by Patrick Ross, @PatrickRWrites
“The author has certainly gone on an interesting journey, but I’m afraid the tone is too journalistic for our list. I’m looking for more literary and personal accounts of creativity and personal growth.”
That was a rejection my literary agent received on June 2, 2011, to our proposal for The Artist’s Road, a yet-to-be-written nonfiction work that we pitched as a craft book. It would focus on creative lessons I learned from artists I interviewed on a cross-country U.S. road trip for a documentary video series. My encounters with those artists and their authentic approaches to living an art-committed life had transformed me; part of that transformation was a compulsion to write the story of my trip. Yet my background was journalism; I wrote about others, not myself, and the book proposal reflected that.
Three weeks after that rejection I found myself in Montpelier, Vermont, at my first residency in an MFA in Writing program. Eleven classmates and two instructors workshopped my submission, a proposed chapter of the book. It contained an interview with a compelling printmaker named Sabra Field, lessons Sabra had to offer on her own creative process, and some humorous anecdotes of life on the road. Everyone in the workshop had the same reaction. They told me how well I had captured both Sabra and the location, just as a journalist should. But they also told me one thing was missing: the narrator.
“If we’re going to travel across the country with you, Patrick, we want you in the story,” one classmate said.
What I came to realize that June was that my book wanted to be a memoir. The problem was that I was not a memoirist. I could have abandoned the project entirely. But I had just begun an MFA program to grow as a writer, so I took a leap of faith and began writing the book anew, with the guidance of Vermont College of Fine Arts instructors. I made them earn their pay; I proved remarkably resistant to putting myself on the page.
Two years later, however, I had a complete rough draft of an actual memoir, which told in raw and honest prose why I had been so obsessed with artists and the creative process; I had turned away from my own creativity out of fear of a downward spiral as someone with bipolar disorder. I feared modeling behavior I had witnessed growing up in a household ruled by mental illness.
Three years after that original rejection, the book–rechristened Committed: A Memoir of the Artist’s Road–had found a publisher. Now it’s out in print and I stand exposed to the world, my flaws and mistakes visible to anyone willing to purchase or borrow a copy. Fortunately I’ve had a lot of time to get used to that idea.
Michelangelo believed that when he sculpted, he was merely liberating art that was already hiding inside the stone. I have come to believe that Committed existed all along. It just took me several years to liberate it from the layers of resistance and denial I had placed around it. In the book I write about my admiration of those living authentic lives; I learned to be authentic to what Committed needed to be in order to write it, and to see it published.
As it happens, Committed still contains lessons on creativity from the artists I interviewed. One from award-winning science fiction author Michael Swanwick resonated with me while writing Committed. Let me quote from the book:
I haven’t read any of Michael’s books, although I had intended to before I became buried in video editing. I ask Michael to explain his fiction as much for my benefit as for the video’s viewers. He says he writes all types of fantasy and science fiction. He’d make more money if he stuck to one genre, but then again, he says, he’d make more money as an accountant. He likes being a full-time writer, which gives him the freedom to write whatever he wants. Doing so means he doesn’t always choose the most lucrative publication path. “It is, however, the most satisfying way to spend your life.”
Michael has learned to write each book the way that story wants to be told. He may be right in saying he could make more as an accountant. But he is a successful, full-time author because his books, when written the way they want to be told, are compelling, and thus are published.
One thing I learned on my cross-country road trip, and the writing process that followed, is that when we meet resistance in life it is easy to push back. Sometimes, however, we should stop to listen.
Patrick Ross is an award-winning journalist,
creative writer, and blogger. His first 
book, Committed: A Memoir of the Artist’s Road, was published in October 2014 by Black Rose Writing. He blogs on creativity, writing, and living an art-committed life, and teaches creative writing with The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and online with The Loft Literary Center. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife and teenage son, and wonders constantly what his daughter is up to six hundred miles away at art school. Learn more at patrick-ross.com.
Amazon: http://bit.ly/rossamazon
Love a writer who finds the story more gratifying than the money. Best of luck to Patrick, seems like acqriter to follow. Glad I stopped by :)
Thank you, Elizabeth! I suspect Michael Swanwick, the author I quote who has a wicked sense of humor, would say that perhaps being true to the story can sometimes lead to greater financial rewards! But I’m happy with how the memoir turned out regardless, and appreciate your support!
Great post, Patrick, and congrats on your book Committed, shall look it up! The path you followed is very similar to my own, particularly now as I’m struggling to write a book about the United Nations (under my real name Claude Forthomme) because I want it to include memories of my experience at the UN working in development and humanitarian aid – so its a mix of memoir and analysis of where the UN went wrong and the challenges it faces, not easy to write!
So your post got to me just in time, an inspiring piece that will help me push on…
Fascinating book premise, Claude. As it happens, Committed has four narrative lines. One of the four–the least prominent but one relevant to this conversation–was the ethical challenges I faced in my job at the time, which was as a lobbyist, and the extent to which I was using the videos I was producing by interviewing these artists to promote legislation that might not be of benefit to them. I believe I found a way to articulate that element in a way that related back to my own feelings and emotions and life situation, rather than as a policy work.
