So I spent a good two or three hours this morning trying to
come up with something insightful, useful, and or valuable about playlists and
the type of music you listen to while you’re writing, the benefits of it and so
on and so forth. That is actually not what this post is about at all though.
Because no matter how hard I tried, I simply could not write about it. It was
like there was some cosmic force that was preventing me from being able to
write about it and now I think I know why.
After our delicious dinner of waffles tonight, my mom was
talking about how on Tuesday, when everyone was out of the house, she was
watching Extreme Weight Loss. It was a really amazing story about a guy who
started off over 400 pounds or something like that and managed to lose more
weight faster than anyone else Chris Powell has ever seen. And as she was
sharing this with me tonight as well as well as some clips from the show to
show me exactly how much he has changed (lemme tell you, Wow), she also shared
the insight that I needed to write this post.
To do something like that (ie. Lose over 200 lbs in a year)
you have to have a passion for something. In this case, he was doing it for his
girlfriend.
Perhaps I’m going to end up twisting what she said in the
first place, but I’d like you to hear me out.
It takes passion to do something like that. Despite the fact
that my mom was referring to extreme weight loss, I would like to extend that
to anything, really.
It takes passion to do anything extreme. And yes, writing a
novel, editing a novel, and going through the entire process of getting it
published is something extreme. I don’t know where you are in your novel
writing process, whether it’s still writing or editing or maybe even just being
dreamed about, but it is not an easy process. There are moments when you would
rather scrub your shower tiles with a tooth brush than have to write another
word of your manuscript (trust me. I know. I’ve done it. And man those shower
tiles sparkled). And even when you’re done with writing your 70,000 word novel
and you think you’re done YOU’RE NOT. You still have to do revising and
revising and revising and then submitting it to agents and then more revising
and getting your friends and family to read it to see if they like and then
more revising and then submitting it again...
Most people don’t get past thinking of an idea or the first
three chapters. Even managing to finish a first draft is a feat better than the
majority. Why? Because it’s hard. It’s hard to dedicate that much to one set of
characters and one plot and one story line and trying to make it all come
together and entertaining enough that people would actually want to buy it and
make it so that the world don’t want to roll their eyes and laugh you out of
the publishing business forever.
It takes passion.
That’s what people always say about music and art don’t
they? It is my heartfelt belief that story telling is just as much of an art
form as either of those. Anyone can blend colors together on a canvas and
anyone can plunk out a bunch of notes on a piano. With enough lessons and or practice,
anyone can really learn how to play songs or draw a person. But it takes a real
passion and desire to a) be able to go through with all of those lessons and b)
be able to make it good. If you don’t really care about writing, you’re writing’s
not going to be good.
You see it all the time with English essays. The kids who
are just turning it in because they want a grade in the class just write it and
turn it in. Sometimes there will be a good writer among them that can still
scrape up a good grade with a half effort. Then there are the kids who do care
about turning in quality work. In a typical case, who gets the higher grade?
Exactly. Effort matters. And while I’m not going to deny
there is a natural talent and affinity for writing factor involved, you have to
be able to make that effort to be able to do something with that natural
talent. Natural talent isn’t good enough alone. You have to be willing to
dedicate the work to developing talent into skill.
If you don’t have a passion for writing… you’re not going to
make the effort. You’re not going to spend hours sitting at a computer
rewriting your prologue a dozen times (That’s Margaret for you folks.) You’re
not going to agonize over your characters’ traits and flaws and reactions. You’re
not going to try to think through all of the different ways you can carry out
your plot, try to figure out the best option, and then have to switch to
another one half way through three times.
You’re not.
It doesn’t matter if the passion is angled more towards a
pure desire have finished a book, desire to see your name on a book cover, or
maybe you’re one of the lucky few who got a Nester (what I like to call
character or a plot that literally seems to know exactly who/what they are and
simply decided to choose you to introduce them to the world) and it simply will
not allow you to not do it the justice of being shown to the world.
Any one of these is passion. And you will NEED it to be able
to get through this. It is INCREDIBLY hard to write a novel without any passion
for the plot, characters, or world… all you’re going to be wanting to do is
anything but writing. And unless you have incredible self-control and discipline,
it’s probably just not going to get written.
