Does Your Writing Process Drive You Crazy? You’re In Good Company.
As Ryan Holiday once said in an interview:
“Writing is not fun. Having written is.”
Does that resonate with you?
There’s no greater feeling than a decently written piece. Something that you created and are proud to publish. But how much did you sweat to get there?
Writing is a bloodbath.
It’s a war with your words. You cut the weak ones, fight with new ones then twist them by the neck and rewrite them altogether.
It’s endless and it can quickly become a vicious circle. Next thing you know you spent an hour on a paragraph and it still makes you cringe.
Writing suddenly feels scary. And you’d rather mow the lawn, clean your oven, or paint your bedroom than sit down and put pen to paper. You even start asking yourself whether writing is the right medium for you.
Or perhaps knitting would suit you better?
I bet we’ve all been there.
In fact, writing has given me a harder time than a newborn and even after years I still find the process arduous most days.
But not all is bad news. Because the proven methods are already out there, we just have to apply the ones that work for us. I wish I could think of a logical reason why it took so long for me to figure this out.
However, I hadn’t for a long time and the constant mental battle with my writing eventually led me to stop publishing my work altogether.
Although I wasn’t publishing, I’d never stopped practicing.
And slowly, with time, the picture became clearer, and the fog had started to lift. Hallelujah.
I’m no expert by any means, but have learned a lot through trial and error.
And the ideas I mention below are the ones I stick to every time.
I Create A Structure, A Base I Can Build On
I’m sitting in a café while writing this article. Not because I’ve made writing my full-time job, just purely out of bliss due to a few days of holiday.
It’s not all roses, though because I have chores to do.
Decluttering to get on with.
Administrative tasks to tick off (yuck!).
It’s overwhelming if I think of it, so here’s what I did.
I created a to-do list. For every single day.
I listed every task I’d have to get done and spread them across the days I have available.
The result is that I now have a plan. A list, that makes me feel in control with clear goals ahead. And what seemed like chaos in my head before, will now give a structure to my days.
It’s the same with writing. And the to-do list in this case is the actual outline for the story.
I used to call myself a pantser.
Someone who writes without strict guidelines. An instinctive writer.
Wow, how arrogant and what a load of BS. I usually ended up going off on a tangent only to realize hours later, that the article had nothing to do with its title. And it touched on so many different subjects that a simple change of the title couldn’t help. Ouch!
Outlining my story, blog post, or whatever I’m working on gives me immense help. Like scaffolding does to construction workers when working at heights.
And once I have the “skeleton” for my project, I won’t have to think of what to write next. I can just carry on working because it’s already all planned out.
Sucky First Drafts Have An Important Role
I’m yet to come across a writer who says their first draft makes it to the finals. Although to be honest, I’m yet to come across any writer who admits anything to me at all. But hey, we’ve all heard it before.
Words you first type on the screen are not destined to stay.
Or at least not in their original version.
First drafts have one job and one job only. And that is to get your thoughts out of your head. As quickly as you can without thinking of word choice or sentence structure, to begin with.
I have to admit it, I’m still learning this method. As I’m not one of those who writes everything down as soon as thoughts cross my grey matter.
I try to polish every word before they hit the screen, even if I know that’s not part of this process.
But I’m getting better at it. I know I’ll go back and rewrite it. So wasting time to write a super-polished piece is not my priority at this stage.
As my favourite writing instructor/copywriter, Henneke Duistermaat says:
“The ideas in our mind may seem crystal-clear but the writing process shows up the kinks and the gaps in our thinking. So, it’s normal when a first draft turns out wonky. It’s normal when the words don’t flow naturally.”
So, let’s quit with the judgments of crappy first sentences already. They have an important role. They’ll serve as the foundation of a decently-written piece later.
Why not enjoy the freedom of exploring our ideas instead?
Enjoy that no one will read it, except us. And allow them to help us create our unique voice.
Once You’ve Added The Yeast, Let It Rise
“Look Sweetie” — whispered Grandma to my young self as she gently removed the tea towel from the deliciously risen milk loaf dough. She winked at me nodding towards the floury pastry as if speaking out loud would’ve stopped the magic.
You see, this is why yeast is important — she said. It helps to strengthen the dough and makes it rise.
Writing needs time too. We have to let it settle. So later we can pick out the excess and whip into shape what matters.
I would never let anyone read anything that I just finished writing. It’s not ready yet. When we spend hours on a story, we lose our ability to spot inconsistencies. Wonky phrases. And the story becomes boring (even if it’s not) because we’ve already read through it many times.
As soon as I’m done with the first draft, I put it away. At least for a few hours, but more often for days. When I read it again later, I instantly find the words and sentences that sound off, need to be replaced, or re-written.
Some paragraphs that made my heart sing the first time around, now sound flat and boring. They need reconsidering or to be deleted completely.
Time is the writer’s yeast. It’s the ingredient that strengthens a piece and helps us raise it to the next level.
It shows us what slows down the pace and what messes up the rhythm.
If It Doesn’t Serve A Purpose It Doesn’t Belong There
How many times have you been told to “kill your darlings”?
Oh here we go again with murdering of the darlings — I hear you say, I know. I just want to scream every time someone mentions this overused cliché.
But… it is true.
Aka, let’s get rid of the pretty words or even entire paragraphs if they don’t give value to the context, slow the pace, change the subject, or have no particular role in our work.
It’s hard because, sometimes they just sound so flowery. They’re our word babies and we’re proud of them. We can’t believe that we created such beautiful creatures… and now we have to kill them?
Ruthlessly.
I still find this part painful. However, I learned to highlight chunks of my writing and press the delete button.
As C.J Cherryh, an American writer once said:
“It is perfectly okay to write garbage, as long as you edit brilliantly.”
So that’s what I do. Too much talking doesn’t equal getting my ideas across more efficiently. On the contrary. I as a reader find that sometimes fewer words make a bigger impact on me.
Final Words
“Writing is easy, all you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” — Mark Twain
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Just take away the hours of work that lead up to that.