FYI, in my day job I still work in policy but now for the US government, and in September I was in the UN complex in Geneva to manage a press conference with some officials. I still have the little temporary badge they issued me to allow me in the building!
Patrick, thanks so much for your post today! I’ve enjoyed hearing about your inspirational journey. This topic is something that I struggle with as a writer…I primarily focus on commercial work that I think will sell, but want also to have projects (maybe just small ones) to nourish me as an artist. Thanks for sharing your story with us.
Thank you, Elizabeth! It’s really an honor to be here on your blog.
I suspect that in many ways, if a writer focuses on telling the story as true to its artistic form that it can be, it could lead to even more sales. Swanwick also told me about his aspiration when first writing to be a published author, and compared that to another would-be author whose aspiration with his first book was to completely disrupt the sci-fi genre. Swanwick succeeded in his more modest goal, and the other one failed, but the other’s book still became a phenomenal bestseller because of its ambition and scope. Swanwick said you needed to set the highest possible bar for your work, because even falling short meant you had reached a great height.
I’d wonder what my daughter was doing at art school as well.
I would’ve had a hard time putting me on those pages. You stuck it out, worked on it, and made it happen though. Congratulations, Patrick.
And I’m sure I’d make more money writing something other than space operas, but that’s what I want to write.
Space operas! Love it! I assume the singing does not occur in the actual vacuum of space, through which the sound waves would be difficult to hear. :)
Thank you for the encouragement, Alex. It wasn’t an easy, or quick, process, but I think it was worth it. Now perhaps I need to start thinking in terms of a more marketable next book!
Elizabeth – Thanks for hosting Patrick.
Patrick – Thank you for sharing your experience. I think we do have to risk putting ourselves ‘out there’ when we write, no matter what the project is. And sometimes, those projects know better than we do what they want to be. I wish you success.
Thank you for the encouragement, Margot. I know a lot of fiction writers read Elizabeth’s blog. Many novelists have told me that their books work best when they put themselves in the book. They also often put others in their lives in their books, intentionally or not, as “fictional” characters. And sometimes they hear about it from those put in! :) It’s a delicate balance.
Before I became a reporter I told a prospective employer that I wanted to be a writer.
‘We don’t write here, we report the news,’ he said. I have never forgotten those words. It’s a hard journey from journalist to author but one worth taking.
Hmm. So I’ve been a news editor as well as reporter. It’s true that some reporters seek to work out their creative writing chops by building extended metaphors and clever turns of phrase. Often those attempts serve only to distract the reader from what is the true purpose, educating the reader.
I would note, however, that good writing is essential to good reporting. It does no good to unearth useful news if the reader can’t process it easily. I often refer reporters to the great work at the Poynter Institute and in particular the writing and instruction of Roy Peter Clark; they understand how important it is for a reporter to be able to write well. (That also makes the job of the editor easier!)
It’s so important to stay true to our stories. Otherwise, they become a lie and that’s different than fiction. :)
We’ll be hearing more from you, Patrick. I feel it.
Wow, Teresa, what a delightful comment. Thank you!
Great to see these AHA moments—when an artist (writer) knows he has something, but needed to figure out the missing ingredient. Glad you worked it out!
Thank you, Hart!
That’s quite a journey but I’m sure your book is much stronger for it. You could probably write anything now.
Wow! That’s an empowering statement! :) It’s true that the next challenge will be put in perspective by this one.
Such amazing experiences – not only with artists, but with your project itself. Thanks so much for sharing :)
Thank you, Jemi!
Patrick, I’m so glad you persevered and saw your book all the way to publication. Congratulations!
Thank you, Julie! It was a long “road.” :)
Patrick, your gift for writing is evident in EVERYthing you write, and I’m so glad you did. I do hope you’re going to write more, in terms of books, whether fiction or non :)
I also have to say that I feel very lucky in the way that I’ve never had to struggle with being creative. For me it’s actually been the opposite. (I picked up “The Artist’s Way” and put it right back down once I realized what it was about.) My creativity can’t be stifled so projects make my life overwhelmed if I don’t fluff them off. It also has a lot of people asking me to do things. I’m getting better at saying “no,” but not completely! lol
SO glad you found your way back to it, Patrick :)
Kudos on always being in touch with your muse, Donna; hold on to that tight! And yes, it’s so important to know how to say no, especially if your creative talent is something that is of use to others. I would never think of asking a plumber friend to fix my sink for free, but many don’t blink at asking a writer to write or edit something for them; I mean, really!
Thanks for your support and encouragement!
Dear Patrick,
The story behind the story sounds as fascinating as the story itself. Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable on the page is one of the greatest challenges for anyone tackling memoir. You show us so clearly how the story that needs to be told reveals itself as long as we show up, face the pain and keep writing through it. Congratulations! I’m looking forward to reading your story. I’d love to feature you and your memoir on my blog, Memoir Writer’s Journey at http://krpooler.com. I wish you much success with COMMITTED.
Kathy
Wow, Kathleen, thank you for that invitation! I’ll connect with you directly on that.
You of course understand the art of memoir, what it takes to write one that grips the reader, both in terms of craft and personal effort. I’m glad you found the path to the book’s completion as compelling as the story itself.