You really don’t have to write every
day. You can avoid writing for a week,
and then spend two days developing carpal tunnel by writing non-stop. It’s up to you. The point is to write a lot, because not
writing is not writing. Writing a lot is
like playing the guitar a lot. The more
you do, the better you’ll get. That’s
the only advice I feel confident giving.
No one has the exact formula. For you.
Read everything all the writing coaches have to say, then set your own
course.
In the same way, listen to all the
advice from other writers (including this blog post), take it seriously, then
do what you think you should. You’re the
goddess, or god, or you own work. Only
you know what will make it work. And
where you’ll do it. You can have a
quiet, private place somewhere in your apartment or house. Or you can go to a loud bar. It can be your back porch or your Uncle Bennie’s
basement. It’s yours to discover. What other writers do is irrelevant. Their proper place is probably not yours.
You can try to game the market by writing what
you think will sell. You might hit it,
you might not. Some have done this, and
they are now wealthy. Most have
not. By most, I mean 99.999%. Some of us win the lottery, some get
fricasseed by lightning. Ignore the
press on these matters. They only focus
on the unicorns.
Expect to fail. It’s a lot easier on your mental health than you
think it is, because every failure is a lesson.
When you do make it, and you will if you try and have the talent, and
don’t give up, it’ll be a pleasant surprise.
But don’t sit there thinking about how your work will succeed in a
material way. Or any way. Don’t think at all about the idea of
writing. Just do it.
When Glen Frey was an aspiring rock
musician he was befriended by Bob Seger.
Seger told him. “You know, if you want to make it, you’re gonna have to
write your own songs." And Frey
said, "Well, what it they’re bad?”
And Seger replied, “Well, they’re gonna be bad. You just keep writing and writing and
eventually, you’ll write a good song.”
Do the work you want to do. What moves you, what makes you feel good to
compose. This is way more fun than
trying to write about something you don’t care very much about. And much more productive. “Write what you know”, then, is good advice,
but it’s not the whole story. Sometimes
writing what you simply imagine can be just as fruitful. Science fiction is often the result. But not always. You can be interested in something you know
nothing about, say high school curling competitions in Northern Minnesota. All it takes is a little effort doing
research (Googling, reading, watching a lot of curling matches, interviewing
the Minnesota State Junior Curling Champion).
This can also be a lot of fun, and chances are good you’ll learn things
that you never imagined, things about the subject that launch you in a
totally unexpected direction.
Writing begets writing. It’s one of the magical things about it. The very act of composition tends to generate
ideas and plot moves, fresh characters, and voices and insights you didn’t know
you had. These are all unavailable to
people who think about writing, but rarely actually write.
When it comes to flexing the muscle, it
doesn’t matter what you write, because everything is exercise. So if you don‘t feel like advancing the
novel, there’s nothing wrong with starting a short story. Or finally writing to your Cousin Francine in
Duluth (where they do a lot of curling.)
Essays are good practice. And
letters to the editor. And outdoing your
siblings for Funniest Birthday Card to Mom.
Charlie Parker played the sax every day,
all day and into the night. His roommates
report removing the instrument from his lips when he fell asleep. Jimi Hendrix, from all accounts, was rarely
seen without a guitar hanging from his shoulder. Stephen King has written about 8 million
words worth of novels alone.
It worked out for them.
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