The Writing
The Process
While establishing myself as a writer, I have encountered questions about my writing process. What is it? Do I have a routine or any rituals?
Well, I don't know if I would call prayer and coffee a ritual, but I suppose I do have a few habits that help me. I know that I absolutely cannot write without something to drink. I don't know why that is, but it is true. Usually, it's hot, strong, black coffee but sometimes it’s herbal tea or just water. As long as there is something there to sip.
I also like to have my space a certain way. I don't mind a little clutter but nothing overwhelming. Clean, simple space, with a little décor. I love antiques, particularly if they relate to writing. Old stationery sets and typewriters, that sort of thing. I also find it cozy to be surrounded by a few of my favorite books.
Beyond the environmental preferences, I like to start with a little bit of prayer. After that, I like to get inspired by reading about writing or reading about the lives of various authors or poets and their accomplishments and writing styles. This is especially fun if they are authors I have never heard of, whose work I have never read. I don't dig too deep, but I do enjoy the process, and it really motivates me. It reminds me of my love of reading and gives me greater respect and appreciation for other authors and other types of work.
Once I am ready to dig in and write, I turn on some classical or instrumental music (lyrics are too distracting for me) and I start scribbling. I like to use a real pencil on real paper. I have no idea why; it just helps things to flow more naturally. My scribbles are truly that, scribbles. Completely random ideas and thoughts, character profiles, bits of dialogue, themes, situations, endings, etc. My scribbles are in no particular order, and not particularly neat. I tend to hop around a little in my thinking. I find that I enjoy writing more and get further overall when I skip around a bit. Then, when I feel an idea is coming together, I sort of start putting the pieces in place. It gets messy because at this point, I am often hopping between paper scraps and the computer. It’s my own world of organized chaos.
I do have a personalized writing journal, which I received as a special gift a few years ago, where I write shorter works, in a more formal order, with neater, more careful writing. However, since I save it for that purpose, I’m afraid it has not been used nearly enough.
All of that is great when I am able to actually sit down and write at my desk. Often, however, I am scribbling random ideas and thoughts completely on the go and hoping I don’t lose my notes between my car and my desk. It’s a messy, organic process, and it doesn’t work for everyone. Many writers are far more structured and scheduled than I am. But this works for me.
And that's really all there is to it. It’s all very underwhelming, but that is my process. It’s not too rigid, certainly not fancy, and definitely not crisp and clean. It’s also a process that is always subject to change.
“Scribbles become sentences. Sentences become stories. Stories become strongholds.”
-A.R. Hetchler
The Block
We all have great days as writers. Those rare hours when the words are just flowing out of you. Every plot is coming together; every character is coming to life. That kind of writing is exhilarating!
Then there are times when the words, though still coming, drip out slowly rather than a flowing rush of sentences. It’s a slow but steady pace. Frustrating as that can be, the work is still being done. Progress is still being made, and you are still feeling like the writing is authentic and breathing.
Often, however, as writers we have to deal with the infamous issue of writer’s block. Those days, weeks, or heaven forbid, months, of absolutely nothing. No flow, no drip, not a word out of the proverbial faucet. The words have been shut off and here you scramble, searching for a way to turn them back on.
This is something I have experienced many times. In searching for solutions, I have found two popular opposing views. The first is to take a break, leave it be and then let it flow naturally when it comes back and just live life in the meantime. The second is to work through it. Just keep writing, even when the writing is not good. Type random words or scribble them. Just write right through it.
I have tried both. Of course, now you may be wondering which one works. The answer is both and none.
It’s easy enough to take a break from writing. I have a very full life. Being busy is a perfectly legitimate and real reason to step away sometimes, but it can also serve as a justification for putting off my writing, especially if the ideas aren’t flowing as soon as I pick up my pencil. The brief break I intended to take becomes an endless excuse to pardon myself from my writing projects under the guise of being busy, while telling myself I am simply searching for my muse through my own life experiences. So sometimes, when I do have the time and energy and focus, my writing still sits on my desk (or in my bag, in my car), untouched, and I allow myself to believe it’s alright because I’ll get to it when all the stars align and I’m magically struck by that mystical concept we call inspiration. Yet sometimes, inspiration does truly strike out of nowhere… hence the need for notebooks everywhere, especially in my car. Voice memos or other digital recording options right on my phone are also very helpful.
When it has been a while since the so-called inspiration has struck, and something presses me to write anyway, I simply start to scribble. I work through it. I write little things with my pencil, sometimes things that have nothing to do with the actual project I have in mind. Sometimes I don’t even have a project in mind. But I will physically sign my name about twenty times, just to write something. After a while, a thought arrives, a tiny one. It could be the name of a potential character, a few seeds of a story, a great line or two, anything really. I just move my pencil in a completely random direction and see what happens. Sometimes something comes of this, sometimes nothing comes of it.
I’ve learned to follow my instincts whenever I am feeling blocked. For the most part, I have figured out when I need to take a break, when a break is getting to be too long, and when I need to work through it. There is no right or wrong answer. Life is life and a writer's life will always be filled with blocks, breaks, work, and word flow. Tips and methods are great but the only real answer, as is true for many things in life, is the one that works for you, and it won't always be the same. Some seasons will be bountiful while others may be meager. My experience has taught me to have faith, both in God's plan for me and in myself as a writer. Faith grows confidence and confidence grows security. When you are secure in your work, the writing is more natural. And that is what will define who you are as a writer.