Do Whatever Works
What matters is that you do it.
There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. ~ Somerset Maugham
I write novels. I also teach and coach people as they write their novels. And if there’s one common theme I notice in novel writers, its that none of us know exactly how to do it.
I certainly didn’t when I first started.
All I knew was that I loved being transported to another world as I put words on the page. The first novel I wrote was a mystery, and for whatever glorious reason, one day something clicked. And suddenly, I couldn’t write fast enough. The ideas flowed. Time passed and I was barely aware of it. I’d hear voices and realize that my kids were home from school — and it seemed just moments earlier that I’d sent them out the door in the morning.
As I wrote, I developed a system that worked well to keep me in the flow. I put together a three-ring binder with sections for each chapter. Beside the computer, I kept a piece of scratch paper. If I was working, say, on Chapter Ten, and realized I needed to go back and set something up in Chapter Two, I’d make a note on my scratch paper instead of trying to fix it in the manuscript. Then, every few days, I’d transfer all those notes to the proper section in the binder. This kept my momentum rolling forward.
The next novel I wrote was, shall we say, more of an effort. I desperately wanted to recreate the amazing feeling I had while writing my first novel. But it was not to be. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get back into that time-passing-without-awareness flow. I went back to my system, but it didn’t seem to work as well this time through. Still, even though I wasn’t transported as I wrote, I still loved the process.
Because even when the writing felt sluggish, it was still the most exhilarating thing I’d ever done.
Since then I’ve written several more novels. And every damn time the process feels different. I’m not sure I know all that much more about novel writing all these years later.
Nobody Really Knows How to Do It
What works one time might not work the next. Usually doesn’t work the next. And so each time I embark on writing a new story I have to feel my way in the dark all over again.
Every September, I lead writing workshops in the south of France, and the rest of the year back home in Portland, Oregon. Often our writing students ask process-related questions.
“Is this the right way to do it?” a woman writing her first novel might ask.
“There is no right way to do it,” I’ll answer.
“But….but….but….”
“If you can make it work, you can do it,” my business partner and co-teacher Debbie will helpfully chime in.
Oh, the looks of panic we get.
Because this advice sounds so vague. So nebulous. So uncertain.
Shouldn’t there be a special way to do it?
Writers want certainty.
Dealing With Uncertainty is Hard
But you must. All writers and creatives do.medium.com
They want to know their work is good, or at least good enough. They want to know they are doing it right. They want to know, or a least hope, that their book will be publishable. And they figure if they just follow the one right way to write their story, that will make it publishable.
But, alas, that’s not the way it works. Because there is not one way to write. And looking for it is wasting your time. Time you could be using to write, or start a business, or build a rocket ship to the moon. (Oh, that’s right, Elon Musk has that covered.)
There’s No One Right Way
One thing I’ve learned through the years is that as writing goes, so goes life. My writing is a reflection of my life; my life a reflection of my writing. And it’s my experience that non-writers aren’t too awfully different. We all want pretty much the same thing:
Non-writers want to know their efforts are good. They want to be certain their project is worth spending time on. They want to feel heard.
But the thing is, those worries need to come later.
It’s the process that counts, whether you are writing a novel, planting a garden, painting a portrait, or starting a business. Or building a better rocket. (Sorry, Elon.)
It’s the doing that matters.
Because doing it — whatever your it is — changes you. It gives you confidence. It changes your brain, carving new neural pathways. Pretty soon, you’ll open a file to start a novel and follow wherever it leads you with confidence, even though you have no idea where that is or how you’ll get there. Same thing with any activity or project you choose.
It doesn’t matter how you do it. What matters is that you do it.
How to Do It When You’re Not Sure How
It can be helpful to remind yourself, process not product. Focus on the doing, not the end result. In writing, this means getting to the page no matter what. Time and time again I have to remind myself that the answers I seek will come in the writing. It’s tempting to sit around and wail, “but my process isn’t working.” Your process is writing, period. So go do it and it will start working. You’ll find your way.
And this holds true for any other project as well. Stick that shovel in the dirt, dab paint on the canvas, create a Wordpress account to make a website.
A word after a word after a word is power. ~ Margaret Atwood
So is any action you choose to take.