The Writing Process (and World Anchors)
Reading about Writing Part of me wishes that there was a tried and tested, winning process that could be followed, to gain the success of finishing novels, short stories or poetry pieces in a planned, methodical time-frame. Part of me also realizes that if there was a simple to follow, one size fits all formula, then everyone else would be following it, too. The result of that would be that simply following the formula wouldn't be enough, and then we'd be chasing an enhanced formula, or the secondary process, or whatever else it was that would allow us to stand out from the crowd. Despite understanding this fact, I still find something moreish about reading people's accounts of their own writing habits and processes. There are countless books and blog posts from famous writers, all talking about how they write. Perhaps avid readers and wannabe authors like myself are reading these accounts, hoping to try to replicate them. Perhaps there's something humanizing about reading the struggle of others. It might give hope to those onlookers, seeing how other people fought the struggle, and won. It might offer us peace, seeing that these authors are still fighting against that same struggle as us, many published books later. In my own writing journey, I've managed to finish writing and editing a single novel during a period of approximately eight months. That was over a decade ago now, and I've been trying to figure out how I did it ever since. Upon reflection, I see a lot of the same fluff that I see in other accounts of the writing process: Making time for writing, giving myself a distraction free space, prioritizing the task over other activities, etc. I'll try to ignore all of that, for now. The main things that I'd like to note down here are the specific parts that I have found to be of value. For, despite my acknowledgement that most of my writing was completed due to the good will of the Goddess of Fortune, I believe that putting those months under scrutiny has still produced a few notable items worth further consideration. The narrative Each morning, I'd awake at around 10 am after working late the previous night, and drive myself to a nearby shopping center. By shopping center standards it was quite small, compared to some of the newer constructions in the neighboring suburbs. I'd grab a coffee from the same cafe every morning, and usually an Almondine Tart too (delicious) before wandering towards the back of the center, where there was an almost always empty food court and a little water fountain. This is where I'd write. The center was busy enough for me to feel like I was still a part of the world, whilst not being so busy and chaotic as to serve as a constant source of distraction.I'd stay there until I felt a sense of accomplishment, in whatever form it took. Often, this would be jotting down a scene and feeling really excited when reading it back, knowing that I had something useful in front of me. Then I'd go home. On getting home, I'd check the time. If work was upon me, I'd have some food, get changed into uniform, and go to work. If I still had a while before work, I'd spend some time typing up what I had written in my notebook that day (or playing catch-up with previous days, as happened quite often). Also, I'd use that time to edit, rework, and blend scenes together, rearranging things and reading things in the context of the larger work and seeing how it flowed together. So all in all, I was writing a lot. But is this information useful? Sure, it illustrates that writing is time consuming, and to complete a novel, one would likely need to spend a long time at it. But we knew that already. In my mission to recreate the days of being able to sit and write - not just Rants for my website, but an entire novel - I need more than just a general story of how I did something back in the day. I need to know which parts are still applicable to me now, and which parts I can make use of, despite being in a completely different stage of life. What I've found 1: Each morning, I'd awake around 10am. I quite specifically said "around 10am" because I wouldn't wake at the same time each day. As I didn't work until the evening, I didn't need to worry about waking up at a set time each morning, and so I didn't use an alarm. I awoke when I had had 'enough' sleep. Ergo, I was always well-rested, and I believe that adequate rest is the first Key. 2: I feel that I got pretty lucky with my writing spot. It was in public, so I didn't feel isolated from the world, but it was also quiet, climate controlled, convenient, etc. Finding a good writing spot can be hard, but I think that having somewhere out of the house is almost a necessity for me. 3: Initially, I would write with paper and pen. I found that I was less likely to worry about trying to edit my words if they were hand written. Certainly, I used the strike-through line liberally, but the little distractions whilst typing, such as correcting spelling mistakes or re-wording the same sentence over and over to see how it sounded, weren't there. This also built in the necessity for a first pass-over during transcribing, letting me more easily ignore those niggling temptations that I just mentioned, as I'd just tell myself "I'll fix that later when I type it up." 4: I wrote until I was excited - I didn't wait until I felt excited before I started to write. I got this idea from someone else, but basically, don't write until you are bored, as it will make it hard to pick the work back up again next time. Leave it in a fun place, so the next time you sit down, you're itching to find out what your characters do next. 5: I saved the typing for days where I didn't have the motivation or funds to go to the shopping center. This allowed me to do the more rote work of transcribing at home, even if I wasn't feeling creative. This meant that progress was still being made on the book, even if I wasn't actively writing any new scenes. Often, by going through what I had written the few days prior, I'd get motivated and start feeling that creative energy anyway, but even if I didn't, there was enough work to be done without it. 6: I didn't check the time. Part of this was a conscious effort, but a big part of it was just a positive side-effect of not having a smartphone. It also helped that my friends worked during the day like normal people, so none of them would call me while I was writing anyway. But not checking the time is about more than just removing a distraction - I didn't check the time because I didn't need to, and I think that this turned out to be my biggest superpower. I knew that there was no way I'd sit in that shopping center for so long that I'd accidentally miss my evening shift at work. This meant that it really didn't matter to me what the time was. I was completely free to fall into the universe that I was creating, and hang out there for as long as I felt that I wanted to. I would daydream for however long I wanted, and write with complete freedom, until I was done. Since those early days, my calendar has slowly filled with regular events and obligations, for better or for worse. With most days now consisting of things that need to be done, I've noticed a psychological effect that I had completely avoided, purely by chance, back in those earlier writing days. I call it "anchoring". If I have an approaching task, even if it's in 2 hours time, my brain will keep a conscious countdown in the back of my skull to ensure that I don't forget, or miss it. My brain's doing me a favour - I don't want to be late for that appointment. The problem, however, becomes obvious. How can I truly let myself sink into my writing, enter another world, put myself in my character's shoes, if I'm also trying not to let myself get too carried away for fear of running late to my next thing? My brain, in trying to help me, is actively holding me in reality, painfully aware of the dwindling time, whilst all I want to do is enter the Flow State, zone out for a while, and be completely oblivious to whatever the time is, back in reality. The clock is an anchor to the world, and to write effectively, I need to get off-world as often as possible. Those are the 6 things that I've pulled from reflecting on my previous experience. With the 6th one very much in mind, I now plan my writing sessions by simply keeping my schedule open and telling myself that I have all day to write. I never do write all day - in fact I usually only write for 30 minutes or so - but that's not the point. I know that I'll need to eat dinner at some time, I'll likely see some friends somewhere or I'll go out with the other half for ice-cream. I'll probably take an evening walk somewhere if the weather is feeling kind, and I'll have a chat with someone. Maybe I'll make some plans for the upcoming Christmas period and make a booking or buy a gift at the shops. Knowing all of this doesn't matter in the slightest - what matters is that I haven't visualized a start and end time for those things. As soon as you start trying to plan that next step, rank ordering the day's chores in priority order and working out which shops close first so you know what direction to drive around the city to minimize driving time whilst maximizing amount of tasks you can tick off in one fell swoop, you've lost. Give your subconscious time-keeping brain process as little as possible to hang on to, allowing yourself to fully immerse in whatever you are working on at this exact moment. The real world doesn't stop if you don't achieve a million different things today - but your inner world might, if you do.
- Aluca Sol
