebook for hours at a time. It's a good incentive to keep the brain breaks short.
One of my most interesting encounters with writing, though, came last winter, when I was working from home while I had a guy at the house tiling my kitchen. As he patiently cut and fit tiles for my backsplash, I sat at my computer on the other side of the pass-through, slogging my way through reams of biographical material on Mussorgsky, and muttering about obscure Tzarist military customs. At some point I looked up and the tile guy, who had apparently been watching me, said, "You're really working hard, aren't you?" It was a nice moment of connection when a guy who does hard physical labor recognized hard mental labor when he saw it. I don't think either one of us wanted to switch jobs with the other.
Gigi, I saw this whole scene, right down to the expression on your face when the workman connected with you. Good job. Now write me a story?
DeleteThat's a great scene, Anne!
DeleteGigi, when are we getting back to Miz Eddie and Deep Ellun? Nag, nag, nag...
Delete(Gigi is very much down-playing her talent at fiction in the above comment!)
I guessed as much, Deb. She must join us for a drink the next time we get together.
DeleteI'd love to join you two for a drink, Ann and Deb. I might even have a story for you, Ann.
DeleteThat description translates very directly into my experience as a technical writer. OK, first thing today I'm going to knock out a review draft of this new feature. Wait, I need this one detail, and Sam is on the west coast and won't be available for a while. I need to get up with Jan in Prague before she leaves for the day, to talk about that horrible new design. Oh, and Robert's hedgehog just had a litter and aren't they cute! Hmmm... how many assists did Sue Bird get last night? And what are the Jungle Reds talking about today? Whoops, ten o'clock, time to post status, let's see, "waiting for crucial details before completing review draft."
ReplyDeleteThere is something SO comforting about reading this, Rhys!
ReplyDeleteOddly I do not have the same problem when I have to write nonfiction or plan a workshop. Easy peasy. But when I have to figure out what comes next, and MAKE THINGS UP... I need to crazy glue my butt to the chair.
So true! Just now (already procrastinating by even checking back here) I thought, "Oh, I need to do my blog post for Monday." Then I scolded myself that the WIP word count has to come first. Back I go...
DeleteYes, the little things can pile up on the edge of your consciousness.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately (fortunately?), the fact that I can only get one hour of dedicated writing time Monday-Friday because of the day job keeps me very focused during that hour. No email, no Facebook. Just me and the words.
Mary/Liz
LOL! Oh, my goodness, your timing on this is perfect, Rhys. I spent yesterday scrubbing the grout in the bathroom because I have a book due but suddenly clean grout became imperative. Love, love, love this post. :)
ReplyDeleteI put off doing the things that you do to put off to think about writing. Another difference between reading and writing?
DeleteThis Gentle Reader sits quietly in awe observing. Despite procrastination the ideas are crafted to suspense, mystery and twisted beauty.
ReplyDeleteYou are awe-inspiring, writing two books a year! You get to be human, you know.
ReplyDeleteWe just won't talk about Edith, who I'm convinced is superhuman!
No! Not true. Panic is a great motivator, though... I have three book deadlines a year, some of which clump up in the most unpleasant way, or crash into release dates.
DeleteOh Edith, you are so right. Panic is a great motivator! I'm in panic mode a lot of the time.
DeleteMore disciplined??? Ha ha ha. Rhys, you are so funny. Why is it SO HARD to get started? And then once I get into a scene and it really gets rolling, I don't want to quit. And that is when, inevitably, the dogs need to go out, the husband interrupts, dinner much be started. Arggh. I'm much looking forward to my stay in London in September, where I can actually write when I want. (And I bloody well better, too.)
ReplyDeleteI mark my life with your London stays, knowing that in a year or so you will get to Chapter Next in the life of Gemma and Duncan. Remember my dear Deb, I don't buy green bananas anymore. So snap it up, sweetie. xox
DeleteIt's funny, Debs, but I don't write well when I am in an exciting place like London. I soak up ideas, I wander around neighborhoods, go to museums etc, but I have to let the wheels turn in my brain and then write when I get home.
DeleteIf you need a place to get away, I offer my condo. Now that I don't have roommates, there's a spare bedroom. It even has a desk in there. (Please bring your own chair.)
ReplyDeleteAnd if you get distracted and get cleaning done and the place more organized, well, I won't complain at all. :)
Be careful what you offer, Mark. I might take you up on it!!!
DeleteThis made my day, Rhys. Like Hank said, there's comfort in knowing I'm not the only one!
ReplyDeleteRhys, no matter what your distractions or attempts at sabotage, you, my dear lady, were meant to write. You can't help yourself. Even in a post about avoiding writing, you are hopelessly entertaining. And, we are all so lucky that in the end you can no more avoid writing than breathing. Storytellers must tell their stories, and you have a limitless supply of stories in your creative self to tell. So iron away, Rhys, and pretend you have a choice in the matter. You will always return to the story and writing.
ReplyDeleteRhys,
ReplyDeleteI would love to write full time. Alas, I have a full-time job. I can only write in the evenings when I come home from work and on the weekends. I try to be disciplined about it. However, some days I'm tired, stressed out from work or my brain is simply not functioning and I can only write a paragraph. This frustrates me because I have so little time to begin with. Other days, the muse is very nice to me and I can write two or three pages.
For me, writing is like breathing. I've wanted to a writer since I was nine years old. So, I suffer through the bad days and the moments when the insecurities assail me and I press on.
Keep at it, Daniella! I know it's hard when you have a full time job.
DeleteRhys,
DeleteIam keeping at it because writing is what I love. Book 3 in my Emmeline Kirby-Gregory Longdon mystery series will be released on September 23. My publisher has offered me the contract for Book 5 and I'm currently working on Book 6.
I'm late to the party today exactly because I wouldn't let myself read all the comments. Had to get my words done first (1000) and still fell 50 words short. I'll tell you one thing though, I have never turn to ironing as a tool for procrastination! Cleaning grout though, that sounds good. And also the urge to continue getting rid of stuff in the house grows very very appealing when I'm trying to get my words done. Thanks for the post that hit very close to home!
ReplyDeleteGreat post about the writing process. When I do write, I get lost in time and write and write until I run out of ideas. My WIP is still ongoing. I wish I had more discipline to write a novel. So many writer friends are encouraging me to write a novel.
ReplyDeleteLike Lucy, I am late to the party.
Diana
Thanks for sticking with it, despite the temptations of the internet and . . . ironing? I used to clean house rather than study for finals . . . we are interesting in our procrastination.
ReplyDeleteoh, yeah!
ReplyDeletethanks for this!
email, face book and finally.....
but once those characters in my head do start talking, it's get to work time.
until the next time....