Five Rules of Writing: A New Year's Resolution

I don't believe in resolutions, especially around the New Years' holidays. I guess I have always felt that if I wanted to get something done, I would have the discipline to get it done. No questions asked. The notion of an artificial "rule" driving the creative process seemed foolish to me, yet, when I was a younger, more idealistic writer, writing a story meant living in the moment and just getting it done. Stories often took eight to twelve hours to get started, and even then they weren't done. I would have to go back to the text multiple times, multiple sessions to get the story done, and those sessions usually fell in rapid succession. So resolutions weren't really necessary.

Over time, though, the writing changed. With jobs, kids, and responsibilities came a more restricted schedule, and fewer opportunities to sit for marathon writing sessions. Stories came in numerous short bursts over time, and they took longer to finish. And fewer came. So this is where I am, on New Year's Day, contemplating making a resolution to write more. But if I'm going to do it, I know myself well enough to know that I have to have some guidelines that will help me approach the projects ahead without crashing and burning in frustration. So to that end I will share my five rules for writing (ones that I hope I can follow!).

1. Just Do It. Thank you, Nike, for the slogan; yeah, I ripped it off, but it works. It has been my experience that thinking about writing is the surest way to guarantee that I won't write at all. Like grading papers (pretty odious for all us teachers), writing requires focus and intensity, and, despite that I absolutely love it when I'm doing it (in fact, it is a pretty essential part of who I am), overcoming the inertia to actually do it can be mind boggling. So this is where the tag line comes into play: whether in a notebook, or macbook, just get the words flowing. Natalie Goldberg's theory about writing practice comes in here. Once you just start, all of the junk that is blocking the deep thoughts will open up. And in order to do that....

2. Schedule writing time. Leaving my writing up to fate has always been a recipe for disaster. I know myself well enough to know that if I wait, it won't happen. So I will have to schedule a time, probably later at night (my mornings are crazy enough). I will start with a brief time, probably thirty minutes, but I can see it expanding. Toni Morrison wrote her first few novels after her kids went to bed, toiling away all night and getting scant hours of sleep. Will I become an insomniac? Not likely. But I will start and try to stay on schedule.

3. Set realistic goals. One issue I have is with setting the bar too high and falling short. Once that happens, I can kiss the story goodbye. This one ties in to the writing time goal: start with small, digestible pieces and keep working. Thirty minutes of writing is workable, three hours is unrealistic. Goals change, of course, but start small and be consistent.

4. KISS. Keep it simple, not the rock band. Sure I want to write a novel, and really do feel that one day I will, but if I try to tackle it all in one session, I'm setting myself up to fail. Instead, I'm going after one story at a time. I may even outline a few new stories, or try to tweak some old ones, but nothing bigger yet. Over time, I may try to work up the steam to do the National Novel Writing Month project, as I've written about here, but not now. Keep it simple, don't overshoot, and I should be fine. And lastly...

5. Sin Boldly. I ripped this title off from a writing text that I picked up on vacation many years ago, and can be found here, but that book was about writing term papers. I like the idea, though, for fiction. Don't be afraid. Go places that make you nervous. Write about things that make you squirm. This is hard for us all, but worth doing. Some writers will say that you can never write truly until your parents die, but I think that's a fallacy. Embrace your sins, delve into your psyche, and go. That's what I plan on doing. Cathartic? Hopefully. Will there be good material there? I'll never know until I try.



The comic here from Gaping Void says it all...





Happy New Year! I'm off to write!