I’ve been reflecting lately on what it takes to be a writer. There are thousands, probably even millions, of people out there who want to be writers. Who write prose or poems or posts and either publish them or stick them in a drawer or a secret file folder on the desktop. Very few ever finish* a long piece of writing, such as a novel. Even fewer publish said piece of writing. In my years of hanging out at writers' groups, I learned that many people can write an incredible turn of phrase, a poem or even a short story. But writing a longer piece, such as a novel, is a specific skill. Several factors that are not exactly putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) play into it.
One factor that plays into writing (and finishing) a book is commitment. It’s tough to write a novel when you only have time to write for seven minutes every other Friday. Making the time to write and sticking with it is hard work, especially for baby writers without external deadlines. When I started out, no editor was waiting for my next draft, and no fans were hanging on to my every social media post to find out when the sequel was due (ok, that last part is still a ways off). If I hadn’t written anything yesterday, my novel would have fewer words. Same for today. Same for every day. Which means that every day, I had to commit to writing. I had to clear out time, apply bum to chair, and keep going.
Another factor that plays into writing is work. All the writers I know woke up at least once, and some writing poured out of them with little direction, as if receiving it from an external source. Liz Gilbert and Julia Cameron call this source the Muse. I (and Sigmund Freud) prefer the term subconscious. These inspired writings do not require work. They just happen. But these inspired writings are few and far between and do not an author make. I have a special place for these inspired writings. Some of them are just a remarkable turn of phrase that came to me in the shower. It happens. But a book is anything between 30 and 150 thousand words. I know almost no writers who managed to write an entire book with nothing but inspired writings. Sure, I use my inspired writing in my book. But they are surrounded by thousands of words that came onto the page like pulling teeth: slowly and painfully.
The last factor (for today) that plays into writing is being able to take feedback. It’s a precious skill and one I had to learn. There’s a limit to how much I can improve on my own. I can watch masterclasses and read craft books and all that, but these can only get me so far. Invariably, my “next level” skill jumps happened when I was open to and got good feedback. Now, not all of it is under my control. Sometimes, I get feedback, and it’s, how to put it delicately, unhelpful. Not because of the person giving the feedback. But because sometimes, there’s no alignment between the feedback I get and the feedback I need to hear. However. When there is such alignment, and I get the feedback I need to hear, my writing level elevates.
Writing is a lot of things to a lot of people. Writing a diary is not the same as writing a blog post. It’s not the same as writing a poem. It’s not the same as writing a book. I like writing all of the above, by the way. Which is why I still am.
* Art is never finished, I know, I know.
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