Writing Routines

Post By Lynne Griffin
Painting By Carolyn Jundzillo

Pastel buds bursting or about to burst, days warm enough for long walks ending at the beach for a dip, the local ice cream shop is open for business. In my beautiful seaside town, spring arrived just in time for the schools' April vacation. Though my son still has an entire term to finish, like most teenagers, he's in a summer state of mind.

Parents tell me, one of my most useful tag lines in NEGOTIATION GENERATION is if you can predict it, you can prevent it. If a child, or adult for that matter, behaves the same way time and time again, that's person's behavior is predictable. So when it comes to my writing routines and my children being off from school this summer, I can already predict they're going to have to change. The children and the writing routines.

My present writing routine includes seeing everyone off to jobs and schools, coffee in hand, I tackle responding to email and planning upcoming programs. Once the to-do list is under control, I start reading and editing the pages I wrote the previous day. That puts me in the writing zone, and pulls me into the story, and then it's time to write new pages. Without distraction, I can write for hours. Afterschool activities for my son and commuting for my husband, leave me plenty of time to arrive at my writing saturation point. I stop and then take care of other correspondence or household responsibilities until the house becomes alive again.

As of May 9th, things will change. My daughter will be home from college and in another month my son will finish his sophomore year. I have a lot of summer experience telling me I'll have to alter my routine. Everyone knows teenagers love to sleep in. So on the days neither is up and out to a job, along with my husband, I plan to write first thing. Hours of revision to my work-in-progress complete, I'll be able to handle the inevitable distractions that come once they're up and the phone starts ringing, plans ricocheting around the house until things get settled and their off for a few more hours.

Like a mother knows she should sleep when her newborn is sleeping, I know to write when my teenagers are out of the house. You never know when they'll return, with friends in tow. Since I love having a home where my children's friends feel at ease, I plan to be in a state of mind to welcome them. I know I'll only feel this way if I get my writing in. Nothing agitates me more than having my writing plans thwarted, for any reason. I can let it go one day, maybe two, but repeatedly losing time to write puts me in a foul mood. Fortunately my children respect this.

Here's where my predicting the challenge of writing in summer comes in handy. As a family, we've already begun a conversation about general routines for summer. Who will work and when, and when friends can come over and when the house is a no friend zone. My children--and their friends--support my writing and love the fact that I've written a book, they're proud to say I'm a soon-to-be-published novelist. I fully expect little will get in the way of me achieving my writing goals this summer and I'm certain of this because not only am I willing to make changes to my writing routine, but I've honestly and without hesitation told my family what I need them to do to aid me. Of course, I also predict there will be snags in the plan, but overall I expect it will go well.

So how do you predict your writing routine will change when the beach and your children are calling? What seasonal changes can you make to ensure you'll still achieve your writing goals?

Journals

Posted by Lynne Griffin

I have a thing for journals. I love quality stationery, mechanical pencils and pens that glide across the page. Right now if you were to go into my office closet or peek in a desk drawer, you'd find more cloth bound books and brightly colored pads of paper than I'll need for some time. These are my tools, and I can't write without them.

The stationery is for charming notes, the pens and pencils to enhance the writing experience. The journals are my most versatile tool used to capture the journey toward completing a novel. I don't use my journal in the traditional sense, a daily entry highlighting the day's activities and feelings associated with my life. I keep one for each book I write and in each I keep tidbits of ideas for my work-in-progress. In it I have vital information that will never find its way directly into the novel, but details that are essential to a tight, well-crafted work.

Here are a few of things I write down.

• Each character's age and the month of their birthday, along with their relationships with other characters. (For example, I don't want a character to be an older sister at the beginning of the novel, and later claim she's the younger of the two.)

• The names of all my minor characters and where they fit into the story (Boy can these people get lost in the shuffle.)

• The book's timeline (If it's Tuesday in Chapter one, what day is it in Chapter twenty? I fear I'll write a story where it's always Friday. Keep in mind, readers love to find these glitches in a novel, but they remove the reader from the story and thus interrupt flow.)

• Page counts of chapters (While it's fine to have chapters of varying length, I like to know how my story's structure is falling into place. Later I can decide to combine or expand certain chapters to fit the overall structure.)

• Lists of resources--print, web, and people-- that I can go to for story details (Authenticity of details is a post in and of itself)

• Interviews completed (For my work-in-progress, I've completed several interviews that have added incredible information I'm using to inform plot, character and setting. I don't know when I need this info until I'm writing and suddenly I need it, and I want to have it handy.)

