Thoughts on Writing by Nancy L. Eady

The quote, the way I heard it, was “All writers hate writing; all writers love having written,” attributed to Gloria Steinem. Today, a little investigation courtesy of Google has revealed that  the quote is attributed to Dorothy Parker in its original form, which was “I hate writing. I love having written.” Even further investigation, however, shows that no record exists proving Dorothy Parker ever said or wrote the quote attributed to her. 

Regardless of who said it, I disagree. I admit I have days when writing is a chore, when it is all I can do to keep my fingers typing out words, while my brain keeps encouraging me with helpful comments like, “This is the worst writing you’ve ever done.” But there are other days, too. Days when I enter “the zone,” and the words fly from my fingers to the screen, barely keeping up with my brain. It feels like flying. On those days, writing is not a chore. 

The other fallacy in the statement is that each author has individual preferences for what they like about the writing process. Some people love writing the first draft but suffer through the editing that comes next. Other people struggle to crank out the first draft but love the magic they find in the editing process, as they sculpt their raw material into a polished, readable work. And there are others, nuts like me, who have days and times when they enjoy both. 

Writing and editing remind me of counted cross-stitch, a craft I enjoy. In counted cross-stitch, the crafter takes a fabric such as linen or Aida, with a regular, discernible weave to it, chooses a chart of a picture marked up with symbols to stand for certain colors of thread, and then builds the picture on the fabric with tiny “x” stitches by following the chart. I love the building block process of counted cross-stitch, when I’m filling in the basic colors as indicated in the chart. But there is also magic in the finishing details, when back-stitching (a way of stitching straight lines) is used to create additional perspective based upon what structures in the picture are outlined, and in what colors. Writing the rough draft of a story or novel is like filling in the basic building blocks in cross-stitch, and editing adds the finishing details that make the story a marketable project. 

There are parts of writing as a business that I have found few, if any, writers love. “I am writing a synopsis today,” said no writer with glee ever. However, the one solid, basic fact you learn in law school is that every rule has an exception, so I’m sure someone is reading this post in disbelief, thinking “But, Nancy, don’t you know the synopsis is the best part?” 

All of which leads me to wonder, fellow readers, what you think of the quote. Do you hate writing but love having written? Do you prefer bringing that first draft into the world, or is your favorite part when you edit that first draft repeatedly to make it the best work you can present? Or is there some other part of writing that you cherish more? 

How to Write a Novel by Nancy L. Eady

Two of WWK’s recent blog posts, one on April 12 by Heather Weidner, and one on April 27 by Kait Carson, got me thinking about how to write a novel. Their posts were more about how to get back into a regular writing schedule, but I realized that a tangent to their points is a simple principle: How do you write a novel? One word at a time. 

Think about it. If you never write the first word of the novel, you can never write the last word of the novel. And if you stop writing words somewhere in the middle, then all you are left with is a half-finished novel. So, in many ways, butt-in-chair-fingers-on-keyboard remains the central core of any writing regime. Unless you still write long-hand, in which case you have to keep pen on paper for similar periods of time, or unless you like to sit somewhere outdoors to do your writing, in which case your derriere will be sitting either on a lawn chair or a rock or a hill with your back against your tree or…. Well, you get the idea. But no matter what, your keyboard or your pen must continue to plunk out words until you come to the end. 

Notice, I did not title this blog “How to Write a Successful Novel,” which would be silly for me to write since I have yet to have my book published. But I did complete one book and have started a couple more since then, so I can authoritatively discuss what it takes to write a novel. While “writing one word at a time” as a guide to writing a novel is a bit of an oversimplification, since you also need something to write about (an idea), and characters that you enjoy writing about, but without the words, the idea and the characters won’t get much traction. And I have good news – sometimes when I have pounded out words just to keep going, thinking at the time I was putting out my worst writing ever, I later discovered when I re-read it that what I had written was better than originally thought.

Also note that the “one word at a time” theory does not apply to polished novels. What you get with the “one word at a time” approach is a finished novel you must then edit. But again, if you never finish the first draft, you will never have anything to edit. (A word of caution here – try to resist the temptation to edit any part of your novel until it is finished. Otherwise, you can get stuck editing Chapter 1 repeatedly to make it perfect, and never reach Chapter 2, let alone “the end.”) 

