Advice You Wish Weren’t True

False Starts

I have put off this journey for far too long.  For more than a decade, I’ve been on-and-off with my motivation.  Here are a couple examples…

Scene 1:  I’m working in NYC, on break, knowing I hate my job (sorry, Fox News!).  My dreams turn to becoming a writer. So what do I do?  I buy a new journal.  Nice leather-ish one, and I jot down my feelings while sitting next to the ice skating rink in Rockefeller Plaza, or on a bench in Bryant Park.  But that fades away over time…

Scene 2:  Now I’ve gone back to school.  I still “kind of” want to do some writing.  I go to the library’s book sale and get some books on writing.  I already have some, but maybe these ones will have the answer.

Books May Not Help

Sadly, I’ve learned that although many of the books on writing are helpful in ways, none of them will really do the trick.  You may get good advice on how to set up your writing space (e.g. Stephen King’s On Writing, where he describes the pitfalls of having that super-fancy and intimidating wooden desk).  And maybe, like a short-acting drug, these books will get your pen in hand, or laptop on…lap.  And you’ll be inspired.  For a time.

The truth is, the advice all writers need…the ones many of these books do describe….which we all hate to hear…is this:  “Just Write!”

Getting Going

So how did things change over the past year?

Scene 3:  I’ve been a teacher for several years now.  We work with the people at the Northeastern Pennsylvania Writing Project.  They recommend taking a summer writing class.  I figure, why not?  I need the professional development hours, anyway.  For part of the class, we have to

My version of Culhwch and Olwen was slightly updated. And the giant was really a giant. But there was a boar hunt.

write a story of our choosing.  I settle on an idea I’ve played around with –  do a retelling or different version of a classic myth of legend.  I’ve always loved King Arthur, so I go for his stuff.  My son Owen is only a few months old at that point, and I know his name is descended from that area of language.  So I look up his name and find the name “Olwen.”

I figure I’d write a few pages maybe of a story.  I turn my brain off, like I usually do for assignments for classes, when I really don’t care.  I type the beginning after a tiny bit of planning….  Before I know it, I have a 36 page, over 12,000 word story on my hands.

So What Changed?

The fact that  I “turned off my brain” really did it.  I knew I had to write something for class, so I got into a zone and just did it.  It was probably the first time I really had the experience of the “story writing itself.”  Yes, that actually is a thing.  If you set up a situation, have decent characters, then just sit back and trust yourself.  If you’re like me, you’ll find incredible surprises.  Like when I suddenly changed the POV of the story from the young man to the young woman.

Since then, like I said in the last post, I set a goal of writing at least 300 words a day.  At times, I’ve done several times that amount.  On one day, I did exactly 300 and went to bed.  Not all days are going to be winners.  Not all writing pieces are going to be great.  And that’s okay!

Are gold miners upset having to go through tons of mud for only a couple ounces of gold? Don’t think so.

Like I tell my students, writing is kind of like digging for gold.  You have to dig through a LOT of dirt and junk to find the glittering good stuff.  If you just sat there, on a boulder, waiting for a gold nugget to magically pop out of the ground, you will be waiting for a long time.  So do the work.  Put in the time.  Practice, play around, experiment.  Understand that nobody has to see any of what you’ve done.  Understand that this is how others do it.  That amazing book you read and wish you could write?  Well, that author spent a lot of time playing around and failing at things first.

In the End

You really do have to trust yourself.  Set some goals like a daily word count.  Join a writing group like I did – The Pocono Liars Club.  Take an online class.  I’m in one now, through the people at PennWriters.org.  It cost hardly anything and is really interesting and helpful.

Take that advice.  The one we all try to resist.  And just write!