• Notes related to revisions that will need to be layered into a subsequent draft (While I revise the writing from the day before each morning before I write again, I don't go back to the beginning, even if something is revealed to me in say the middle of the novel. I capture the notes in my journal and then in revision I'll know to add details or make changes. For example, a minor character in my work-in-progress had children in chapter three, but by chapter twenty-eight it was clear it was better if he didn't. Note to self--remove his children from chapter three)

The most significant use of my journal is during writers' group. During critique of my pages, sitting quiet, unable to speak, I write. I write down the positive things Amy, Lisa and Hannah say, as well as the constructive feedback. I do this for many reasons. For practical reasons, I have to know what's working and what's not. If I don't have the feedback to review later, I won't recall specifically what was discussed. I might think I'll remember, but likely I'll miss something. It also provides me with the ability to review the notes for themes. Is one character inconsistently relating to another character? Do a number of chapter beginnings overdue exposition? Is a particular subplot missing the mark in places? Taking accountability for the things that consistently emerge, absolutely makes for a stronger novel. Thanks to my journal, I won't miss any of these.

The process of capturing feedback is in itself a means of making positive change. Remember I'm a teacher, and teachers know that the act of writing down what you need to change is the first step toward embracing the change. The process of writing it down raises awareness and centers new thinking in a place of conscious thought. And it doesn't hurt to have the details that made your writers' group gasp, cry, or smile written down either. The positive feedback is a source of comfort on days when the writing is hard.

So how do you capture the nuances and tidbits for pulling together a strong work? We've written a number of entries about the art of writing, but I strongly believe in the science of it too. Work habits can either enhance or interfere with the process of writing a novel. Care to share some of the habits that work for you?

Writing Fiction and Nonfiction

Posted by Lynne Griffin

Next month--March 24th to be precise--I will be teaching my first writing class at Grub Street. I've been teaching at the graduate level for years, such things as techniques of counseling, group dynamics, effective teaching, curriculum design and writing for publication. But never writing to writers.

I can't wait.

In every writing class I've taken, the instructor uses the equivalent of an icebreaker, in the form of a writing exercise. While I don't mind them in class, I'm not one to use them personally to limber up my synapses or to work out my writer's block. Like sharing work in a writing class, I think their use can be risky. Beginning writers may feel intimidated. Advanced writers annoyed with what could be perceived as a time waster.

So I've decided, and I'd love your opinion on this, to start my workshop off respecting something everybody has and most people like to share. Opinions.

Each time the writers' group meets, before and after we critique pages, we discuss the subtleties of the writing process, and the complexities of the marketplace. Our individual and collective experiences are a tangle of thoughts, feelings, and actions that together shape our personal opinions.

Imagine sitting around a table, in a setting that inspires. With ground rules for respecting everyone's opinion established, and expectations that everyone who'd like to share can share, we'll challenge our thinking.

Here are just a few of the opinions I want to discuss with my students. Feel free to weigh in.

1. Excellent writers know exactly how they work and why their process is effective.
2. Writing nonfiction and fiction are two completely different experiences; they can't be compared.
   
3. A writer limits the likelihood of success if he or she divides time between writing fiction and nonfiction.
   
4. Agents don't represent writers who choose to write in a different genre once signed for another.
5. For the writer with a multifaceted writing identity, the marketplace won't know how to market the writer.

So what do you think? For these and other questions I'll pose, there are no right or wrong answers. Only opinion--formed through the personal experiences of the students. I hope getting a discussion going on what could be perceived as controversial topics will spice up my workshop. Feel free to toss more questions my way or offer your thoughts on the ones listed above. I'll report back after I run the class. Wish me good luck.

Making a Literary Life Friday: A Look Inside

Yesterday, Lynne posted an interview with Chris Bohjalian, a fascinating look inside a talented writer's literary life. Chris writes at the same time each day, and dedicates time every afternoon to publicity of his work. What writing routines and rituals serve your writing, and which don't? Making a literary life involves a bit of trial and error when it comes to learning the parts of your process that serve the story and those that do not. Here's a glimpse inside our writing routines. Feel free to share yours.

Lisa Marnell
An hour or more in the early morning or a couple hours in late evening seem to be the only time the Muse feels welcome in my home -- Come anytime! Mi Casa es su casa. So every morning, my first task is to turn on my laptop and write. I rarely write during the day, if ever; that's time for the rest of my life: work at my school for children with autism, my own kids, errands, exercise, sports -- did I mention my hockey team's in fourth place out of four teams? I need space from writing for it to be remotely good. It's like water building above a dam: I fight the urge then at night I release the gates, for better or for worse.

