For Writers: Taking Time Out To Be A Writer
Do not let your odd cat distract you from your writing. Like mine. She meows at me and expects me to meow back. So I do.
It would be nifty if I could live the life of my vision of a writer.
I imagine bang – up, mega successful writers in their organized offices overlooking a pristine lake where they scribble away all day, the words flowing, the blue herons landing smoothly.
Or they’re in their beach house. They watch the sun rise and set, smiling serenely, seagulls cawing, a cup of peppermint tea nearby as their story pours out of their brilliant brains.
Or they visit their family’s rustic cabin in the woods with comfy red plaid blankets, wandering deer, and a hunky man who moved in down the lane with whom they have a brief but mind blowing “writerly affair.”
Oh yes. I imagine the life of a writer to be filled with words, books, imagination, excellent views, romantic struggle, and flowing tequila.
The truth is, unfortunately, harsh.
I know a number of writers.
NONE have a clean office. In fact, many have their “office” on their dining room table. They push the kids’ homework out of the way, the dead and hardening oatmeal, the odd cat, and write.
A beautiful view helps, but don’t depend on it. Sometimes you have to write leaning against your kitchen counter while you’re making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It is what it is.
I only know one who owns a beach house. She goes there to regain her sanity. If a seagull bothered her too much she would probably shoot it.
I know of no one who has a cabin in the woods or had a “writerly affair,” with a hunky guy down the lane. Most of the writers I know are boring married ladies like myself. A few are in hot – flash hell like me. This is not conducive to a passionate affair. Also husbands do not generally approve of “writerly affairs.”
I don’t know any writers who slam down tequila. Why? Because we have to write the next day. Hangovers and writing only sounds romantic if you’re Hemingway. And his hangovers were no more romantic than anyone else’s, he simply had them out on a boat.
Plus, I rarely drink. I quit – almost completely – when I was twenty after a bad round of tequila myself. This makes me no fun in the drunken writers department.
Truth is, all the writers I know have some very, very heavy responsibilities. Children. Jobs. Spouses. Sick parents. Illness. Divorce. Bad dates. Addictions to chocolate and ice cream. Difficult mother in laws. Teenagers. You name it, they have it.
Get out into nature and go ride a horse.
But I believe it’s important, when you’re a writer, to take time out to BE a writer, at least once a week. You need to take that cool/introspective/dreamy image of being a writer and live it.
How do you do that?
Keep a small notebook with you to jot down what you’re thinking, story ideas, or even list the reasons why you hate your ex husband or your skinny, prissy neighbor down the street. You can use your ridiculous and destructive hatred for ideas later. If you feel like committing a crime, write that down, too. Who knows? You might become a crime writer. Do you like thinking about aliens, mummies, or gargoyles? Good. Write your plot down. Who knows where that could lead?
Make friends with writers in your town or over facebook or writer’s groups. Talk shop. Do not make friends with the negative or whiny wanna be writers. They’ll drag ya on down to the sludge. Go for the wild ones teetering on the edge. The thinkers and rebels. The ones who have opinions different than yours and a thought process that is jagged and funny.
If there’s a cool conference you want to attend, by all means, go. You can learn a ton and meet people.
Take a writing class at a university or a community college. I LOVED the classes I took. You’ll meet people you will never meet in your own circle, and this is always good. Same people, same ideas. Go forth and chat.
Drive somewhere totally new, find a coffee shop, slug down caffeine, and write.
Travel. Photograph. Sketch. Go to plays and musicals and the symphony. Writers are artistic. Work on being artistic. You do not need dreadlocks to do this, but you could grow them if you want.
Travel. Even an hour out of your town will give you a new perspective. Or go to Rennes, France, pictured here. That was fun. They have great bread.
Say hello to nature. I run about four days a week in a forest. Helps my head. Go to a lake, the mountains or a beach. Go to a field. But get thy ass out there. It is hard to be creative when you’re inside all the time, surrounded by the same four suffocating walls smashing in on you.
Read like a fiend. Read in different genres and enjoy what you read, but study it, too. Only read the best authors you can find, and then figure out why you like them. If you read crap, your writing will be crap. Be CAREFUL.
Read brain – cell popping writing books, too. Jessica Morell. Annie Lamott. Natalie Goldberg. Julia Cameron. Read Writer’s Digest. I just started getting that magazine, and it’s full of amazing advice, even for someone like me who has been in the trenches of this business for years.
Walk. Walk without your ipod, or with it. Write in your head. Think creative thoughts. Go away from your problems and think about your book only. Dedicate that time.
Journal, baby, journal. First, verbally vomit on your journal. Write down what you’re thinking or worrying about. Then, write down your character’s name in the middle of your journal and jot down everything you know about her. Write down any problems you’re having in your book, then write down ALL ideas – no censoring – on how to fix them. Let that pen flow over the pages.
Write all the time. It doesn’t have to be good. It doesn’t have to be publishable, if it’s crap you can burn it later in a bonfire and run around it naked. Just write.
Remember that you are a writer, no matter what rejections are hitting you in the face. You need silence. You need time alone. You need to listen to your own thoughts. Writers take time out of their chaotic/busy lives to BE. Just be.
Now go be.
