Cultivating a Writing Habit

Now, that I’ve started blogging, I always have ideas running in my head and they appear in the strangest places – on the bus, out for a walk, etc.
The only thing that annoys me is proofreading – no matter how many times I reread my content, I always find ANOTHER mistake.

@Meg Roberts – thank you so very much for leaving a comment. I love when you share your thoughts.

@Everyone Else – I’m really grateful for your time and attention. It was a long post, but I’m glad that you got something out of it. It was a good post for me to write, personally. I’m grateful.

Chris,
I am often agog at your writing.

And yes, your experiences remind me of mine in regards to reading and writing. I am an avid and very fast reader and remember nearly everything (except I goofed up the title of Shel Israel’s book, d’oh). Never quite got into comics except the ones acceptable to females (I’m a bit older) way back when. But oh yeah… I read all I could as often as I could. And self-study versus going to college has served me well, too. Much of my extraneous knowledge was gained due to simple curiosity about all sorts of things. From organic gardening to solar power to lawn treatment chemicals to anatomy and physiology of cats and bugs and people, I have retained that knowledge and regularly bore folks with it who dare to listen =). It’s fun!

People who write look at the world a bit differently. Ideas are often spawned by very small incidences and then grow into whatever they become. If written, they remain for ever or for a moment. If unwritten, they pop out at odd times or during those precious writing moments if one’s life is not geared to write all the day. Writing when you can and should or even when you shouldn’t snare a piece of time to write is a freedom experience I wouldn’t do without.

The best book I read solely on writing was “Writing down the bones” by Natalie Goldberg. Her revealing book that taught the discipline and the freedom of writing, and also cautioned writers not to use their status as “writers” to gain any favors or special treatment, was written 20 years ago and is still relevant. It made me exercise my writing skills where much of my writing had remained in my head for some time while holding down several jobs at a time.

The next book I read that fed me in a life-way was “How to dance forever – surviving against the odds” by Daniel Nagrin. His book was filled with raw imagry and raw emotion and gave me a similar feeling as did Goldberg’s book. Encouragement to use your creativity even while feeling hampered by fear or time constraints or whatever other snag you’ve let grab you is pure gold.

@ginakay

addendum (I did finally go to college in my 30′s and that was heaven – read, read, read, write, write, write – woo hoo!).

I’m new to your blog but I can already tell I’ll be back. I like not only what you have to say but how you say it. Me I’m influenced by everything I’ve ever read, including your blog. (My personal favorite Palahniuk is “Survivor”).

I’m glad you mentioned “On Writing”. Steve was a big influence on me, not that book particularly but I spent time with him working on a TV show a few years ago. When he found out I write he’s the one that told me to “start writing books”, I’m in the middle of three now (I’ve only ever read two of his, sorry Steve). The man is not just a writer but a word junkie. He has big word jumble books he carries with him everywhere. With in the first two minutes of meeting me he had checked out the book I was reading and the music I was playing and later that day we went and bought him the same…I guess he approved.

Great insight and informative, I look forward to reading more that you have to share.

Chris if you’re not Jordan, I’m not Bill Cartwright.

However, it was encouraging that you cited many of the same influences that have shaped my own (not yet as prolific) output.

Made to Stick is priceless. I don’t share the universal man-love for Seth, but his thesis-first approach is great. I agree 1000% on the King book. Had the same reaction (although didn’t rip the book).

I’d offer a couple of other personal touchstones. I find Bill Bryson to be the absolute best at turning a phrase. He is the master of word selection. I like Cormac McCarthy because he proves you can write a sentence like “The man went to the door.” and have it drip with meaning.

Although I find his current politics don’t sync with my own, I’ve always cribbed from Dennis Miller in the reliance on simile and metaphor when I’m really rolling.

Also glad that we share a NCTE trophy. I remember writing that essay like it was yesterday.

Potentially, there’s a double-edged sword element to writing all day. It could lead to writing fatigue, for example, where you simply don’t have the energy or inclination once the real ideas arrive.

However, like you, I find that writing all day (as a full-time copywriter) usually helps me to write my fiction or blog posts when I get home. It’s a tough balance, but it’s quite possible to manage your writing effectively and quite literally, write all day.

