A Necessary Part of the Process

Every writer I’ve ever known, and every writer I’ve ever read about, says the same as Hemingway, “The only kind of writing is rewriting.” Writing the first draft is a chore, but we can’t proceed to our second, third, or final draft without it.

Three books that have helped me through all stages of the writing process are Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott, and How to Write and Sell Your First Novel by Oscar Collier. I’ve read those books so many times that the information they share has intertwined into my DNA (like hair coiling in Avatar). 

As a long-time writing teacher, I believe Nancie Atwell’s book, Lessons That Change Writers, should be the Bible of writing education. I’ve used lessons from that book to teach writing to students as young as 12 and as old as 80.

Many of the tips I have shared with writers over the years come from these books. If you’re a writer, I recommend you read them.

Make Sure You Love What You’re Writing

If you don’t, you probably won’t write it.

I often encounter people who’ve had this great idea for a book for years but they haven’t gotten around to writing it. I tell them that if the idea isn’t pressing them to the point of distraction, then it might not be right for them. I tell them that if they have a nice life, a nice job, a nice family, and don’t feel a burning desire to write that story then they probably won’t. 

Thinking you want to be a writer and writing are two different things. Writing is hard enough when you feel compelled by Fate to do it. It’s even harder, if not impossible, when you don’t have that burning desire. When is it time to write? When it’s more painful not to write something than it is to write it. If an idea is gnawing at you and won’t leave you alone to your nice life with your nice family, that’s when the writing process begins.

For all the projects I’ve completed, many more lay by the wayside. If I wasn’t compelled by what I was writing, then I dropped it. If I can’t convince myself that the project is worth writing, how can I convince a reader that it’s worth reading?

When I began working on Her Dear & Loving Husband in the old-time days of 2009, I was so compelled by James and Sarah’s story that I worked on that first draft nearly every day for one year—367 days to be exact. I may have taken a Sunday off here and there, but even on those days when I wasn’t at the computer it was always on my mind. In that case, I wrote the first draft in six weeks. It was, come to think of it, the easiest first draft I’ve ever written.

Why?

Because I had to write that story. I had to get it out of my head and onto paper. I couldn’t live peacefully with myself if I didn’t.

You need to be honest with yourself here. I know that there are some writers who write book after book and they see writing as a means to an income rather than a creative expression. The idea that you must love what you’re writing isn’t set in stone (but then nothing about writing is set in stone). If you’re writing for business purposes, or academic purposes, then you don’t necessarily have to love it. As an academic writer myself, sometimes the goal is just to get ‘er done.

Writing for business purposes and writing for the love of it are not mutually exclusive. There are many writers who do both at the same time.

I’m made of a different cloth, I guess. I once tried to force myself to write a novel for the sole purpose of appealing to a wider audience. About 10 years ago, I tried writing a romance because I thought, hey, romance sells! I read a few romances, read a book about how to write romances; I got as far as page six and that was it. I couldn’t make myself write any more because it wasn’t in me and I didn’t want to write something inauthentic.

There is nothing wrong with the romance genre, by the way. It’s just not for me. I like to write whatever it is exactly I write–an odd blend of literary and genre fiction. If you write for self-expression, or creativity, or artistry, as I do, then it’s better to love your project. That love will see you through the challenges of writing a first draft in a way nothing else can.

If you do love that story you’re going to write, then you’re on the right track. If the answer is no, that’s okay. Not every idea is meant to be a long-term project.

Keep searching until you find that idea that keeps you up at night, itching to get back to it.