Amy MacKinnon
Writing process? My background is in politics and like that old chestnut about sausages, you don't want to see how it's done. It can get pretty ugly around here. After months of getting to know my protagonist (they usually talk while I'm cleaning, showering, they chatter a lot during shivasina), then I sit at my computer and begin to tell their story. The problem is they tell me where it all started, how it ended, but are a little reticent about the time inbetween. That's when I pull out my hair and chomp on wasabi peas to fight the stress. Sometimes I'm up before dawn to write, other times I have to vaccuum before settling into writing. There are periods where I write every day and others where I can't get the words out for days on end. Basically, I haven't a routine and that scares the hell out of me.

Hannah Roveto

My bottom-line commitment to myself is at least five days per week, for at least two hours, but I can sometimes get in as many as six. I get the daily personal/family/work check-in routines finished by eight-thirty or nine, and try to do as much as I can in the morning. The number of hours depends on my Paying Job, which is generally writing as well, but a different animal than fiction. When things are busy, I carve out two hours -- first thing, lunchtime, late afternoon if the kids don't need taxi service -- whatever I can make work. My lovely bosses always apologize when things are slow, and I always assure them it's not a problem in the least! I create additional time beyond the weekday routine as I can, at the least to read through what I've done and make notes. The more time, the more ideal of course, but a minimum commitment even on busy stretches means a steady push forward.

Lynne Griffin
I work on my novel four or five days per week for six or seven hours at a time. Early morning is my most productive time and I sit with my laptop near a window. I keep a journal for each novel, it's filled with thoughts that come to me in between writing times, character sketches and occasionally a chapter outline. When I'm writing a first draft, I think about my story constantly. And at the end of each writing day, my husband reads my pages. While he doesn't provide much feedback at this early stage, he enjoys the first glimpse into the story.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Chris Bohjalian for agreeing to the interview posted yesterday and for sharing so generously his literary life. We all wish Chris the best of luck with his latest releases.

Millefeuille

by Hannah

Can you tell I haven't had breakfast yet? I was trying to think of something with lots of layers, and pastry popped into my head. You know, Napoleons and those other yummies with the thousands of sheets of pastry and cream (or fruit) and icing... but I digress, a bit.

My own challenge in writing also has been plot. Not so much in creating one, but in creating a full set of events that together make it richer, stronger, worthwhile. I could take a thread and stretch it one end to the other. A second thread, fine. A third, even. In the past, however, I found it easy to get lost. I might start with a firm beginning, and follow my primary thread to hit key points along the way, but in between it would wander.

I learned to manage that to a greater degree, and my last draft was close. The unanimous opinion, still, was that it needed more action. There were already so many characters, so many pieces, how could it need more? As I reviewed and played with it in my mind, the answer (as usual) was that everything I needed was really already sitting in front of me. What I have discovered in this last revision is precisely how many threads I'm really working from end to end; that number is far more than I ever realized.

Before it seemed thin, and suddenly it felt rich, excessive. At first I panicked. How presumptuous to assume I could take so many elements and truly craft them start to finish! Do I really have it in me to pull the right ones at the right times, to make sure the heavier ones march solidly along and the delicate ones add depth by popping up gently here and there? How do I interlace them so they happen in the right order, like dominoes with intersecting paths?

What I have learned with this revision is that more threads are not necessarily harder. In fact, like a narrow writing prompt, it makes the work easier. I set out the main character's thread and the basic plot, writing it step by step with lots of space in between on 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of paper. I added in the secondary character's bits between. Then the third most important person. Then I made a list of all the elements: relationship with father, funny unconscious habit, details on backstory that main character is unaware of but that he -- and we -- need to put together along the way. Layers and layers and layers on sheets across my dining room table.

This was different from the outlines I had done before, different in that every aspect of every character was on the sheet somewhere, not only in my head. In doing so, it was suddenly far clearer what was important, what drove the whole thing forward, what could be eliminated. Who could be eliminated. Who had drifted into lesser importance and was waiting patiently to return to greater prominence. Best of all, I was able to find the action that was so dearly needed.

Like a baker, I am taking those layers that stretched across my table and am folding them not once, not twice, but what seems like a thousand times into something new. A confection that I hope will be as impressive in the tasting as it is in the presentation. A thousand layers in nearly that many pages? Not quite, but close enough. And now, off for breakfast!

Dreams Come True

Posted by Lisa

Last year at the SCBWI conference in NYC, I heard the editor of Twilight speak. She was delightful and encouraging. She spoke about the importance of grabbing the reader with the first few pages. Then she shared the story of how she acquired Twilight. She said, and I paraphrase, "I wasn't much interested in reading the novel at the time, so I handed it to my assistant: Get to this when you can. Let me know what you think." The assistant got to it that Friday evening, Sunday she called the editor at home and said, "I think you should read this." They made a pre-empt offer early that week.

