writing – Writing Whidbey

“It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.” the WAR of ART by Steven Pressfield

Resistance is the word Pressfield uses to describe the avoidance of writing. Writers love to write. I love to write. But I frequently fight the idea of walking to my desk and picking up a pen. (Or turning on the computer.)

This surprises me. The primary emotion I feel when writing is JOY. Yes, with capital letters. Why would I avoid joy? For me it’s connected to the dark side of creative work. That is, the WORK side of creativity.

Writing? No problem. Finished version one of the manuscript over a year ago.
Revising? No problem. My writing group and other readers gave valuable input.
Editing? No problem. Lots of lists of what to look for are available for all genres. Checked the plot structure, character development, believability of dialogue, grammar, spelling, length, and more. (Yes, there is always more.)
More revising? No problem. Professional input received at conferences and in classes led to minor changes and sharpened the content.

So why has it taken so long to finish? Along the way readers had asked for a stronger roll for one of the characters. And the most recent reviewer asked for the same adjustment. I increased his part a bit, but felt he would alter the narrative too much if I gave him more space.

Should I call it done or should I make this change? Making him a main character would require a major rewrite. Would the story change too much? Resistance persisted. I argued with myself about “artistic integrity”. My idea vs. that of readers. How many revisions are enough?

With a new year and a longing to spend time creating a second story, I faced my dilemma: I liked the presence of this character. Adding him would improve the book. The problem was the work. It would mean re-rewriting, and I did NOT want to mess with this project any longer.

As soon as I admitted improvement was possible, the resistance vanished. Instead, I was able to lose myself in the magic of the story and the appeal of the enhanced character.

The story is done, for the 27th time (who’s counting?) I’m ready to write queries and pitches with confidence that the manuscript is ready. Hooray!

I’ve been thinking about bees.

In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, we see the bees flying for joy in Lily’s bedroom. They shine in the dark and fly “for the feel of the wind”. Those bees aren’t working, they’re soaring just for the pure joy of it.

That’s what I feel when I’m writing. Pure joy.

I’d like to share the fun with you. I’m just tidying up a middle grade adventure and there are additional stories in the works. So I’ll write about my writing.

I’ll also be learning about the business end of writing. That means professional groups, conferences, cover letters and first chapters, finding the right agent and working to make the book a success. Let me share my experiences with you and you can join in with questions and tales of your own.

As the blog develops I’ll include reviews of books that I dive into. Books about how to write, books about the business end of a novel, books that are fun to read and that have great form as well.

Since I live on an island that nurtures stories there will be articles about it as well.

Welcome to Writing Whidbey. I’m ready to fly are you?