By Wendy Lawton
Today is the day after a three-day-weekend, the beginning of summer. It makes us remember the days of childhood when this was the beginning of a long and lazy summer vacation. Anyone finding it hard to get back into the swing of things? To get back at it?
Nothing seems harder than actually getting down to the work of writing. Writers are constantly alternating between feeling waves of guilt for not meeting writing goals and experiencing a strange euphoria for exceeding that goal. You see the acronym BIC showing up in writer’s advice all the time. It stands for Behind-in-Chair (or something less polite), which is what the quest actually entails. The simple truth is, no writing gets done unless we put our body in our chair and engage with the keyboard.
We often think that multitasking–not only writing but also marketing, networking, Twittering, blogging, Facebook-ing and, oh, yes, taking care of families, church and household duties–is a new wrinkle in the world of publishing. Listen to what writer Virginia Woolf said in her diary: “I’ve shirked two parties, and another Frenchman, and buying a hat, and going to tea with Hilda Trevelyan, for I really can’t combine all this with keeping my imaginary people going.”
In a wonderful article in Victoria magazine (January 2009), Jan Karon says, “When I write, I dive headlong into the work as into a river, where I swim for my life, or, depending on the tenor of the story, float on my back, gazing at the clouds. I inhabit that river for five hours or two minutes, ten or thirty, whatever the day may yield. When there’s nothing more to say or conjure, I make my way to the shore, trying to separate fiction from fact, and get on with the business of living.”
Let’s talk about how we get the actual work of writing done, how we get back at it, including deadlines, interruptions, page counts and goals. So how do you do it?
The Publishing Waiting Game
My writing is a part of living
and animates my breath.
It’s the best of all I could be giving
this writing of my death.
Every sentence has a cost;
pain plays its role, delaying.
But somehow, nothing vital’s lost
and the price is worth the paying.
Cancer may destroy your body;
it’s putting paid to mine,
but ‘midst the gyre of this tsunami
there’s lovely, golden time.
Thus, the only cause to write,
that words are beacons in the night.
I am often bombarded with thoughts of doing something more worth while (like start a nursing home ministry, adopt four more kids, or clean the cracks in my hardwood floor). It’s funny how hugely important all these tasks are that I am not doing, while the task of writing shrivels up into the back of my head and becomes a nagging guilt.
But then I wonder, there must be a huge stake involved and benefits to someone or something if I don’t write. Why is there so much opposition? Wouldn’t it be much more beneficial to the antagonizing forces of this world if I would be sidelined to writing? Why am I not lulled into writing for the best part of my day, if I was really that ineffective?
Then I remember that the keys of my keyboard can be the keys to shackles, not just for me. The greatest freedom I have is to speak and and write about the Love of God. Unfortunately, I have a conniving enemy who not only wants to keep me from speaking, but also from spilling good words to the world.
Keyboard here I come 🙂
Thanks for the brain-jog!
Beautifully stated Heidi.
I guess, for me, the idea of writing as a “choice”, something I don’t have to do, represents all the hours I wasted, the pages I lost, the ideas that were never developed. When, instead, I consider writing a habit as ingrained as eating breakfast or brushing my teeth, that’s when the stories actually get told. As Jan Karon notes, whether it’s “five hours or two minutes”, the writing gets done each day. Funny, too, how the more I keep to that habit, the more eagerly I approach it, and the less important all those other “have to do” items are.
Spot on. Thanks, Wendy. Very helpful and encouraging…
Encouraging and convicting, Wendy. A lot has happened in our family this year. It’s stretched and, at times, burdened me and my creativity. But, I’ve also contributed to my not writing as much by allowing other things to distract me. Your post is a vivid reminder of the truth that I need to reprioritize writing to near the top instead of to the “when I have time” category. Thanks for the nudge in the backside. 😉
Don’t be too quick, Jeanne, to write off the “distractions.” Sometimes they are essential lessons in disguise.
Thanks for this post, Wendy. I am in one of those spots where writing seems to be the last thing on my mind, but I feel the pull to go back; not that I’ve ever left–I blog, I edit for others, I’m running a writing group. I just wish I had that conviction to finish my middle grade novel. It doesn’t help that the schedule is crazier than ever.
Like Star said, it’s really about choices. I’m choosing to do other things or I’ve chosen to replace writing time with other things. Luckily, writing group always motivates me to write the next chapter, since we are expected to read each month.
In the meantime, I’m working on finding a home for a couple stories I’ve already written.
Hope you all have a blessed week.
Blah! I really needed this reminder today!
A dedicated block of writing time (on my calendar) that includes no Twitter, no blogs, no NYTimes, no Instagram, no email, etc. Plus knowing when I fall asleep at night exactly where I’m picking up next morning.
Also, of late, I resist with a vengeance piling on to any rants that are taking place in social media. It’s so tempting sometimes to chime in. No no no. They can carry on very well without me. This is a 24/7 effort because the hangover from jumping in can last well into my next writing session.
Thanks for the quotes from Virginia Woolf and Jan Karon. Both are great!
The trouble with keeping my you-know-what in the chair is the distractions of all the posts and messages wanting to be read on my computer.
My BIC time increases when I have an accountability partner. My very-best-ever-accountability-partner moved (far) away. The writing habit I formed with her has rather evaporated. It’s been a struggle lately, but I’m setting a new schedule.