I've just finished reading Twilight. Yesterday, I could barely put it down. It is inspiring and educational reading a book that so clearly is wonderful. Below is an interview from Stephenie Meyer's website. She relates her experience writing Twilight.

"Actually, it all started on 2 June 2003, when this stay-at-homemother of three sons woke up from a dream filled with characters that she just couldn't get out of her head. 'Though I had a million things to do, I stayed in bed, thinking about the dream. Unwillingly, I eventually got up and did the immediate necessities, and then put everything that I possibly could on the backburner and sat down at the computer to write - something I hadn't donein so long that I wondered why I was bothering."

Three months later, she had finished her first book, Twilight, which was published in2005. The highly-anticipated sequel, New Moon, was published in 2006, and the third book in the Twilight series, Eclipse, in 2007. The fourth book in the Twilight Series, Breaking Dawn, will be released in 2008. Having promised that there will be more than four books, Meyer hopes to have Midnight Sun - Twilight written from Edward's perspective -published soon after the fourth release. Meyer's adult sci-fi novel, The Host, is also planned for publication in 2008.

By the way, it took six months from the start of Twilight to acceptance for publication. Can you say Prolific?

Making a Literary Life Friday: Routine

We here at the Writers' Group are in different places with our work. Some have completed novels, others are revising revisions. Still, each of us has to make the time to write, the passion. There are the routines before we get to work, the distractions we have to push away -- hard. How about you? What's your routine, what pulls you away from your WIP and how do you push yourself back?

Lisa
Making a literary life can only happen if the rest of one's life is under control, I believe. This week, I made a commitment to schedule writing time very strictly. Suddenly, I am far more sane than I was a week ago: I focus well on writing when the time comes. I relax and enjoy my amazing job and my time with my kids when I'm not writing. No more catching five minutes here or there for me. In fact, I fight the urge to sit at the keyboard when I find myself with a free time; I'm building up a thirst until it's time for scotch. The end result is I write as though I have been trapped in a straight jacket for hours and my arms have been set free.

Works for me, anyway.

Amy
I haven't been writing this week. I've fulfilled a million other demands, but not my writing. As a result, I'm in a sort of stupor. I don't feel well, I'm not pleasant company. A little over a week ago, my novel sold. Everyone tells me I should be thrilled, and I am, but it's not the same thrill I experience when the words come, when a paragraph is solid and a page flows. Then, I fly, intoxicated and truly happy. Good advice, Lisa.

Hannah
I've been in a phase where I am writing every day without problem. I am close to the finish of a rewrite. I roll downstairs to the exercise bike, then get my son out the door by seven; I wake my daughter as my husband leaves, walk her and her friends to school. I've had a few moments alone with everyone, some exercise. I flip through the Wall Street Journal, get a bowl of cereal and coffee and sit at the computer ("No food in the office" does not apply to the rule-maker.) and do my job-work until -- by nine-thirty? ten? -- nothing more is required immediately. Then. I downsize the email and spend as long as I can putting my characters through their final paces before the computer sounds the email alarm. The only thing that slows me is wondering whether I've nailed it this time; I did go back last week and fix something already. Is there more? I could spend all my time doing this right now... not always the case, so I treasure the feeling. I have The Next Story already pushing at me, too, so this is a good moment in time.

Lynne
I'm on the road promoting Negotiation Generation, this week in Richmond, VA. My friends and family assume that I'll have no time to write. My secret is that each morning and evening I spend time with my characters struggling to tell their story in my WIP. Secluded away in my hotel room, I find the time to write.

The Stories

By Amy

My agent asked what I was working on next. When I told her it's another dark, wrenching novel, she kind of laughed and wondered why I was interested in telling such stories.

Readers expect a writer's characters to be autobiographical, that the protagonist's experiences are the writer's own. I suppose for many people that's true, but not for me. My life has been blessed. I've never had a lot of money, never belonged to the popular clique or was considered a beauty, but I was born into a large family with loving parents. I've had good health more or less, and all of the rights and opportunites afforded an American. For that, I've always felt I was a forunate one. But that's not true for everyone.

I am a news hound. Each day I read 3-5 newspapers with NPR streaming in the background. Neither vampires nor anti-christs, dinosaurs nor aliens terrify me. People do. We humans inflict great horror upon one another. I am haunted by visions of what befell Nick Berg, Erica Green, Charles Falkenberg, an unidentified Hutu mother -- too many more to name. People are capable of incalcuable evil, maybe we all are, I hope not. I write what I do because I need to find a way to -- if not make sense of it, how can anyone do that? -- rewrite another's fate.

