As an introduction to my writing habits over the years, I thought I’d share this editorial about how I view the writing process.
When a writer finds their niche, genre, and market, it comes from a place of passion. Creativity of the written word and challenging work exists when putting pen to paper. Next, the creator must perform numerous rounds of editing, and determine a marketing strategy. Success usually follows in a form defined by the author. Often it is the love of sharing a subject that equals the success.
A fiction writer mulls over a plot line, or storybook of characters. The voice of the story keeps nudging. Allowing time for the creative practice is the only way to satisfy the need to write. A writer who doesn’t feed the nudge may cheat themselves out of a fulfilling experience.
After the writing, comes a lengthy list of tasks to ensure it’s ‘read-worthy.’ The writer needs to do extensive editing of the piece. This includes correcting any punctuation, spelling, and grammatical errors. Characters must be strong, interesting, and provocative. They need to grow throughout their journey, so the reader grows right along with them. The plotline follows certain guidelines to keep the reader entertained.
Writing is overwhelming. So how do authors progress?
Why not straight from the heart? If a subject speaks from within, it’s time to sit and write.
But what holds writers back? Like an artist of any type, putting work out into the world could open the author to too much criticism and rejection. Writers may learn to accept rejection and move onto the next creative project.
What stops a writer from fulfilling their dreams could be the idea of the grueling task ahead.
Here’s a simple analogy of chopping wood related to writing.
To get a fire going, a person needs to break down large chunks of wood into manageable pieces that will catch when thrown into the fire. It’s going to be a warm sunny winter’s day, but the wood chopper picks up the axe anyway, knowing that all the sweat, time and muscle power put in will be worth it to get a furious fire going.
While chopping, the heart-thumping exertion feels great, exhilarating even. The accomplishment of seeing a pile of smaller bits forming into something larger becomes the reward. The warmth will be a proof of the hard effort.
A writer may have characters and a storyline idea. Do they have a pile of notes sitting and waiting where it’s the characters and story that fill the pages? Can they spend four or five hours chopping through character profiles and plot summaries? The joy in the end–not too much sweat–depends on how hard they think about it.
An enormous step in the writing process is whittling down a pile of ideas about character motivation and storyline. To separate them into an assembled package, all prepared and ready to be written by the author.
After the day has whiled away, the wood chopper finishes his task. The author’s pile of thoughts and ideas may be incomplete in one sitting, but who can get through a cord of wood chopping in a day?
Each session of putting pen to paper brings the author closer to finishing the project. After the writing is complete, they can sit in comfort at their hearth and reflect on their accomplishments of word count goals.
Once completely written, authors must face the next challenge in preparing their work for all the world to see. Or they could take more time to tackle additional ideas like ironing out a subplot. Soon, the winter has passed, with many wood piles chopped. Writing projects have never looked better. A first draft could even be complete.
Not too much sweat. First wood pile chopped. On to the next one.
The author rubs the frown on his brow. Now to apply days of edits, determine a publication route, and begin marketing. The fire still needs tending. There’s more wood to chop.
So ends the analogy with the idea that writing is hard (not wood chopper hard), but it is also rewarding.
The work, now complete, rests. It is for everyone, or for no one at all, where it sits in a drawer waiting, meant for the author’s eyes only. Until they change their mind and share it for all to read.
©Patricia L. Atchison 2022. All Rights Reserved.