There's Nothing Wrong With That

I touched on a topic on Wednesday that I feel I should explain further. My daily writing, as I said, doesn't always have to be good, and this is one of the things that very much helps me to keep doing it. But this raises the question, I suppose, on whether or not that's a good thing. Does writing then become something I do to maintain a schedule or a habit? Is that the only benefit I gain from those days where no ideas come?

The reason why many people often don't like putting out sub-par work is probably related to the belief that writing without substance isn't truly practice. Certainly in the past I, too, have held this view. Something should be done right or it shouldn't be done at all. How can you practice if you don't practice doing something well? Why bother writing if you cannot show it to someone else? Why would you ever work on something that won't come to anything?

But the thing is that, as a writer, any writing I do helps. Every time I put my thoughts down in words, I am honing this ability in a certain way. Certainly, not all work is equal or produces the same effect. Writing a novel helps you in a different way from drafting an essay, and both of those produce a much different effect from everyday journaling.

But the point is that every type of writing that you do is helpful. Writing frequently in a number of styles allows you to experiment in order to find what works and what doesn't. The book Composition in Four Keys contains an essay by James Moffett called “I, You, and It”. In this essay, Moffett discusses the differences in various types of writing, as well as how ideas evolve alongside considerations for audience and the amount of thought and reflection that has gone into them. The argument continues by stating that if he were to teach a writing course, it would cover all sorts of different genre work before ever approaching argumentative essays. He probably says this far more eloquently than I could:

Many teachers may feel that such a program slights exposition in favor of so-called personal or creative writing. In the first place, one doesn't learn exposition just by writing it all the time. An enormous amount of other learning must take place before one can write worthwhile essays of ideas; that is in the nature of the whole abstraction process. All writing teaches exposition.(Moffett 27)

This is an important thing to keep in mind because it is something that so many people will judge you for. A lot of literary study seems all wrapped up in itself, arguments about the literary canon, this belief that there is a set collection of works that should be deemed literature and that nothing else contains any value. I have heard of creative writing professors who will severely downgrade students who write anything that is not strictly realistic fiction. I may be only a student, but as a writer, I have to say this is nonsense. The only thing you will learn by just reading the literary canon is how to be narrow minded and unoriginal. The only thing you will learn never challenging your writing style is how to get stuck in a self-recursive rut.

I myself feel inadequate a lot about the things I read. If you look at my summer reading list, there are some classics, but there are also a lot of young adult, fantasy, and humor books in there too. When I got back to school, I was discussing books with a classmate only to find out that the reading he did included Vonnegut, Cormac McCarthy, and a number of other things that were intensely cerebral and highly regarded. I honestly felt embarrassed, and I changed the subject.

But the thing is, I shouldn't have felt that way. There is a time and a place for everything you will read, from modern masters to literary classics to groundbreaking science fiction to erotic fanfiction to bad novelizations of blockbusters. Everything you read can influence you or inspire you in some way. My challenge to you this year, for every book you read for either fun or for classes, is to find something that really stuck out to you either as a good idea for later use or a bad idea to be avoided. Approach everything you read and write with the knowledge that it's a good decision.

On Writers' Block

Part of what helps me write every day is keeping in mind the fact that not everything I write has to be good or even presentable. My life has often been plagued by this notion that I either have to do something write or not do it at all, and I think I know a lot of people like that. It is the reason why the better portion of my education was dominated by the ever-present spectre of missing assignments, and it has always been the main thing that prevents my writing. I never felt that I could write unless I was inspired, unless I could figure something out in advance, unless I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I don't mean to say that I outlined, because I never did, but there was this unspoken agreement with myself that I should never produce anything that couldn't be shown to someone else.

I don't think I am the only person who has felt this way. So many people I have met have told me about their great idea for a book, or a play, or a seven volume series, but they always seemed reluctant to start until the moment felt right. The problem, however, is that the moment almost never feels exactly right. That sort of mindset will prevent you from almost anything you want to do. And I know that it's difficult to get past. Goodness knows it still stops me from taking action on a lot of ideas or emotions that I have.

But at least in the area of writing, I have gotten past that feeling. Even if I have nothing to write, I can sit down at a computer and write four hundred words on the fact that I have nothing to write. It's a rather freeing thing. I only regret that I had not found out the key to successful journaling in the past. For me, that key is a comfortable medium (in this case, computer and keyboard) and a suppression of critical instinct if needed. Anything you write can be revised. Ideas don't always come on their own; most of the time you'll have to force things out. And that is okay.

The Poet's Diary

7:00 am: Woke up. Brushed teeth, shaved.

7:05 am: Fell back asleep.

8:14 am: Woke up. Showered, put on bathrobe. Went downstairs. Brewed coffee. Waited.

8:29 am: Poured coffee, sat down in chair on the porch.  Watched the birds.

