Time to Write

How can a writer be in the right place at the right time?

Can guidelines for young artists apply to young (and not so young) writers as well? A recent post features a short video about artist John Baldessari, narrated by Tom Waits. It end with three things Baldessari thinks young artists should know. Let’s look how at the third applies to writers:

"Being at the right place at the right time"

Maybe in the 20’s, Paris was the right place for a writer. Most of the rest of the time, perhaps New York and London.

Since the advent of the internet, geography doesn’t matter as much, although having a supportive and challenging local community still counts for a lot. It’s hard to go drinking with an avatar.

The art world is small, the actions of one or two collectors can suddenly propel you into the stratosphere. If the right rich collector or the right influential gallery decides your dots or your pickled shark or your unmade bad is great art, your life changes the next day.

Certainly the right endorsement (e.g. Oprah, until recently) could propel a book onto the best-seller list but there is also the possibility of a more organic success such as Harry Potter and there isn’t one writing world but many.

So what’s the right place at the right time for a writer? My guess is that the writers who land there have several characteristics:

• Being open to, and early to adopt, new ways to tell and deliver stories
• Telling the stories which matter to them, rather than trying to copy current trends or anticipate future ones
• Having a personal story to tell, something dramatic in some way (but also true)
• Having a champion
• Not being discouraged by setbacks
• Writing, lots of writing

The rest may be down to luck.

(It can be illuminating to learn how the greatest writers went about their work and you can do that by reading "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nichoals Brealey and available from Amazon and ohter booksellers now.)

 

Do you have to be possessed to be a writer?

Can guidelines for young artists apply to young (and not so young) writers as well? A recent post features a short video about artist John Baldessari, narrated by Tom Waits. It end with three things Baldessari thinks young artists should know. Let’s look at how the second applies to writers:

"You have to be possessed, which you can’t will"

I think this is what some writers mean when they say they have to write, that if a day goes by on which they don’t write, they feel uncomfortable.

I’m sure that’s true for some writers, but I also believe there are different levels of this kind of possession. I don’t write every day, although I guess I think about it, either in terms of a current project or a new idea, just about every day.

Maybe I have “Possession Lite.”

Perhaps if I had a higher grade of possession I’d be better known or be a better writer, but it’s been enough to allow me to be a professional writer for a long time, and I’m happy with that. So if you don’t have that total drive, don’t think that means you’re not a writer, but you have to have at least some of it.

I also think while you can’t will it, you can create the conditions that make it more likely that you’ll have it. Sometimes you have to go through a period of uncertainty before the possession comes on. Maybe it’s better not to worry about it. Just get on with writing something. 

(How did the great writers of all time--Conrad, Austen, Twain, Kafka--do it? They reveal many of their secrets in my new book, Your Creative Writing Masterclass, published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

Why so many writers with talent fail

Can guidelines for young artists apply to young (and not so young) writers as well? The previous post features a short video about artist John Baldessari, narrated by Tom Waits. It end with three things Baldessari thinks young artists should know. Let’s look at how the first of these applies to writers:

"Talent is cheap"

Yep. If you’re creative and have lots of ideas, congratulations, you’ve taken the first step. But it’s only the first step. 

I’ve known lots of writers with talent but no discipline.

They talk entertainingly about what they are going to write someday.

When they hear about a new book or film sometimes they tell you, truthfully, that they had that idea, too.

Most likely they have part of a novel or screenplay in a drawer. If they show it to you, you will be impressed by their talent.

Often they affect the current version of a bohemian style. Black predominates in their wardrobe.

The only thing missing is action. Writing the book or the screenplay. Or at least finishing it—there’s always a bit of work left to do on it before they send it out.

It can be a pleasant lifestyle—some of the perks of being a writer but none of the stress and risk, plus you don't have to wash black clothes so often. No impact, though, and not much creative satisfaction.

People sometimes ask me what the definition is of a writer—that is, do you have to be published to call yourself a writer? I don’t think so. A writer is somebody who writes….and finishes what they write. And then starts on the next thing. 

(Why not listen to the writing advice of writers who had both talent and discipline--people like Dickens, Twain and Austen? You'll find it in my newest book, Your Creative Writing Masterclass, published by Nicholas Brealey and available now from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

Why you don't need to suffer to write

It's kind of a romantic notion that writers must suffer. I ran across a different perspective on that at Caroline Leavittville's blog, from author Frances Greenslade:

"I remember when I gave up the idea that writers had to live on the brink of disaster in order to be creative. Hardship, the idea goes, keeps you on your toes creatively, doesn’t allow you to grow complacent…The year my son was born was, for me, the beginning of the end of the romantic notion of the suffering artist…And once I achieved some stability, I recognized how good it was for my writing life. I could relax enough to go deeply into the world of whatever story I was working on."

So what does her non-suffering schedule look like?