A friend of mine is struggling with the direction of her WIP. She knows the dark corners she needs to explore, but it can be a challenge to one's psyche to forge on. As writers, we must expose our rawest nerves to find the honesty. Still, we do it to be true to the story. And while life doesn't always have a satisfying resolution, at least we can give that to our beloved protagonists if we want. We can find comfort knowing we get to control the ending.

If only we could in life, too.

Endorphins

Posted by Lisa

This...
...is Athena, the Greek Goddess of wisdom, war, and the arts. Look at her. Now, she is a take-charge person, a pro-active woman who gets things done. If she were a writer, how would she approach her craft?

Let's think about Athena. Oh, how those endorphines must flow after she's been fighting battles, breaking a sweat in hand-to-hand combat with three headed serpents, for instance. That can take a lot out of a person. When she ready for quiet time and she sits down at her writing table, I imagine she is in the just-right frame of mind to re-read that first chapter to discover just what isn't working. Refining her characters and tying threads in her plot must be a welcome change of pace for her. And after that adreline rush, well, that must give her the focus she needs.

Lately, I've had the opportunity to exercise: hiking, tennis, swimming. And I've remembered something that I had forgotten: Exercise is good for your brain. I know you know this, too. But I must say, my focus is better after getting my blood to really pump.

It's time for, let me call it an end of summer resolution. My writing (not to mention my health and weight) will benefit from exercise. Join me in my committment to moving, AKA getting off my butt before writing. Even if it's jumping jacks or a walk around the block.

It's worth a try?! Isn't it?

Share your stories with us, too!

Mind Over Babe

By Amy

Look at this guy. His name is Babe. Wouldn't you love to wrap your fingers around his fat little belly and squish the stuffing out of him? Go for a walk and show him off to the neighbors? Sit quietly while he snores in your arms? Me, too.

We adopted him over the weekend. Completely impulsive. My family went out for a bike ride, saw him in a neighbor's yard rolling around with his litter mates, and my husband, inspired, bought a lottery ticket. When they arrived home, my husband told me we had to adopt one. Too much money, I said, but if you scratch that ticket and we win, sure. We won. If you've been reading this blog long enough, you know how I feel about signs. Just look at the little guy.

So what does Babe have to do with writing? Chair glue. I wanted nothing more than to wallow in puppy heaven yesterday, but I forced myself to work on my manuscript. There are always reasons to not write. Life -- and let's be honest here, especially a woman's life -- is filled with demands on our time: family, work, volunteering, squishy puppies. If you're a writer, if you want to create something meaningful with the intent of getting it published, you had better find time each day and glue yourself in that chair. No excuses, because no one cares if you have one anyway.

Why? Few in your life expect you to finish writing that first draft and, trust me, no one cares to hear about your months-long revision process (that's nice, but did you hear about...) Your phone won't ring with friends calling to see how that query letter is coming along (write tomorrow, let's go out for a drink now). Friends outside of writing have no idea literary agents even exist (why don't you just self-publish like my friend?). When you get an agent, s/he won't badger you to finish revising that manuscript s/he was gushing about when s/he signed you (your name is? and you're calling regarding?), s/he'll just move on to the newer, more promising client. Really, no one cares if your manuscript ever becomes a book -- no one cares but you. So why do it?

I asked myself that same question over the weekend. While sitting in the bleachers at my son's baseball game, a foul ball headed for the stands. I made a joke to the other parents about the parallels between it and John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany." They all stared back with blank expressions. Not one person had ever heard of the book or even John Irving. *Sigh*

That chair glue is for me, it has to be. I want to write a book, a good book. I want it bound by a publishing house in New York and held in the hands of the few readers who care about words. I want to evoke a connection with my reader. If it doesn't happen, those around me won't care particularly. They'll offer an ear, listen for a day or two, and then forget. But I'll care. I'll care for a lifetime.

I glue myself to my chair each day because I have expections of myself -- and I plan to exceed them. Not even Babe can compete with that. Well, maybe just a little.

Play

When you repeatedly come across a certain phrase, or two people tell you a strikingly similar story, you know you're supposed to be listening for meaning. Really listening.

This week, I read David Elkind's wonderful new book, The Power of Play. A must read for every parent and teacher. Simultaneously, I picked up a copy of Susan K. Perry's, Writing in Flow. In the first chapters of each of these well-written books, the authors summarize the years of work done by philosopher-psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Mihaly researched the special union of work, play, and love. When these things collide, and feelings of enjoyment-- not bound by time, or self-consciousness, or fear of failure--run high, a person is said to be in flow. It's an abstract concept to be sure. Unless you've experienced it.

