Mar 10
Where oh where have I been? Writing!
I’m currently working on two books right now and the whole literary gauntlet has gotten me thinking about the nature of writing.
While staring aimlessly out the window slaving away at the computer, I realized that nature has a lot of lessons to offer, even to the big, bad world of publishing. So for my fellow writers out there (or readers, we’re all friends here), here are a few thoughts on writing, and nature.
- Great things take time. Even the best books out there started with a first line. If you really want to see how important they are, grab some classics and read only the first sentence. Call me Ishmael, indeed. But the point here is that everything starts small. A great example of this is the butterfly. Everybody’s favorite flying tapestry started out first as a little grub, then a caterpillar, then a chrysalis and then and only then the beautiful butterfly we all recognize. Go easy on yourself during your grub stage.
- Go with it, but don’t go crazy. You wouldn’t expect a cheetah to run 70 clicks an hour without stopping. The writing process has its ups and downs – sometimes you’re off with a vengeance, clicking away on the keys like a hummingbird on speed. These moments normally arrive after percolating for minutes, hours or even days. But inevitably, they end and you’re left with either a piece worth keeping or a rant. The cheetah doesn’t know if it’s going to catch the gazelle, but it runs like mad when it can anyways. If it doesn’t, it saves its energy for the next run. It’s all about taking the chance when it’s there without overdoing it.
- Rest. This is one of the most important yet overlooked parts of the writing process. Everything needs time to recoup after working hard. What the hell do you think winter is? You may not realize it, but when you’re ‘resting’ you’re also taking in ideas, forming new ideas and practicing phrasings in your head. In the same way winter incubates new life for the spring, your mind incubates new ideas when you’re chilling!
I hope you’ve all been doing well out there – keep it wild!
March 10th, 2010 at 8:42 am
Do you find it easier to work on two projects? I seem to get stuck in the “rest” stage and I’m wondering if switching between two different projects might keep me more interested.
March 10th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
As a fellow writer, I definitely appreciate these lessons from nature. I hadn’t connected the writing process with natural processes, so thanks for doing that for me.
March 17th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Hey Roy!
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you – these books are taking over!
I do find that I work best with two projects (or three, or four…) – even if I have a great project, after working for a certain amount of time on it, I always get a bit blah. Having another project on the go really helps me from losing steam overall, or getting stuck in the rest stage. I also find that by working on two projects, I end up finishing them faster!
You might even find that by having more than one thing going, your mind starts to realize it better bring good ideas to your attention quick, because it knows time is limited!