"I began a writing routine that I still follow. Once I get my son off to school, I write through the morning, avoiding email and putting off telephone calls that can lead me off on day-long tangents that leave me feeling that I’ve accomplished nothing."

I suspect that the writers who actually do work better under a lot of pressure are a small minority. If you think you are one, consider the wear and tear it puts on you and consider trying to write one project under less stressful conditions and see how it goes.

(You'll find lots of tips for getting loads done with minimal stress in my book, "Focus: use the power of targeted thinking to get more done," published by Pearson and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

 

 

The Before and After quick method for plotting

Trying to get the basics of your story worked out? In a previous post I mentioned that for detective stories it can be useful to work backward from the murder or other crime.

Another approach that works for stories in general is to take one major dramatic moment that you know you want to have in the story and work both forward and backward from it.

If you have several scenes or moments like that in mind, they can become the cornerstones of your story.

Usually these are scenes of major conflict. Those happen when things have built up, so when you work backward you can think about what are the elements that led to the confrontation.

Such conflict always has consequences, too, and those will determine the scenes that come afterward.

The first outline you generate using this method may be too linear and predictable but they will be the raw materials for a more sophisticated version. You can decide which of these scenes to show, which just to suggest and which to hide from the audience or reader. Sometimes it also makes sense to mix up the time frame; for instance, you can start with a dramatic moment and then go back and show what led up to it.

However, before you can play around with the order, it really helps to have the events in mind in chronological order and that’s where the “before and after” method is a big help.

 (for advince on plotting from some of the world's greatest writers, including Mark Twain, Anton Chekhov and many more, see my lastest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass." It's published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

 

Consider implementing an exclusion zone to get your writing done

What is the one thing that most interferes with your managing to spend enough time writing?

(Think of this before reading further.)

At the ad agency Grey New York, the boss started the Thursday morning No-Meeting Zone from 9am to noon. One of the people working there, Gina Sclafani, says, "This is officially sanctioned time for us to expand our minds and devote time to ideas that kept getting pushed to the side, using whatever methods worked for us. And not just for the writers and art directors. This was a never-before-seen, agency-wide missive."

Her article is about the creative benefits of moving out of your comfort zone, but at the moment i'm nore interested in that three hour exclusion zone. 

Could you schedule a similar zone during which you banish the thing that most gets in your way? Three hours during which you will not:

* check your email

* go onto Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites

* watch TV

* or whatever else is your biggest source of distraction

Give it a try. If three hours is too much, start with one. Then expand the number of days and, if possible, the number of hours.

(Want more time tips? See my book FOCUS: use the power of targeted thinking to get more done. You can get it from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

 

Do You Feel Creative? Welcome to the 25%

An international study by software company Adobe revealed some interesting beliefs about creativity, notably:

While eighty percent of respondents felt we all have the potential to be creative, they also stated that they spend only a third of their time being creative and only 25% felt they were living up to their creative potential.

So what gets in the way?

A majority felt that schools and companies don't do enough to promote creative behaviour or actually impede it.

The other big factor was lack of time. People feel so pressured to produce that they feel they can't take the time to stop and think about how to do things differently. They're on the treadmill and it won't stop.

How do you feel about whether you're living up to your creative potential? Actually, I'm not a fan of that wording--I think I'm creative, but am I living up to my potential? Probably not. I'm surprised that 25% of people said they were. A more realistic question is, do you feel you are using your creativity a significant amount of the time?

If not, here are a few tips that might help--things I try to remember to do myself (not always successfully):

* Be aware of how much of the pressure you are creating yourself by agreeing to the "rules" -- for instance, that you should be reachable via phone at all times, or that you should answer all emails within a few hours. What would happen if you broke these rules?

* Give yourself short breaks, take a deep breath, and ground yourself again.

* When you find something frustrating or annoying to do, take fifteen minutes to brainstorm how you could do it differently, convince somebody else to do it, or get the desired result by doing something else. Remember that you can apply your creativity to just about anything.

(For more tips on making the most of your time, see my book, FOCUS: use the power of targeted thinking to get more done, published by Pearson and available from Amazon or you other favorite bookseller.)

The writer's fear of revealing too much (& ep. 5 of Sherman Writes a Book)

Are you blocked because you fear revealing too much about yourself in your works of fiction? First enjoy the 5th episode of "Sherman Writes a Book," in which he has a similar fear(it's under two minutes long), then see the tips below for beating this kind of writer's block. (To see Sherman's story from the start, go scroll down to May 1 and then watch them in order.)

 

THE FEAR OF REVEALING TOO MUCH

Sometimes writers develop a block because they suddenly fear that their book or script will reveal too much about themselves. What if everybody realizes (or just assumes) that all of the protagonist's embarrassing stuff actually is the truth about the author?

