Indivisualism: how I write - ask me anything #2

what is your process of writing? how do you do it? do you do drafts? brainstorming? and how do you pick topics?

a question by cat. a very good question by cat. one that might turn this into a fairly normal blog post, albeit most likely a very long one.

let me begin by saying that how I write depends a lot on what I?m writing. there is a big difference between blogging and writing pretty much anything else. and that?s research. here, except for looking up the occasional titbit of information, it?s free writing from beginning to end. articles, on the other hand, require a lot of enquiry and preparation. and creative writing, short stories and novels (and no, I?ve not finished any masterpieces yet?), usually falls somewhere in between.

however, free writing, for lack of a better word, isn?t quite what it sounds like, either. I may allow myself to ?freely? vomit all over the page, but once that is done, a blog post gets as carefully edited as anything else I write.

but let me start at the beginning.

how do I pick topics? I don?t. not anymore. when I started blogging, I tried to strategically plan what I would post about in the hopes to please people and to get famous overnight. this obviously didn?t work out. I got frustrated instead. so I started to write about whatever came into my head instead. and with all the strange people and voices living in there, there can be a lot going on.

it?s travel or exhibitions or events when I do have some resemblance of a social life. it?s musings and ponderings any other day. often, it?s triggered by something I read even though it rarely relates to its source. a japanese horror story might make me think about eating ice-cream while riding a convertible.

I make a point of always having something to write nearby (lately it?s my digital voice recorder, my favourite new toy, and yes, it still feels awkward to use) to jot down ideas, phrases or quotes I may or may not use. but I never brainstorm. there is generally enough floating around to write the whole day.

often, even though I set out to write about a very specific topic, I end up taking every possible detour and tangent and surprise myself with the conclusions I come up with. any time I sit down to write, it?s a little mental adventure. I write to find out what I think (you can read more about that here). even within a 500 word piece, there can be unexpected twists and turns. that?s what I love about free writing. I never know what?s going to happen.

once I?ve finished my first draft, so yes, there are drafts, the editing starts. I tighten. I shorten. I rewrite. I make a point of stepping away from it to let it sit for at least a couple of hours (ideal is overnight) to avoid tunnel vision. I edit again.

since I can?t be bothered to print every blog post I write ? and for me, a printout is still the best format to do final edits ? I edit my post again when it?s uploaded onto my blog. the different context helps to spot persistent problems and typos. and I even edit after having published it if I come back a couple of days later and see something I don?t like.

I edit a lot. - a. lot. - this may sound excessive, but I take writing very seriously. I also love doing it. the writing and the editing. to me, writing is part inspiration, part talent, and part craft. and I enjoy the work bits as much as the more glamorous genius bits.

to give some background for those of you who don?t know: I?m german but have been writing exclusively in english for the past three or four years. it?s been a long road to get there, and probably the one achievement I?m most proud of. there were quite a few years in which I couldn?t (didn?t want to) write at all because I didn?t feel at home in any language?any more.?which is what got me into photography and graphic design. you have to express yourself somehow, right? and I know, I still have a long way to go. but I?m getting there ? wherever there may be ? and so can anyone else.

writing ? and I know that?s been said a hundred times by real writers before ? is work. it?s not just talent and inspiration, even though both do matter to some extent, but also persistence and routine. it?s a skill you can (have to) train like any other. there will always be the frustrating as well as the discouraging (encouraging?) exceptions: the geniuses, the genii, the genies, who need no practice at all, and, on the other end of the spectrum, people who manage to mangle a simple hello into oblivion and?shouldn't?talk, not to speak of ever considering to write.

but for people in between, there is a lot of room to navigate, to improve, and to find their niche. in my opinion, it?s a combination of constantly honing your skills and self-reflection. you may want to write a YA novel because that?s where the money is but are actually better at poetry. unlikely, I know. or you may want to be a ?real? writer but might be better off as a copy writer instead. everyone needs to figure that out for themselves. I, for example, am currently looking for a rich husband or an alternative way to finance writing biographies. so if you have any ideas? or a handsome(ly rich) single guy friend? send them my way!

~

writing for an audience, no matter how small, has helped me a lot. it didn?t improve my writing as much as my editing, but I know now that the latter is as, if not more, important as the former.

aside from that, I think it?s all about writing, writing, writing, and when you?re not writing, it?s reading, reading, reading, talking, reading, living, don?t forget the living, living, living, reading, talking, reading?

I don?t think you can write if you don?t like to read. again, there might be exceptions. but chances are you?re not one of them. I also think it?s important to live, to really get out there and to work on who you are. because even if you?re not into the self-confessional iWriting that is so popular these days, what you do as a writer is filter information through who you are and communicate it. even if you write corporate literature or medical leaflets. you?re literally the medium. so you gotta take care of yourself. I?ve met some incredibly skilled wordsmiths, huge vocabulary, flawless grammar, but because they had no personality and were more boring than a cup of unsweetened cold latte, anything they wrote was flat and lifeless.

~

I write every day. saturdays and sundays included. a minimum of 1000 words a day. often more. I?m no morning person, but strangely enough write best from 7am to 10am. I?m also doing great between midnight and three in the morning. you see the problem.

I?ve never been a big fan of routines, and as a gemini am not the most disciplined person either ? there is always at least two of us wanting to do different things ? but routine and discipline are the key. believe me, I?d rather be the starving writer, chain-smoking, drinking wine, writing at a small caf? in paris ? thank you, mr hemingway, for having fucked up what writers are supposed to and want to be like forever ? but that?s not how it works for me. that said, I do like to write in coffee shops to break up my day. but that doesn?t excuse me from my daily writing routine. it?s something I do on top of it.

I write every day even if I have nothing to say. it?s not that I?m wasting precious natural resources. the computer is running anyway. I sometimes delete quicker than I write, but I write nonetheless. if all else fails, I write about how much I hate to write. and about how much everyone and everything sucks. I rant and bitch and say ?fuck? and ?this is bullshit? a lot. anything that fills my 1000 words. and that?s exactly the point of it. to write my 1000 words. because if I don?t write for a few days ? it happens ? I get cranky. and what?s worse, getting back into it, after no matter how short a break, takes time. I?ve learned, and later accepted (I so wanted to be unique right from the beginning!), that imitation is natural and thus unavoidable and not to be mistaken with copying. you imitate, be it consciously or not, what you admire. it?s how children learn. it?s ok and normal if you sometimes sound a little like your favourite writers. it?s actually unavoidable (and scientifically proven) to sound a little like who or whatever it is you?re reading at any given moment. and it?s a nice exercise to purposefully try to write like someone you respect. it?s how you learn. it?s how you figure out what works for you. how you find your own voice. and that?s important. because, as I said above in a slightly different context, pleasing people and being strategic to get famous doesn?t work for a lot of people. copying someone?s style or subject matter, however, is a whole different story. the difference between the two is often only your attitude. but as we all know, attitude is all that matters.

~

there are many more things I could talk about: the importance of mental health walks, stylistic tricks, how to come up with great metaphors, the ideal ratio of coffee to page, the usefulness of critique, the writer?s mind-set or first signs of impending insanity. but not today, maybe another time? but if you have any other questions, writing-related or not, email me!

Source: http://www.indivisualism.com/2013/01/how-i-write-ask-me-anything-2.html

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