We read so often about writers who say "I write every day--I can't go to sleep unless I've written something," that we may start to feel like imposters if we don't have this compulsion. I've had several aspiring writers "confess" that they don't write every day and they were surprised to hear that I don't either, unless I'm on a deadline that requires it.
I was reading an interview with novelist Gayle Brandeis ("Self Store," "Delta Girls") recently and she said this:
"I am a completely undisciplined writer. I have no schedule, other than writing when I find slivers of time. My tendency in the past has been to write in big sloppy bursts--I sometimes go for weeks without writing, and then I'm consumed by the need to write and it will gush out quite abundantly (plus I'm a big fan of writing a quick first draft and then using subsequent drafts to shape and hone the work). The non-writing times have been fertile, percolating times, filling the well so it can spill over again."
She's so "undisciplined" that she's managed to write three novels. In the interview she talks about how her book, "My Life With the Lincolns" was rejected as an adult novel and she re-worked it as a Young Adult book, which also required energy and commitment.
So here's to us "undisciplined" writers, it turns out we're not imposters after all!