In a loose sense, we've all written about being in flow this week. Lisa chooses not to reveal the intricacies of her work-in-progress, because she feels the essence of her work, and play, and love might lose something in translation. Amy's post explored the notion that ultimately the process of writing should be enough. If we free ourselves from the distractions of finding an agent, a publisher, and interpreting the whims of the marketplace--perhaps then we can be in flow. And once in flow, I would argue, you will probably create your best work, and those trappings of the literary life will fall right into place. Hannah shared her thoughts about actors as artists. The role models she described embody the notion of working in flow. Have you seen, The Queen?

Last night my husband, and biggest supporter, and I talked about balancing my promotional activities for my non-fiction book, with my compelling desire to keep working on the revisions to my novel. He's concerned that I might be working too much. I am. Yet when I'm drawn into the world of my fictional characters, there is where work, and play, and love collide. Deep in revisions, I'm working hard on what Chekov calls the "little particulars." This week, in a trance-like state, I added in the details of my protagonist's daughter's bedroom. I'm "word painting," playing with descriptions of a bedspread, a window seat, and a doll's house. The time flew by, and when I finished, I was more refreshed than if I took a bath, a long walk, or a nap.

My favorite quote by psychologist Jean Piaget was aimed at children. He said, for children, work is play and play is work. In flow, I am a child. One who never wants to grow up.

How do you balance the longing for being in flow, with the practical details of daily living?

The Power of No

By Amy

These past weeks it seems my flesh has been cut away from my bones and there’s very little left of me. The worst part is I’m the one holding the knife.

Instead of feeding my writing, refilling my store of creative energy, I’ve given it all away. You know how it is, there are many demands on our time. The more I try to do, the more I want to do. Truly. But I can no longer allow it to be at the expense of my writing.

I met Ann Patchett a few months ago and she talked about this very subject. When she was asked to be the guest editor for Best American Short Stories, she said she hesitated. Ann said she turned down most requests associated with the writer’s life; she had learned to guard against such intrusions. At the time, and until this week, I couldn’t imagine such a thing.

Oh, to be asked! To be invited to sit on a panel at a writers’ conference and talk about craft with a room filled with others who share the same passion; to be asked to read another’s work and line the dust jacket with compliments; to have bestowed a title of any literary sort, honorary editor, guest judge, keynote speaker. An author could fill a calendar year with such obligations.

But really, those are simply the trappings of the writer’s life. A little bit and we grow dizzy with the fevered pitch, the glory. It’s good to feel appreciated, to give back even. Too much of this life though, and we succumb to the insatiable flesh eating vanity that could devour our work.

I’m not such a writer as Ann Patchett. I am, however, a mother, wife, daughter, friend, employee, volunteer with just as many demands on my time. Now it’s time to learn the power of no. In a way, I’m grateful to have learned this lesson now. It’s my lifelong goal to become an author, to write something honest and true. More than awards, more than bestseller lists and lunches in New York, I want to write something that makes a reader say, yes. In order to do that, I need to be as protective of my writing as I am of my children. After all, my babies are never made to go hungry.

How do you do it?

Revision Anxiety

Tuesdays with Amy

I don’t revise the way every other writer does. I don’t write that $#*@ first draft Annie Lamott recommends in Bird by Bird. I don’t let the ideas flow, the characters develop, allow the language to spin freely onto the page. I am not so carefree.

Instead, I revise each sentence as I write it. After a paragraph, I go back and revise that. A page, and I revise again. Chaos and uncertainty leave me anxious, and that’s what a very rough draft represents to me. I need to build a sturdy foundation before I can begin to layer a story.

It scares me to work this way. I once heard an interview on NPR with John Irving’s assistant who said Irving often wrote 13 or 14 drafts. Of course he does, how else to explain A Prayer for Owen Meany?

Debating each word choice (how many times have I used “curve” throughout the manuscript?), each comma (or should it be a semicolon? new sentence?), each paragraph (is this the natural break?) is laborious. Going back over yesterday’s work and revising for several hours before moving forward on today’s is discouraged by nearly every how-to book on writing. Progress and then revise.

But I couldn’t when writing my manuscript. It didn’t work for me. In early November when I was preparing to give my writers’ group my completed manuscript to critique, I worried that I was asking too much. It wasn’t fair that I was giving them this copy that hadn’t been duly revised. I should do several more drafts, I thought, but I don’t know how. That’s what every real writer does, right?

