I'm Not Writing, But I LOVE My Process...

 

*sigh...*

I'm not sure why, but in the newbie writer world there seems to be a lot of stubbornness. I suspect it has more to do with feeling self-conscious and craving approval than anything else. No matter as to the reason, if your writing process does NOT have your writing consistently, it.....*drum roll...*

SUCKS.

Yes, you read me right. That process is about as valuable as a Blue Light Special at K-Mart (for those of you who are too young to get that analogy, too bad. :-P)

I had a conversation with a writer the other week, where he complained of being bored. I asked him why he wasn't writing, and he said he wasn't inspired. 

To wit, I explained being a serious writer has zilch to do with muse-like inspiration. 

To wit, he said to me, everyone has their own process. 

To wit, I said to him, looks like yours isn't working. 

To wit, he said, oh, it works fine. Not everyone has the same process. 

To wit, I said, true, but those who write consistently, not feigning being bored or uninspired, have a workable process. You obviously do not.

To wit, *crickets*

Ah... I love the smell of insecurity in the morning...

At some point, all writers, especially new ones, who decide that writing will be a career, not a hobby, have to look themselves in the mirror and ascertain if their writing process is actually a good one.

Just so you know, that looking into the mirror gig... you'll do it for the rest of your life. Nothing stays status quo for the artist. On about a monthly basis, after 8 years of full time writing, I have to do this self-examination, as my writing deadlines/demands keep increasing, so my process needs constantly refining.

My latest milestone: I need to write ~ 50,000 book draft words every 3 weeks, and have it become the norm, not the exception.

How do ya like them apples, you non-consistent, process holding, writing scribes???

So, to date, my process isn't working well enough. Currently, I've decided on a Time over Word Count approach, to see if that will up my production. I will study that process over the next few weeks, and see if it's successful. If not, back to my self-examination mirror I go to further tweak my process, and I will do so until I can settle on one that does get me to my goal.

So, now, it's YOUR turn...

HOMEWORK: 

a) drop the stubborn facade about your non-writing process you hold so lovingly in your arms and figuratively pet. If you're not writing, your process needs to be killed. You can have an ornate funeral for it, if you wish. I get the diva in all of us...

b) establish your own book writing goal(s), and design a new process that you think may get you there. Assess it after a few weeks of implementation, and decide if it's working, or it needs further refinement.

c) and never be stubborn or proprietary or defensive about your writing process ever again.

The rubber meets the road strictly by the words down on the page. Nothing else matters.

Being a writer is mostly a psychological war with yourself. Constantly find new ways of winning each battle, to win that war.

Book Writing Naysayers... Don't Listen

Family. Your well-heeled, Aunt Mable. 

"Oh, Jane, that partial book draft you sent me to read, so sweet. How long have you been working on this story? Years, you say? Dear, that's a lovely pastime, but it'll never pay the bills. I told you to marry well. You ignored me, and married that deadbeat. You need a real job, as you're now my least favorite relative, and I'm leaving nothing to you in my will."

Friends. Your bestie, Carol.

"Wow, you've been writing? I didn't know that. What a secret you've been keeping, for, what did you say? Years? Uh-huh. Listen, I know a guy who can get you a discounted rate on a course to sell real estate. Now, there's some big earning potential. Great story though. Read it to your future kids sometime, if you can afford to have any, that is."

Colleagues.

You work buddy, Bob.

