by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
My dirty secret is likely shared by many writers. Writing isn’t always fun for me.
Yes, I’m completely driven to do it. I’m driven to read craft posts and reference books on writing, and to read gobs of fiction in order to tear apart what others are doing well and analyze what makes their stories work.
But I don’t always like it. It can be a total and complete joy…and a chore, all at the same time.
I’m now writing my twelfth book. And this book has been a struggle, let me tell you. It’s simply not wanted to cooperate.
Problems that I’m aware of as I write the first draft: the discovery of the body isn’t soon enough. Myrtle’s character is off. I’m puzzling at the purpose of a couple of scenes. The pace is off…I’m nearly half-way through the book and I haven’t gotten my suspects interviewed. Heck, I might not even have enough suspects for this book.
Yesterday, I stopped abruptly while writing a scene, wrote “blah, blah, blah” and skipped ahead to the next scene. I’m guessing I’ll be trashing that scene later. Later….because I finish my first draft before edits. So I’ll just grimly steam ahead.
One day last week, I struggled through my pages and finished my daily goal with relief. Then I checked my emails and saw a note from a librarian in Ontario, praising one of my books. She said that I wrote my characters with “tenderness.”
And I needed that shot in the arm, believe me. That’s the kind of thing that helps sustain a writer through all the days when they wonder if they’re in the right business.
We learn from our struggles. We learn from the rotten first drafts and the plots that didn’t cooperate and the characters that act as if they’ve had a personality-changing stroke.
Because the more we write, the more we know. I know that just because I’ve written books that practically wrote themselves (Finger Lickin’ Dead, Body in the Backyard), I’ve had books that I nearly deleted mere weeks before deadline (Hickory Smoked Homicide…which ended up being one of my stronger books once I figured out what direction I needed the story to go in.) It’s not always this linear path for improvement, either. Each consecutive book isn’t necessarily easier to write. But with our experience comes knowledge on how to handle story setbacks. It’s also easier to diagnose and fix problems.
My advice is not to give up on your troublesome draft. Finish it. Pick back up with the next scene you feel confident writing. If that’s the end scene, who cares? Write the scenes backwards. Just finish the book—fix it during your second draft. Each book, easy to write or challenging to write, is such a valuable learning experience.
Every time I read a motivational post on a blog, I appreciate the sentiment behind it and appreciate the support that the community offers…but I still realize that writing is still a tough slog. It’s not just a mind over matter thing. It’s skill and tenacity and really just utter pigheadedness on the part of the writer to plow ahead despite all the obstacles. We take the insights gleaned from our struggles with us when we write the next book.
Image: MorgueFile: kumarnm
Elizabeth – You capture so beautifully what a struggle writing can be. It is a chore if we’re going to do it right. Scenes go wrong, characters won’t co-operate, and so on. And yet, we keep doing it because we love it. I think that’s one reason we need each other. We all know what it’s like to write, and we can all support each other because we get it. And when readers tell us how much they like what they’ve read, that’s a big part of what makes it all worth while.
I’ll steal the Dorothy Parker quote.
The only part of writing I like is having written.
Why didn’t we pick cookie baking or trout fishing or basket weaving ? Why did we have to get afflicted with writing? Was I really that much of a bastard in a prior life? Really ?
I think it’s a relief to hear that even very good authors can still find writing to be difficult. I can spend a whole morning plus a bit to scrape together 450 words. Sometimes less. Then to realize later that most of it needs to be scrapped because I forgot that the character had already done/learned something. (Me yesterday) Knowing authors who struggle yet still produce fantastic books after all the work gives me hope that I can get there too. Thanks for your effort and for sharing that it is an effort.
I have to say writing is always fun. Its not fun when I don;t have time to write. But I just sent another chunk of my WIP off to Marvin Wilson for a read through. I’m getting there, piece by piece and section by section.
When everything is fusing together, and the creative wind is at your back, writing is fun …
but there are times when you must hack through the jungle that seems to block your way. That’s hard.
A shot in the arm from an unexpected source can help immensely … like your mentioning my post on how to end your novel today. THAT was really needed.
Thank you for reaching out to another struggling writer. :-) Roland
Oh, you might go back to your very first chapter, reading carefully. You may see where you veered your story in the wrong direction. Just a thought.
If you write fiction for a living or a part of a living, maybe it is just like any other job. Sometimes it gets hard, and almost always there will be parts of it you don’t like.
Margot–Exactly. I LOVE writing. I just don’t always LIKE writing. :) The readers are what makes it worthwhile to me. I rarely write for myself anymore.