And then William Styron died. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century, his obituary graced the pages of every major newspaper. I read them all, but it was this gem in the Boston Globe’s version that reached out to me:

“Mr. Styron wrote in longhand on yellow legal pads, striving for 500 words a day. He preferred to write just one draft of a book, getting each page just right before proceeding to the next, rather than revising a completed draft. His own harshest critic, Mr. Styron had a self-described "neurotic need to be perfect each paragraph -- each sentence, even -- as I go along."

No, I was not deluded into thinking I was a William Styron. What I did take away from learning about his process, however, is that each writer has her/his own way of writing, revising, creating. There are guidelines with craft to be certain, but there are no rules.

My writers’ group did give me their critique of my book in late November, and yes, there were revisions to be done. But they weren’t overwhelming and in the end, I was assured my process worked for me.

The Right Questions

By Hannah

Sometimes the words don't come. Won't come. There may be no current project, or there may be half a book already written. No matter. We sit at our desks and frown at paper or screens. We sit on sofas and stare into space. We wonder whether we will ever have a fresh idea again. Ever. In our entire lives.

In those moments, the only thing to do is to read. Other fiction, other non-fiction, and best of all, the real-life words of writers we respect. Pages magazine currently interviews “Lions in Winter” such as Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, John Updike. In one way or another, each of twelve legends addresses why they write, and why and when writing is important.

I curled up and read the interviews one question and answer at a time, letting each response linger. There were perhaps only six paragraphs from each writer, but I had to put down the magazine between subjects, sometimes within one interview, to consider it all.

These writers I love demand answers and effort not just of themselves. Gore Vidal wonders where the American writers are who will write truthfully about the state of the American Republic. Ursula LeGuin talks about the limitations of conscious intention in art. Kurt Vonnegut asks everyone to write a six-line, rhymed poem, to be torn into little pieces and disposed of in multiple trash depositories, purely to get the brain working. Just reading the right questions gets ideas flowing, sets words free. They make me want to pick up a pen again, and again, and again.

Ideal writing routine or reality?

A line or two from Lynne

I love writing on my laptop, sitting in an Adirondack chair on a deck overlooking the sea. The smell of salty mist and the din of waves hitting the shoreline are the perfect level of sensory inspiration.

Would you like to know how many times I've had that writing experience? Exactly twice. That's because the ideal writing routine and reality, are oceans apart.

I write a good deal of nonfiction parenting material for my "day job." My writing routine for this work is similar to Hannah's; I'm all business. I place my coffee to the right. I sit at my desktop computer in my office. The phone's ring. The copy machine is copying. This writing for me starts with outlines. It includes scientific research and well-tested strategies for problem solving. It ends with my credentials, telling others why I'm able to write what I write.

My fiction writing routine is different in so many ways. I don't write in my office. Whether it's my window seat in the family room, my dining room table overlooking my front yard, or the bedroom chair given to me by my mother that overlooks the backyard--I need the sensory input a view provides.

My nonfiction writing is predictable; it's done between 9 and 5. My fiction writing is done--all day and unfortunately all night. Like Amy, I often write without putting words on a page and like Lisa, I experiment doing it here and there. I steal the time from the other things I should be doing. I think about plot and characters while driving, as I grocery shop and yes, sometimes while I'm sleeping.

My nonfiction is written to deadlines. A parenting paper needs an article, my manuscript is due to my editor. For my fiction, I have no daily page limits or word count goals. Someone once gave me advice, that to this day, drives my creative process: touch the work everyday. Sometimes I only have time to make notes about a scene in a pretty notebook given to me by one of my children. Some days I might write three pages.

If I were to wait to write until I found that Adirondack chair and felt the sea salt on my face--well, I wouldn't be a writer.

Taming the Beast

By Hannah

Every writer is fascinated by other writers' habits, let's confess, because we want to know how to tame this Beast of sorts we've found in our lives.

I am an extremely structured writer. Someone taught me to speed read in first grade. Bad educational experiment, but I do research in a snap. Outlines, key points, phrases my clients use, all come together into their finished products.

I write for them in the morning. The house has to be quiet. I need enough but not too much caffeine, cereal, and orange juice. I read the newspaper, check Web sites, throw in laundry. No meetings on the calendar, so I can let rip for two or three hours at a time. I follow a similar routine after lunch.

Did I mention these fabulous habits work only when writing for other people? Because for me, the Beast of Fiction is a completely different animal.

This Beast can demand attention before breakfast. Before coffee. I have missed lunch. I’ve written when I should have been making dinner. All I need is a good half hour. I’ll lie in bed, drift off, only to have the Beast nudge me with an idea. A small notebook in my backpack handbag, lying next to a pen, is filled with children’s doodles of flowers and graffiti lettering and directions for character action, circled and question-marked.

