Writing with the Door Closed
Instead of writing on Medium in the past few weeks I’ve been in my head, writing something new. Much of it happens while I’m in bed staring into the dark, vacuuming the house, cooking, painting a wall red (today anyway) or trying desperately to listen to the person in front of me. To others, I look sleepy/drugged/spaced out. I suppose I am. I’ve met a new cast of fictional people and I’m following them around asking them questions that start with what if.
I won’t share it with anyone just yet as I am writing with the door closed, as Stephen King puts it. This first draft is just for me. If I talk about it or let someone read a few lines they might influence it, or even squash it. It’s an infant; it needs its mother.
I love this part. The story can go anywhere at all and I have only the merest sense of where that might be. Soon I’ll start piling up the words and making these characters more solid, and with that they will become stubborn about what they plan to do. It’s a bit like painting myself into a corner, or — to use an entirely different metaphor - the story starts rolling along, gathering snow until it’s larger than me. At that point I will sag a bit and need to go for long walks with a notepad, until things start to connect.
Everyone has their own process. It takes a while to figure out what works for you.
I spent a lot of time writing with the door open on the first novel (which is being published soon!) because I was in workshops and writing groups. That was a good way to motivate me to keep writing. Without that feedback, I’m betting I would have given up. I needed people to reassure me that there was a story there. After that, I did Nanowrimo and produced a second novel in a month (that one awaits a second draft).
The third time’s a charm, yes? I’ve tried it both ways and now it’s time to take the best of each. I want to write this book for me, create the book I want to read.
So, I’m shutting the door now….
I’d love to hear about your own creative process in the comments below.