First, it's true that the best fiction often reflects some aspect of the author. It's almost impossible to write anything that doesn't have some part of you in it. Of course that's not the same as saying what happens to him or her has happened to you. After all, very few writers of mystery and crime novels have actually killed anyone, yet the best are able to get inside the mind of a killer enough to do justice to that character. If they can't do that, the book won't be very good.

You have deniability! Every author is allowed to say, 'I could imagine doing such a thing, that' doesn't mean I've done it' (even if they have). 

Also, let's face it, if you have a passion for writing, that means there's something about your life and/or your thoughts and feelings that you want to convey. As for which parts of your book reflect those, you can keep your readers guessing. 

You also have the power of opt out of interviews and other forms of self-exposure. It didn't hurt the sales of "Catcher in the Rye" that J. D. Salinger was reclusive. In a recent interview, Stephen King revealed that he regretted doing a series of American Express ads that showed his face because from then on everybody knew what he looked like. 

In short, remember that people will think whatever they want to think...but they spend far less time thinking about you then you think they do.

(There's great advice from the best writers about writer's block and a myriad of other topics in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller. Not just advice from me but from the all-time best writers like Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Anton Chekhov and many more. When you get the book, you get them as your mentors.)

Writer's block and why you need a new definition of success (including ep. 4 of Sherman Writes a Book)

This is the fourth in a series on overcoming the various kinds of writers' block, accompanies by the  "Sherman Writes a Book" animated series of episodes (all under 2 min. long) that started on May 1. You might want to go back to that post and follow Sherman's story from the beginning). 

 

 

THE 'WHAT IF IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH?!" WRITER'S BLOCK

Some writers panic because they fear that their manuscript or script will not be good enough. What if no agent will accept it? What if no publisher wants it? What if they spent all that time writing for nothing?

I won't lie to you, it's entirely possible that you might not be able to see your finished book or script. It's a tough business and the majority of manuscripts and scripts don't sell. If profit is your only motive, I suggest going to Las Vegas and putting your life savings on red or black at the roulette table. At least there you have an (almost) 50/ 50 chance of winning.

However, if you write because you love it or you can't imagine not writing, then I'm afraid you are stuck with the risk. What might you gain even if your project doesn't sell? Well, you might learn something from its failure. You might figure out why it didn't sell and use that knowledge on your next project. Or it's possible that you grew as a person as a result. It's even possible that the process of writing it gave you pleasure! 

The question I always ask people who worry about this is, "If you stopped writing, what would you do instead?" Most of them have no idea or say something like, "I guess I'd watch more TV with the rest of the family," or "I guess I'd read more." Unless you feel like you're really short-changing your family, would you enjoy that more? Would it bring you or them closer together--especially if you secretly felt frustrated because actually you don't want to stop writing?

Do you wish Van Gogh had stopped painting because he wasn't able to sell any of his paintings in his lifetime? Was he a failure as a painter because of that?

Don't deny your fears, just expand your definition of success.

(How about some help from the greatester writers--like Chekhov, Dickens, Twain and another 100 or so more? You'll find their writing advice in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

Overcoming writer's block (including ep. 3 of Sherman Writes a Book)

Sherman's saga began on May 1, so you may want to start there and work your way forward. Each video is under two minutes long. Below the video we look at another kind of writer's block and how to overcome it.

 

 

THE 'WHAT IF THEY RECOGNIZE THEMSELVES' BLOCK

If you're writing something that is based even loosely on real people, you may wonder whether they, like Sherman's mother, might wonder whether you're writing about them. If you have portrayed them in a less than flattering light, will they hate you? Sue you? 

Here are some tips on how to avoid that:

* Change lots of details so it's not easy to recognize your models for the characters. You can change gender, age, physical description, the setting, profession, hobbies, relationships, etc. 

* Go for hybrids. In other words, mix together the characteristics of several people so that the combination is not that much like any of them. This also gives you deniability. You can say, honestly, "No, that character was not based on you."

* Remember that actually people generally don't know themselves well enough to recognize what you've used, especially their bad traits. Lots of successful authors have commented on that. 

And if you're worried that a totally ficitonal character might accidentally be similar to a real person who coud turn around and sue you, here are a couple of tips:

* If you create somebody really hateful, give them either a common name or an obscure name. The Bill Smiths of the world are used to encountering hundreds of other Bill Smiths and they won't automatically think that an evil character with that name is modelled on them.

If you give the character a very obscure name, check Facebook and Google that name to see if anybody actually is called that. Be especially careful that you haven't give this evil character any characteristics that you spot for someone with a similar name. For instance, if your character is a sadistic dentist named Hieronymous Skitch, and you find there's a real dentist named Hieronymous Skatch, change the name totally.

Frankly, usually fears about this issue usually are overblown. Use a bit of common sense and you'll be fine.

(Want more good writing advice? Not just from me but from Charles Dickens, Anton Chekhov, and Jane Austen? It's in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from your favorite bookseller.)