Jan 07 2009
A little individuality (Bonus Thieving Thursday!)
So, I was reading my sister’s blog today and it got me to thinking. She was talking about the notion that, as a writer, you can’t always wait to write until you’re inspired, that you needed to work through the craptastic portions to get to the good stuff. (OK, this is sort of like thieving Thursday, but, damn it, that’s already promised to tell JD how I got my Silver Snoopy).
Now, although I think my sister and I share the same values and we’re very compatible, we are also very very different people, different personalities, different methodologies. That’s not a criticism; I think the world of my sister and don’t think that’s she’s better or worse than I am, just different. I think differences are good for the world as a whole. And they work for us.
And that just goes to show. Although what she said is true for many people, it doesn’t work for me. Most of my writing goes on long before I reach the keyboard by my multi-talented but egotistical subconscious. Now, sometimes, there are chapters that I know will be dull to write. I’ll slog through ‘em to get to the good stuff. But sometimes I got nothin’ to say. I’ve tried pushing it, tried making up something with my relatively useless conscious mind. Craptastic is too nice a term for what I produced. But, because of my strange brain, just by trying it, my subconscious went into pout mode. Whenever I’ve done this, it has been literally months (and even years) before I can take it up again. And whatever I produce is not salvageable.
For me, I need to have multiple projects going so, if I run dry on one, I can go somewhere else so my subconscious doesn’t get bored (I have a high maintenance subconscious).
And that’s my point. There’s no bit of advice, no sure-fire method, no perfect answer that works for everyone. True, not everyone is as crazy or brain-freaky as I am, but everyone’s different in this way or that way.
There isn’t one diet that works for everyone (yes, I know less - and smarter - food and more exercise), but some people react or respond or identify with one diet that makes it work better for them. There’s no exercise regimen that works for everyone; people again find different things that work for them.
There’s no perfect way to raise your children (even among your own children). There’s no perfect thing to do when you’re attacked by a bad guy. There’s no magic way to solve any problem. The “right” thing to do is as individual as the individual and the circumstance.
Or, at least, that’s how it is for me. 
I’m all discombobulated by your new format.
But I agree completely with your point … one size does not fit all.
Sorry, Baron. All the Today blogs are going to this new (and same) format. I figured it was better to get the change over with.
I hope you can get used to it. I’d hate it if you didn’t come back.
Lol ,”Craptastic”, I love it, learned a new word here. When taking up blogging I thought , great I’m going to have to learn to write, not a writer by any stretch of the imagination, usually can come up with ideas, but to put them into words is extremely hard for me. Plus like you said it’s hard to write unless you are inspired.
I have about 15 zillion pieces of paper with ideas on them when I was inspired, but alas I can’t read them now, probably because I wake up in the middle of the night and scribble them down, lol. I don’t know how you writers maintain focus to put together a novel.
I don’t know if it’s merit, Bob. For me the story is there, simmering in my egotistical subconscious and, when it’s done, it throttles it’s way out.
Of course, cleaning it up, editing, etc (”grunt work”) is done by my conscious brain and it better be complimentary while working through or it will irk the unconscious.
You just can’t force it!
Sometimes I can fire a tonne of stuff off in an hour, other times I spend ages staring at a blank screen. Days pass and nothing comes out. Then, ping! An idea.
And then nothing again for days. Meh!
I fall somewhere between the two approaches. Ordinarily, I can’t force myself to write; I need the inspiration. Except, that is, when I have a deadline. The pressure triggers a number of things, including a determination to get the project done rather than engaging in any of the many distractions that I usually find myself tempted to default to. That’s why I set up my blogging schedule the way I did; it ensures that the article gets written. It’s unnerving how often people decide something I threw together in a hurry is better than something I had the leisure to take my time on.
Tiggy. I hear you, though I’m not saying one method is better than another, just that one person’s necessity can be another person’s roadblock.
ravyn, I can and have been “inspired`by deadlines, but nothing inspires me like praise.
it’s a loverly new banner
I need to switch BTS over… figure I’ll wait and do it at home where I can count on my Internet though …would irk me to want to make changes and not be able to make them when I wanted to cuz of the craptastic wireless here
Yeah, I’m pretty proud since I have like NO graphics skills. I was expecting you had already headed home. Too bad. Lee wanted to ask about your Blackberry.
true dat!
As the old saying goes- writers write. Every day. Just as plumbers fix leaky pipes day in and day out, a writer, blogger, etc.. should write at least a little every day… errr… at least every weekday. Try not to burn yourself out! Now, I must bid you adieu, as my bottle of tequila is calling me!
I used to think I had to be “in the zone” before I could write. That usually meant being highly caffeinated and only writing between the hours of 7 and noon. Since I started blogging, I know I can write almost anytime. Even when my subconscious thinks it’s empty, sometimes, it comes anyway. And sometimes it’s craptastic. But usually it’s not. I was very pleased to discover that I could write any time. Even on Vicodin!
Well, I do write something every day, generally, but, on my novels, I do it in spurts when I’m inspired, I trudge through the bits that aren’t inspired (but still necessary) and don’t work when I’m dry - at least not on that particular novel.
Cool, JD. I’m glad you challenged yourself and one. I clearly have one of those completely unruly subconsciouses that will only do it her way or the highway.