I’m not saying if you don’t have passion for a certain
project you have to give up! Oh nonononononono. If you did that you would also
never get a novel done. I wrote half my novel before I really started wanting
to write it. That was kinda more bull-headed stubbornness than anything. And
sometimes, it really just comes down to that.
But let me reiterate, unless someone made a bet with you and
you’re the type of person that’ll never let one of those go, you need passion
to fuel the stubbornness. That might sound weird, but it’s true and it makes
sense in my head.
Hmm. Perhaps my next post should be about trying to take
what’s in your head onto the paper/keyboard/screen. If it is to be my next one,
I probably shouldn’t talk much about conveying ideas like that. Might not be
the best person to talk in that regard XD
I really do try hard though. I talk out these post in the
shower to myself some times. Or just when I’m alone in the bathroom or my room
or the kitchen or… I like to talk outloud to myself. It helps me think. Anyways…
Passion.
Writing is an art form as much as anything else. And you don’t
hear of an award prize winning artist that didn’t have passion for their
projects, do you?
I tend to daydream quite often, and those tend to be a combination of the more recent shows or concepts that have got stuck in my head. I've tried to write them down a couple times before, but I only manage to finish a couple of paragraphs or pages before I become restless and do something else. Do you have any advice for getting it down? Do I just need to stick through it?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't how some people can write/keep a concept on one subject for so long. I frequently want to through more characters or ideas into my head when I do get an idea or plot. I don't know how authors just stick with certain stuff for a while.
Hi Daniel!
DeleteYou're our first comment! YAY!!!! So, we decided that these questions (okay so the second one wasn’t exactly a QUESTION, but it was still a subject to address) were important enough questions to address in a lengthy manner. This is also getting posted as it's own post.
I (Amanda) am writing this post a) because it was a comment on a post I made and b) because Margaret would be completely unhelpful in this situation. She had troubles getting her characters OUT of her head. They’re honest to goodness like a jealous girlfriend that won’t even let her look at other characters. Now, getting her to focus on writing the book itself about them is another story but… okay, so maybe she could write something about sticking through things past a few paragraphs/pages XD
My first word of advice in response to your first question is to really think through what your idea is and make sure that it actually IS something you would want to dedicate possible years of your life to. Some ideas are like people in that regard. You may love them and love hanging out with them, but if you had to be their roommate you would want to smother them with a pillow in the night. I can think of at least ten people off the top of my head that that would end up happening to me with. Before you try to dedicate any serious time to it, make sure that you would be able to stand having this idea and set of characters as a roommates in your head.
The second thing to do would be to think through the whole idea and come down with an actual plot you can work with. That’s the reason my brother’s never written a novel. He has a *brilliant* concept and main character, but he had no idea what to do with him (he has specifically requested that I not explain this character or concept). He’s started to try to write about him at least three times to my knowledge but he’s never gotten past a first chapter. Before you sit down and try to hammer out the first 1000 words that come to you, figure out exactly where you’re going with it. My suggestion would be to go full blown chapter outline if you’re really serious. If you’re protesting that you don’t need to write a chapter outline visit this post: "How To Lasso Your Story and Avoid The Brick Wall From Hell".
From that point on, I’m sorry, but to my knowledge at least, all there is to it is to just stick through it like you said. If it really is a keeper idea and you’re sure this one’s for reals, you should have the passion *winkwinkhinthintnudgenudge* to continue with it, even when you want to throw your computer against the wall in frustration. Something that I try to do that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t, is to try to set a schedule for yourself. For example, writing a chapter every week or every day if you’re more ambitious. Try to give it some teeth though. Tell someone that that’s your goal so that they can keep you honest. When you only make goals with yourself unless you have great self-discipline, they usually fall through.
As for your second problem… that’s something that varies person to person. Some people like Margaret, who get so attached to their character’s it’s like they themselves are standing over her mind glaring down any other characters who try to attach themselves to her brain. She doesn’t have much problem coming back to the same characters.
In my own experiences, I find that it really does help to take small breaks sometimes. When I’m really frustrated or bored I find that it does help to take a short break and play around with another set of characters or plot. That’s one of the reasons a lot of authors suggest having more than one project going at a time. When you’re going to rip your hair out over one of them, you can go to the others. That being said, you have to be very careful not to take ‘break’ into ‘abandonment’. That can easily happen. Once again, it kind of comes down to just pulling through.
I hope this was helpful!