There's a great Dave Mason song, called 'The Words' that really speaks to me as a writer. Very easy to find on Youtube in case you're curious and the link above gets cut off. The lyrics even mention John Steinbeck, who is one of my favorite mainstream authors and whose stuff I readily devoured as required reading back in High School English classes. But it is a puzzle sometime when you are writing, to figure out just how to phrase something so that it's clear enough to put the proper picture in the minds of readers. Other days it's about generating a unique idea for a new story that leads me to staring at a blinking cursor, wondering how to get anything on that page. When I find myself frustrated that I can't come up with a good opening for a project, I just type some random sentence that seems to lead in the direction I want to go and then let that drag me into typing another one. Before long that opening scene is done. I may revise it 5 more times, but the idea is to get the project underway in the first place.
A couple of writing friends and I were talking about that recently, discussing how we come up with certain characters or series of stories. It's kind of hard to explain the writing process in simple terms because everyone does it differently. For me, I am a visual thinker. I usually get a cinematic picture of some sort of scenario and then have to find the words to describe it. Occasionally I will have a vivid dream that sticks with me long after waking. Or some random scene from a TV show or movie strikes me as worthy of my own sort of retelling. I might hear a song or even a piece of instrumental music and the writer mind kicks in. Now and then it's a new line of dialogue from a well-established character in one of my books that just kind of pops into my head. I've built stories—and in fact entire novels—around small vignettes like that. For many tales, I have some aspect of the character's life and times that I want to get across. The seminal idea is often a tiny fleeting spark, but it's the craft of writing that makes it come to life. The writing itself takes a lot of hard work, perseverance, and self-discipline. You have to have a will to see a longterm project through and the interest and passion to stick with it on those days when nothing goes right, there are constant interruptions and distractions galore, you want to do something else instead of write, or the words just don't come easy.
Maybe I was just born to write, because the words seem to come easier for me than they do for others. I was first and foremost a reader, and so I have a love for books and stories that take me out of my world to places where I never imagined going before. I was a pretty decent writer all through school. Still it wasn't until I was well into my adult years, raising a family of my own and thinking of some later life career goals, that I started to think about writing. I have only a 12th grade education, and no college. We didn't have the time or the resources to send me back to school and there were so many hoops to jump through to get a degree I just didn't want to face all that. So I took a couple of correspondence courses in writing, and they helped me quite a bit with the basic knowledge I'd need. The rest was all up to me. That was prior to getting a home PC and well before email and the internet became a big part of life, so assignments were typed and mailed back and forth. Once we did have a computer and an internet hookup, an entire new world opened up for me. I eventually found other writers online and learned a lot more about the business from them. I wrote my first book in those days, a ponderous manuscript of over 850 pages that that took me 2 years of pounding keyboards, and saving on various disks. That along with some short stories were all rejected by every place I sent them to. I'd take some time off to de-stress and lick my wounded ego, but I kept writing. It would be another ten years or so before I got published, by chopping up that big book and ramping up the action inside. Currently I have 19 books and 15 short stories in print with more in the wings waiting to be published and others in various stages of being finished. Not too shabby for an intense 10-1/2 years of work.
While I can write to someone else's idea and will give people who invite me in on projects what they want, normally I am not one of those writers who plots and plans everything out. I'm what we call in the business a 'pantser', as in I write by the seat of my pants. I sit in this chair and I type something, and that leads to more ideas to type. I might have a general idea of where I want a story to go and who should be involved, but the story just evolves as I work on it. That kind of open-ended process isn't practical for everyone, so if you're more comfortable with outlines or some sort of guide to what to do when, go for it! Don't let the experts sway you, there's no right or wrong way to write. Whatever keeps you motivated and gets the project done is fine. I'm not here to tell you how to do it. I'm just saying that if you want to do it, you have to stick to it. If you wait for the spirit to move you, you're not going to get much writing done. The words don't come out of thin air, there has to be a will to get something down on the page on a regular basis. Just like thinking about a garden doesn't plant it, or having a guitar doesn't teach you to play. You learn by actually writing, and that includes making mistakes and getting feedback, both positive and critical.
Scary isn't it, thinking about sharing your words with other people? Yet with writing anything that will be read by potential readers, that's the ultimate goal. I started writing knowing that I wanted to be published. You need to be sure that's what you want too, because you work will get critiqued at some point, either by editors at a publishing company or fans. Unless this is just a hobby you're pursuing for kicks, others have to see it and then you are going to get feedback. Now some folks are kind and they're going to tell you it's wonderful, and they may well mean that without really thinking hard about what you just shared. Others consider themselves literary critics and will pick every sentence apart just to be thorough. Some just won't get what you're writing at all and turn up their nose. As for who I share with, I find it's best to pick a group of peers in writing who at least have some interest in and knowledge of the kind of writing I'm doing. For instance, I write a lot of action/adventure fiction in the fast paced pulp style in numerous genres. While all writers appreciate a good tale well told, not everybody reads the kind of stuff I love to write. So if I shared this with folks who read and write romance fiction or highbrow literary stuff, they're not going to enjoy it as much and that often results in rather dismal observations. My closest peers all write stuff that is similarly categorized as mine. That way we can share and they will at least understand how the pacing and storytelling is supposed to be, and so they will listen attentively and give me criticism that is tailored for my style. I find they have the most helpful observations I've ever gotten, and they catch things I hadn't thought out well, but it's delivered with an understanding of what is needed for this type of writing as well as in a kind way. That makes me a better writer, and I can head off potential problems before they show up in print. At the very least, find a beta reader (someone who reads the manuscript before you submit it) that you trust, and reward that person for their time and efforts. I've been doing that for years now with fellow writer and sometimes collaborator Lee Houston Jr., and I go through his stuff in return. If he mentions something that bothers him, 9 times out of 10 I will alter it, because I figure other readers will feel the same way.
So that's where the words come from folks. There's no magic formula, you just have to sit down regularly and pound them out. The more you do it, the better at it you will become. If you have a will to write, you will make time for it somehow. If you want to be published, you have to learn to write well.
Writing Onward,
~NANCY
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