8:34 am: Saw a cardinal. Bright red, bigger than some of the others.  It's a very lovely color.

8:35 am: Realized that 'cardinal' both describes the bird and the color. Wondered for a while which terminology came first.  Both seem equally likely.  The vivid hue would be the perfect way to describe the bird, despite the females not sharing it.  But the bird would also be the perfect way to describe the color, since nature makes it almost unique to the bird.  An interesting question indeed.

8:38 am: Prominent bishops in the Catholic church are also called Cardinals.  This is getting confusing.

8:40 am: A gold finch flew by.  I don't see many of those out here any more.

8:45 am: Cardinal can also refer to directions and numbers. Threw coffee mug at bird in frustration.

8:46 am: Went inside to get more coffee in a different mug.  Made note to buy another.

8:50 am: Got dressed in comfortable working clothes. Dark to hide ink stains.

9:00 am: Sat down to write first poem of the day.

9:30 am: The paper is blank. Can't stop thinking about cardinal.

9:33 am: Found cardinal in dictionary.  "of prime importance; chief; principle." That doesn't help at all.

10:03 am: Gave up on both poem and cardinal.  Needed inspiration.  Put on hat and jacket, walked to library.

10:44 am: Found book by Billy Collins. Good poet. Writes very naturally.

11:30 am: Read entire book.  Very short.  Very depressing.  Not used to Collins being so sad, not that you could often describe him as happy.  Still can't think of poem.

11:40 am: Went for walk to be inspired or to clear my head.  Honestly, either works.

11:45 am: Saw a cardinal. Now they're just mocking me.

12:15 pm: Stopped at a cafe for a scone and some black tea. The poet's natural habitat.

12:22 pm: Inspiration strikes.  Wrote poem.  Page and a half long.  Kept writing and writing.

12:24 pm: Put away notebook. Kept thinking about poem. Finished my scone.  Cinnamon Chip.  Delicious, but dry.

12:29 pm: Left cafe. Something nagging mind.

12:35 pm: Decided to have second look at poem.  Took out notebook.  It's bright red.  Contemplated.

12:37 pm: Decided it was not quite the right shade of red to be Cardinal.  Opened notebook.

12:40 pm: Read and reread poem.  Not so sure about it now.  Put notebook away.
12:44 pm: Headed home.
12:46 pm: Stopped at a pond on the way.  Admired its natural beauty. Thought about poem.

12:54 pm: Took out notebook again.

1:04 pm: I hate this poem.

1:05 pm: Tore out of notebook. Crumpled. Lit crumple on fire. Threw in pond. Headed home.

1:29 pm: Got home, sat down in front of paper.

1:30 pm: Previous poem was a masterpiece. What was I thinking.

1:34 pm: Tried to remember it and rewrite it.

1:46 pm: Wrote this instead.  

A Look at My Summer

This summer is the first time I've set a schedule for myself in regards to reading and writing. It's as true for music and sports as it is for writing that the only way to improve at something is to practice every day. Many of the best and most prolific writers, from writers that I love like Terry Pratchett to writers that I hate like Ernest Hemingway, got to their level of skill by writing every single day. Granted, not every great author wrote every day, but most of the ones that offer advice on how to become a better writer list that as the first step.

I always knew I had to do it, but I just never did. Unaccustomed as I have been to scheduling my own free time, I've generally written just whenever I felt like it, which is both a good way to ensure that nothing gets written and a great way to not get any better. So this summer, at the advice of my father and my brother (along with some words from Neil Gaiman bouncing around in my head), I decided to set up a regimen of sorts that both offers flexibility yet ensures that I will read and write every day.

Each morning, I read for at least one hour by 11:00 am. If I start too late to allow for an hour by 11:00, then I read for two hours. After I read, I write at least 400 words before using the computer for anything else.  I should state that this is a great way of ensuring that I will write, seeing as most of my favorite time wasters require computer use. Additionally, I update this blog Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I did miss this Friday, but I figure a one-day delay is not the end of the world. I also seek to send things out for publication weekly. This one is a bit harder to manage, seeing as I still get rather intimidated by the process. But it is something I can and will do, in spite of the anxiety.

Of further note is that July is Flash Fiction Month. A friend of mine told me about this. Similar to National Novel Writing Month, where participants attempt to write a fifty-thousand word novel during the month of November, Flash Fiction Month participants write a piece of Flash Fiction every day for the month of July. Flash Fiction, for those who don't know, is typically defined as a short short story that is under one thousand words. I've actually managed pretty well! It's an especially great way for me to practice writing Flash Fiction and prose fiction in general, which I have found difficult in the past. I won't write a masterpiece every day, but every bit of practice helps.

Writing is an acquired skill. I distinctly remember teaching myself to write eight years ago, and I will continue to teach myself to write for as long as I live. And the only way to really do this is to practice.