If you’re disenchanted with the amount of writing you’ve been able to get done lately, take heart! Promise yourself that you will take fifteen minutes to start putting words on a page. I’m willing to bet that before you know it, a lot more than fifteen minutes and a lot more than just a few words will pass by. 

What thoughts do you have that you use to encourage yourself or others to keep writing? What tricks do you use to get the small voice that says you never will be successful to get quiet, even for a little bit? 

The First Draft by Nancy L. Eady

Having to rewrite something you wrote once before but lost is quite annoying. You would think it would be otherwise; if you could write it once, you should be able to drag the gist of it back from your memory and do it again. But it never feels the same. And it goes hand in hand with another major annoyance—when you KNOW you’ve written something, but you just can’t find the most recent file. 

In my current work in progress, I encountered both phenomena in one scene. I am trying to work through the gala opening of a resort.  The resort is the brainchild of the local millionaire’s daughter who is now my protagonist’s best friend after a rocky start in book one.  I lost the first part of the scene. The first time, I took great pains to describe the setting.  Description is one of my weaknesses. I can write a wonderful description, but I have a hard time mixing the description with dialogue and action. I don’t think my readers will enjoy my bringing a full stop to everything else to listen to two pages describing a particular building and the people there. But this is a first draft, so I let myself go and wrote out as full a description as I could. But now I can’t find the file where I added that bit anywhere. So, I took another stab at things, this time focusing on the (probably less than memorable) dialogue between the main characters at the gala. I didn’t recreate the description, though. (Have I mentioned that I find it annoying to recreate writing I’ve already done?) 

I’m about 75% sure I’ve started this book in the wrong place, but like everything else in the first draft, the beginning is subject to change. Also, somewhere between the two versions, I’ve changed my mind about the murder. The best friend’s ex-husband was to be found dead in the kitchen the morning after, but I want more time to set up conflict and character. The only problem is I’m 41 pages into the book and usually the murder needs to happen quickly—although in this case, the life-changing incident that starts the whole train of events isn’t a murder, but a 16-year-old runaway heiress who is looking to stay with the best friend until she graduates high school. So maybe it is all right if it takes the murder (s) a little while longer to take place. 

With a first draft, I give myself permission to write badly. There are times when the words don’t flow and I am struggling to string sentences together, and my writing appears to be to be awful. With a first draft, I can always fix it later. I often find when I come back to it the writing was not nearly as bad as I remember. And that’s encouraging too.

Speculation and uncertainty are part of writing a first draft. Very little is set in stone.  I’m free to move events around, write words I know I will cut later and not worry about whether I use the word “that” too many times. New characters in this book may have their names change several times before I finally decide on the correct set. With a first draft, I am exploring new territory, and I like that. 

What do you like or dislike about writing a first draft? 

When the Chorus Died Down

Warren wrote recently about being saved by critics. I hope the remembrance of critics will cut down on the number of revisions needed but I can’t be certain of that because every writing endeavor is different.

I used blueprints in Hallie Ephron’s Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel to pin down the character of the protagonist and the villain, and to identify the victims, innocent suspects, and supporting cast. I had tentative turning points in the plot, and a time, location, and context.

After writing five pages, a new suspect came to light, not in what I’d written but in what I foresaw further into the story. I sketched out chapter two, wrote it on a yellow legal pad in longhand (my favorite method for first drafts) and decided the whole chapter was excrement.

All the critics who’d spoken about feeling, word choice, hooks, and character development were standing like a Greek chorus around the edges of my consciousness. You’ve probably seen the TV ad that portrays research overload. Individuals take off on a word, its meanings, associations, and similar sounding words, and reach innumerable blind alleys. I decided to socialize, garden, and let ideas percolate.

Within a few hours a whole new chapter with what I hope is natural development for characters and plot came into mind. My blueprint pages are written in ink but I have no problem scrapping them.

Just as professional experience helps an individual make better professional decisions, years of listening to and reading criticism guide a writer’s choices.

My favorite piece of criticism is, a writer has to have the feeling before he/she can evoke that feeling in others. Do you have a favorite critic or piece of criticism?