TECH: 101 Tips (42)
Aug. 20th, 2009 02:26 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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writercisesOriginal Posting 12 August 2009
riters' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:
"Be the writer who stays in the chair. When you struggle to find the answers to the tricky questions posed by your story, when you push through the feeling that the piece is no longer as inspired or wonderful as it seemed at first blush, you push your project to its next level. And you push yourself forward as a writer." Jack Heffron
Interesting advice. Especially given the tendency to try to provide "idiot proof" guidance for almost everything, it's refreshing to be reminded that everything isn't always exciting or simple. Sometimes you have to struggle to figure things out. Sometimes you have to keep going even when the project doesn't feel cool or fun -- that commitment to keep going is part of the process.
I wonder if this isn't part of what divides the hobbyists from the professionals? I mean, hobbyists tend to want to do the fun stuff, but don't really have a reason to do the boring stuff. Professionals take a slightly longer view and do the whole job, including the tedious and boring parts.
Struggle, push, keep going -- it sounds like the advice we give our protagonists when they face that dark alley on the way to the goal, doesn't it? Still, it's the way we get things done. Step-by-step, stumbling, struggling, working our way through things.
It sort of makes the achievement worthwhile, doesn't it? If it was easy, would it be worth it?
riters' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:
"Be the writer who stays in the chair. When you struggle to find the answers to the tricky questions posed by your story, when you push through the feeling that the piece is no longer as inspired or wonderful as it seemed at first blush, you push your project to its next level. And you push yourself forward as a writer." Jack Heffron
Interesting advice. Especially given the tendency to try to provide "idiot proof" guidance for almost everything, it's refreshing to be reminded that everything isn't always exciting or simple. Sometimes you have to struggle to figure things out. Sometimes you have to keep going even when the project doesn't feel cool or fun -- that commitment to keep going is part of the process.
I wonder if this isn't part of what divides the hobbyists from the professionals? I mean, hobbyists tend to want to do the fun stuff, but don't really have a reason to do the boring stuff. Professionals take a slightly longer view and do the whole job, including the tedious and boring parts.
Struggle, push, keep going -- it sounds like the advice we give our protagonists when they face that dark alley on the way to the goal, doesn't it? Still, it's the way we get things done. Step-by-step, stumbling, struggling, working our way through things.
It sort of makes the achievement worthwhile, doesn't it? If it was easy, would it be worth it?
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Date: 2009-08-20 05:32 am (UTC)Yeah... thinking about it, hobbyists will take almost infinite pains to do things that many of us would disdain, too. The people painting miniature figures will happily spend hours and days getting the paint just so. Or the fellow training bonsai trees -- years to get a little bit of wood to twist just right. Or backyard gardening -- how much weeding did you do? For how many tomatoes?
Editing seems to be part and parcel of writing fiction, though. It's amusing -- there are a number of blog postings around where new writers have asked "won't the editors or agents do the editing for me?" and the resounding, consistent answer is "If you want your writing to beat the other guys, do the editing yourself." And I think we learn an awful lot about our own writing by trying to clean things out. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, etc.
Maybe it's just that the easy parts aren't a challenge -- and we (or at least I) still get a thrill on trying to do a little bit more, a little bit more challenging stuff. Although you gotta do the easy stuff too.
Maybe it's a question of where you set your goals? Only eating sweets... you'll get a tummy ache. Mix it up, and enjoy that crusty French bread sometimes, too.