My Beast doesn’t mind noise. It has withstood test alarms for the local nuclear power plant. If my characters are ready to move, if I am in the story, I can write with one child playing drums and the other singing Broadway tunes.

Then again, my Beast will hide, leaving my head and the screen empty. I have not yet tamed this one; but I have gotten better about coaxing it. I set aside time, have coffee at the ready, turn off the stereo. I type a sentence or two, erase, retype. I go for a walk or do an errand and think about my story, and everything and nothing, hoping the Beast will believe itself ignored and will stick its nose out into the air. I do this sometimes for hours, for days. It is alive, there in its lair, and given steady encouragement, it eventually has no choice. It rustles, sniffs the coffee and roars.

Writing Routine?

Tuesdays with Amy

I have a confession: I don’t write every day. The conventional wisdom is that a bar must be set each day for a person to call herself a writer. In his book On Writing, Stephen King states that it’s 10 pages a day for him, even Christmas. Claire Cook suggests in her writing workshops that two pages is a manageable goal. In her book, Making a Literary Life, the darling Carolyn See titled Chapter Three, A Thousand Words a Day. Jennifer Haigh told me she sits at her kitchen table each morning and drafts her pages in long hand. Every single day.

All of their industriousness left me to wonder about my own routine. When I began my last book, I spent weeks simply listening to my protagonist tell me her story. She was a bit shy at first, reserved may be a better word, but soon I was able to capture her voice on the page. I worked for six months on that first chapter, getting to know my characters, letting the story unfold. And not every day. Entire months would pass before I’d take out my WIP and look at the pages again. Sure, in-between, I was freelancing essays, but I was not writing my book every day.

Still, it called to me.

I have three children, a job, a house that needs cleaning (it doesn’t help that I’m a bit OCD); there are many demands on my time. Many days I would rise at 4:30 a.m. to get in two hours of writing before my children woke. Other days, I would sneak in only 45 minutes when I was supposed to be at yoga, ten minutes when I should have been folding laundry. There were times when I would go as long as four days without writing at all. It was always a purposeful break, though.

I needed to wallow within my characters’ lives. I afforded myself time to ponder their innermost thoughts and fears, imagine what secrets they kept, what experiences had brought them to their present states. My best writing was done in the shower or while walking. Afterward, I would race to the computer and pour out entire chapters within a few hours. Still, I was aware that I wasn’t living up to the true writers’ standard.

Then I read an interview with National Book Award recipient, Julia Glass. In it, she said she followed a similar routine while writing Three Junes: stealing 15 minutes from her workday, constructing plot points while showering, and long periods of writing nothing at all.

So, really, be assured there is no one perfect routine to achieve your writing goal, only the one that works for you. Just ask Julia

When it comes to developing writing habits, experiment.

Posted by Lisa

When it comes to writing, and writing habits, authors' quirks are as unique as the books they write. As I grow as a writer, I continue to refine my writing habits: What time of day works best for me? Do I need quiet to think, or do I function well with background noise? Listen to music? Write with paper and pencil? Or keyboard?

Maybe, I figured, I should study the masters. That's the best approach, right? If something works for them, I should try it myself. Luckily, here in Boston, we have a wealth of local talent. Why shouldn't I turn to them for ideas? You know, check out their writing habits then try those habits myself.

Well, these authors are way cool, and this is what I've heard:

Christopher Castellani likes the background noises of a cafe when he writes (conversations, music - the occasional clatter of dishes). The anonymity of sitting in a corner with a laptop.
I tried it. I loved it. I was sold. I frequent my closest book store once a week.

Steve Almond digs writing to music.
So do I! I tune my I-pod to the mood of the scene I'm writing. Sad scenes, play sad music. Action scenes, play fast music. Happy scenes, play the Grateful Dead.

Jenna Blum has a special type of bound journal to write in, only available at Barnes & Noble. At least I think she said Barnes & Noble at the Novel Class I attended at Grub Street Writers last summer.
Jenna's onto something. Though my writing pads are thin lined looseleaf, the consistency of the feel, the spacing, it works.

So what's just right for me? Definitely morning. Definitely evening. Definitely not any time between. Other approaches work for me:

Writing at the kitchen table.
Writing on the top bunk of a bunk bed.
Writing cuddled next to my dog (how cute is my dog?)
Writing on long drives to Canada.
Writing on short drives to French Memories Bakery (passenger seat, of course - husband driving).
Writing in French Memories Bakery.

Then taking a break. After all, I need a break sometime, and if I'm in French Memories Bakery, well...