"Cool! A whole manuscript! Oh, an unfinished book. Right. Gotcha. When will it be done? You don't know. Right. Hey, listen, my wife is having a Tupperware party where you can become one of her sellers and make millions! Text me with your RSVP. And listen, great job on that, whatever it is book thing. Sounds great. Great conversation starter at my wife's Tupperware party. Don't forget the RSVP!"

~~~

It's not that they don't love you or like you or even tolerate you, as long as you do what is expected in an average life, what they themselves can only do. 

Deep down, they know you'll never finish that manuscript because nobody they know tries that silly game and wins. They'll smile and nod, and gently guide you into being anything but a writer because success is only defined as getting quick cash, and lots of it, and they know you're never going to get any moolah being a writer. They'll probably pat you gently on your shoulder, too, and quickly walk away exhaling deeply, thankful they aren't you with that silly pipe dream.

Firstly, who ever achieved greatness accepting the average, the mundane, the predicted?

Secondly, why should others, who lack courage, stop you from having some?

Along that naysayer belief then, 

• Ernest Hemingway would have died a poor deep sea fisherman.
• Truman Capote would have retired as a copyboy for The New Yorker magazine.
• Agatha Christie would have been a bored housewife.

The Reality: Something is giving you this itch to write. The idea haunts you every day, and that itch, that haunting, will not subside. Maybe it's the universe, far above, far greater than those earthly naysayers, trying to tell you something.

The Key: It will take all the courage you can muster to finish that book, but finish it, you must. You know it. I know it. It will be the only way to shut up those nagging, "WRITE!" voices inside your head.

HOMEWORK: STOP telling people about your story. STOP talking. START WRITING. Materialize in a book what has breathed inside your mind for such a long time. 

• Keep your eyes on the page.
• Keep your ears shut to that naysayer world.
• Focus on your storyline, writing out one scene card after another.
• And slap down ALL the words needed to finish that draft.

Courage. Fortitude. Discipline. Confidence to go it alone until the piece is done.

It's far more important to listen to the universe. There's an unbelievable future waiting for you that will NEVER be waiting for those naysayers, and it lies on that blank page, looking up eagerly at YOU.

Question: Now, look ME straight in the eye, and answer me this: 

Do you have what it takes to go for greatness?

Finishing Your Book - Your Second Full Time Job...

 

Question: How long would you last at your day job if you only came into work when you felt like it?

Answer: If you're reading this article now because you tried that yesterday, and today you're unemployed, well, there ya go.

A Tidbit of Reality: Nothing involving value — and by value I mean quality of work, reputation, revenue — is done by happenstance. Like... never.

You say, "But B. J., I have to work at my day job, so I don't end up in a cardboard box panhandling on 3rd."

I say, "So true. But what do you do that truly benefits your life when you're NOT at your day job? And those empty-calorie activities like playing video games, watching TV or clubbing doesn't count."

Crickets, gathering around us, say, "Chirping..."

"Right. So what was your question, again?" 

Don't get me wrong. Having a part-time hobby has a huge benefit to a person's quality of life, but if you plan on completing a major project that will be put out into society to augment their quality of life, your reputation and net worth, dabbling at it only when there's a snow storm or when your Aunt Mable loans you her creepy lakeside mansion won't cut it. 

In the former, you end up getting into a snowball fight with your neighbors. They invite you over for drinks post snow flaky fun, and after four Manhattans you slur, "Wad būk?"

In the latter, flies hibernating in the walls come to life as soon as you light the fireplace. They swarm around your head. You run screaming from the mansion, trip over a log, fall into the lake, and drown. Another writer far more serious than your deceased self witnesses your ghostly image, and with focused, steely determination writes a Gothic novel entitled, The Ghost on Missed Chances Lake, that when finished, and published, wins a Pulitzer Prize, and stays on the New York Times Best Seller list for 41,000 straight weeks, making so much dough that the lauded scribe, who isn't you, actually feels sorry for J. K. Rowling.

The time-tested adage, "Your muse finds you working" still tests positive today. 

The fact is, you simply will not write well until you write consistently. 

That 1/4 finished manuscript of yours will never become an actual book until you look at writing as your second full time job. You know, the moonlight gig you willingly take on for no cash and no fame... similar to that security guard job you passed over last year for no real money, far less fame, a skin rash from the uniform, and more income taxes paid... still with no finished book at the end.

If you're serious about becoming a novelist or non-fiction writer, you need to alter your mindset, you know, that psychological aspect of writing I keep harping on, and on, about. Your writing sessions have to be seen as your moonlight job that you willingly take on because you see the Big Picture — the real benefits of finishing that book — personal satisfaction, a gift to society, a lauded career, evergreen income.

You WILL have to sit down and write when,

• You're too tired.
• You're not feeling well.
• When all your friends are going out and having fun, without you.

And that drudgery WILL have to keep on keeping on until you write the words, The End, and not one word before.

You WILL experience, 

• Loneliness.
• Frustration.
• Hopelessness.
• Mental Exhaustion.

But you WILL keep on, keeping on, until you write the words, The End, and not one word before.

You WILL accept that those feelings come with the job, and no amount of fame, money or multitude of finished books will make those feelings completely go away.

You ask, "So, why am I writing if all I get are those bad feelings?"

I say, "Because you're an artist. You have something to give to humanity. You endure because the personal satisfaction of birthing art and sending it out to the world supersedes all else, all the hard work, exhaustion, and all those lonely times. The work is greater than you. That's why."

Crickets crawl in closer, happily chirping.

HOMEWORK: Tonight, think long and hard about altering your mindset from a hobbyist to a person with a second full time job. Take your brain from happenstance writer to serious wordsmith, from once-in-a-while plot pondering to 24/7 sub-conscious and conscious book rumination. 

This is not only a mindset shift but a style of life change, peeps, and it's forever. You have to visualize yourself being serious with this métier in order to be serious with this métier.

Become steely-eyed. Keep your eyes on that publishing prize. Trade in that juvenile mindset for an adult take on what is really needed to be a professional writer. There is no going halfway in this career. Ask any accomplished writer.