My mentor used to call it the monkey mind – that mental block that prevents you from forming the words that are at the tip of your mind. It’s odd, as a journalism major, I hated writing what others assigned me, but I’ve found that post-graduation I actually miss it because I no longer have a drive to write at the end of the day because I’m not being forced to write during the day. I felt the writing fatigue, but I’m starting to get back into the swing of things and that pen has never felt so “write” in my hand.

PS My notebook is my security blanket, even when I had nothing to say. Or as my former boss called it “the ramblings of a mad white woman.”

cheers

Thanks for a great and practical post. Do you have any tips for organization of all of your writing? My cluttered hard drive, stacks of notebooks, coctail napkins and scraps of paper lead me to believe this is an area I need to give attention.

I’m thrilled to have found your blog. Thanks!

Having written since I could write (!) I chickened out on myself 20 years ago and began writing for advertising agencies and corporations…that paid the bills. Now, I feel like I bastardized my writing talent. How do I get back to the true bone of writing? Everytime I start something, I play marketing guru and ask myself what’s the objective, who is the audience…? Stop. I want to write the good stuff again.

I write mostly non-fiction & tech articles and poetry. I do a lot of teaching, consulting and editing on a wide variety of writing projects. To me, the most important qualities in good non-fiction writing are: flow, clarity and conciseness. Reading extensively is helpful to writers when it comes to content and developing style and an authentic voice. It also exposes them to a variety of models, so they can become aware of what works and what doesn’t.

One way I have found that works with my students is to break the writing process down like so: brainstorm (verbally or on paper), write, and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite; the rewriting or editing being of utmost importance. Reading aloud or having someone else read your writing aloud or proof read it for clarity and coherence can also be helpful.

I am also a musician and I believe ( as Mary Ray does) that this is an advantage when it comes to injecting rhythm, tonality and color into my writing. This is accomplished by combining words and sentences in very specific ways. I play with them on the page and move them around, until I find the most interesting and effective ways of using them. And I certainly agree with Amber Naslund (an admirable writer) when she says writing must flow on the page. With me, sometimes, it gushes and I have to exercise some conscious control to rein it in, especially if it’s 3:00 in the morning.

Writing on twitter is much harder for me than writing on my blog, because I don’t get that wonderful open, flowing feeling I get from writing larger pieces. Twitter feels all choppy and disjointed to me. I hope I get over that. I’ve only been doing it a few days. I want to like it more.

You want inspiration to write then read “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” by Jean-Dominique Bauby. I just finished it last night and under any circumstances it was a well written memoir. When you understand that Bauby at 44 had a massive stroke and was completely paralyzed with only the ability to move his left eye. That he wrote with someone reciting letters till he heard the one he wanted and blinked yes for every word one letter at a time is astounding.
The book was written over two months and edited in 2 weeks. That should be a kick in the butt to anyone that thinks they can’t do it themselves.
Now go write something people.

@Steve I never read the book but the movie was excellent. Really makes you wonder the things you can do it you really put your mind to it, cause especially in that case, that’s all you need.

Hey Craig,
Like you I saw the film first but was intrigued when I found out it was based on a book that Bauby wrote himself. The book quite literally gets you in his head and is worth finding.
Cheers

Writing in general is formulaic, but yes if you don’t even begin by putting text onto a page, you’ll never have anything to edit.

Glad to see me mentioned here :) Good luck!

Really interesting piece of information. I never knew that we could look at the art of writing in this sense too. It definitely makes us realise how other writers feel, and indentify with their character. Thnks… please post more such info.

Dear Chris,

Myself staying at Kolkata,India.Love writing……in fact nurture a dream to make it big in future by ,as others say, earning thru blogging.At present unemployed.please suggest something immediately like some good,easy topics to blog .

Regards……………srijit

Chris, good points! Writing is a must if we want to learn to write. Just like learning to play a musical instrument or participating in sports. Practice makes perfect. There is a huge difference in writing a blog and writing a book. Congrats on going that next step. I agree with the comments about the Stephen King book – two things impressed me, and that is how much he writes every day, and that he reads every evening rather than watch TV. We only need to look to his productivity and success to know that we need to turn off the TV and develop the discipline necessary to produce more words. I wish you the best on your book and your continued success. I am bookmarking this site.

So . . . how about your thoughts on working with an editor?