Jaleh–Oh, gosh, I’ve done that numerous times. Bleh. I don’t look at what I wrote the day before (because it messes me up), but the number of times I’ve written the same exact scene more than once is astounding. I just think the scene seems familiar because I was envisioning it so well. :) Noooo…it’s because I already *wrote* the scene! Ha! And you’re sweet for the nice words. Much appreciated!
Stephen–I wish I had your attitude! Tell Marvin I said hi. :)
j welling–Dorothy had it right!
I think we’re being punished for some horrid sin, for sure!
Roland–So true. It’s lots of fun when everything is going our way. :)
I’ve enjoyed your blog! I should have used your Twitter handle before, but couldn’t immediately find it for some reason. I think I’ve tweeted you a few times in the past 4 months or so. :) Glad I located the handle.
I’ll be going back to that first chapter, all right. To delete it…ha! But you’re absolutely right, Roland–that’s where so many problems in a book start. I’m not going to worry over it until the book’s finished, but boy, I’m going to make some changes. I might even open with the body in the first paragraph.
Sometimes it isn’t fun! I do struggle with the first draft, but the planning stage is what kills me. Just coming up with an idea and then working it out in the outline – that’s when I wonder what on earth I am doing this for.
Once I’m flowing and especially after the first chapter is done, I’m a happy camper!
Joe–There is that, too. I hesitated mentioning it, since so many writers would love to have writing as their day job. But yes, like any other job–it starts really feeling like a job some days!
Alex–Ugh…outlines! You’re good to do those.
It’s always good to hear authors with several books behind them state it’s not always easy.
There are many who perceive that writer as having no problems after getting a contract. Yet, I hear shades of this article from them all.
Isn’t it funny, though, that many of the books that the author struggled with the most, seem to be some of the best reads? I think sometimes it’s because of those problems they had. Makes the writer look at their differently. Give it a different than their normal spin.
Creating anything of worth is always work. We might like the creative process and it may look easy to someone on the outside, but it’s work. It’s a job.
Sia McKye OVER COFFEE
Sia–Interesting point. I hadn’t thought about that…but yes, when I have had a book in dire straits, I tend to really think about solutions in an out-of-the-box way. Maybe that should *always* be my approach! It tends to work really well. :)
It’s definitely a job. It’s a job that can be really, really amazing…and it’s a job that can really stink. Sometimes all in the same hour. :)
What an encouraging post, Elizabeth! Just what I needed to hear. It’s so heartening to discover that writers who’ve written scads of mysteries STILL struggle with suspects, body, interviewing, pacing, etc.
You are such a blessing to other writers!
Boy, it’s as if you wrote this just for me. I struggle with the first draft. Once it’s later down the road, I love reading my own words.
Right now I’m reading through the first draft, and OMG, so icky. But I keep reminding myself that it’s only a draft, that it WILL get better, and move forward.
Julie–After the first draft, it’s just so much easier. I can put the book into perspective at that point because I make a list of all the changes I want to make, then address them one by one. But during the first draft, everything is blown out of proportion–everything seems like a disaster. And it’s not.
Janet–Thanks! I’d love to say that the process comes automatically to me at this point, but at least every other book is just very, very tough to write. :)
I’ve written 10 books, a couple of which I actually still like.
Only one was a mystery, which I tossed together for fun.
Now that I’ve challenged myself to become the new Raymond Chandler, rewriting my first serious fiction is only slightly more challenging than raising teenage boys was.
But that first draft, just pouring the story out, knowing I can fix it later: yeah, that’s marvelous. And the finished product, reading it like a reader and thinking hey, I like that: I almost believe it’ll be worth the frustration I’m causing myself right now.
For me, it helps to set aside what I’ve written and come back later to read it. If I still am not satisfied with it and don’t know what to do to fix it, I set it aside again. Another read and I’ll most likely figure out what to do.
Wonderful words of wisdom that I really needed right now. I’m struggling with my current wip and it feels like I’ve hit a frustrating dead end, but you are so right when you say to finish the first draft.
Thanks for your encouraging words about making each book we write a learning experience.
Joel –Mysteries are the best! Even when we hate them as we write them…
We need a new Chandler! And books are much more difficult than teen boys. :) (Got one of those, myself.)
That’s my mantra right now, Joel: “I’ll fix it later. I’ll fix it later. I’ll…” :)
Helen–Putting a story aside can be very helpful!
Elke–Honestly, that’s about where I am with this current story. It’s been a real headache, but I keep plowing forward. I’m seriously thinking about sketching out an outline of sorts for the remainder of the book (which goes to show how bad things have gotten! I’m no outliner. :) ) But sometimes we have to think outside the box when we’re running up against a wall.
I figure since I was born 9 months to the day after Chandler’s death, maybe I should do something about it.
Joel–Sounds like a sign to me!