I Got Mad At A Writer Last Week (A Love Letter)
Luckily there was no violence involved
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Hi lovies,
I believe writers should write every day. It’s part of my schtick, listed in my short description here on Substack and on my tagline. It’s not something I say just because it sounds good, but rather something I believe in with all my heart and soul.
However.
And this is a big however.
When I say, write every day, I really mean write every day-ish. And by writing every day-ish, I mean, connect with your writing every day in some way.
It’s not that hard. You can take a quick glance at recent pages on your phone while you’re fixing your hair or putting on your make-up or shaving. (I know this, because far too often I look at emails and Insta while I’m getting ready.) You can make quick notes about ideas. You can open your most recent file and re-read it.
And if you have more time, even just a little, you can write a word or two. Or a sentence. Or a paragraph. Or more.
So why do I promote writing every day?
Because I think it’s the best way to maintain momentum in your writing.
Because it is waaaaay easier to track the flow of a novel if you bond with it on the daily.
Because it’s too easy to wander away from the pages, and if you write every day you stay on track.
And—most important of all, because if you’re a writer, you’re not truly happy unless you are writing, and the Dalai Lama says that the purpose of life is to be happy. Ergo, you should write every day.
You might be getting the idea by now that I’m not talking about mean hiding in your office to write for hours of blissful uninterrupted time. I mean, it’s great if you can. But that’s not my life. And it most likely is not yours either. I wish it was my life, but it’s not. Because I have another career that I love, which is teaching and coaching writers. And there’s also writing this Substack and running overseas writing workshops. Also activities that I love.
So now we get to the writer who royally pissed me off.
She flat out said you need to have big blocks of time to write a novel. Like uninterrupted hours on end were totally necessary to complete a book. She told a cute story about setting out some veggies meant for dinner and then getting an idea and going back to the writing cave and writing for so long that she forgot to cook the veg.
I don’t know this writer, I only subscribe to her newsletter online. So, there was no violent in-person confrontation. And I didn’t even respond to her newsletter with my angry thoughts.1
Instead, I will write about it here. Because I think it is not only a very privileged and elitist view, but a damaging one.
As in:
You have that burning desire to write, despite your busy life. It’s hard to find time for it, though, and sometimes you just can’t.
And yet, that desire to write is still a spark within you. It’s that novel, the story that has followed you and won’t let go. The characters that speak to you, demanding you tell their stories. And that little spark grows dimmer some times but it also flares up a lot and refuses to go out.
But you have a newborn baby to tend. Or a demanding full-time job. Or both. And there are your aging parents, your dog to walk, the groceries to buy and put away and then make into some kind of meal, the surly teenager glaring at you.
Still…despite all that, you’ve built up a fragile belief that maybe, just maybe, you can do this writing thing. You steal bits of time for it, carry a journal around with you, keep notes on your phone. It’s not a lot of time, but you’re determined.
And then you read some crap like someone telling you that you need hours and hours on end to write a novel. Which is way too easy to believe.
And the fifteen minutes you set aside for it suddenly seem like nothing. And then your baby cries or your child comes home from school or your boss emails you or, or, or. And that time you were going to devote to it seems stupid. And that flame inside sputters a little bit and almost goes out.
But please don’t let it.
I have three published novels (okay, one is a novella), another one about to be published, and I’m halfway through a third draft of yet another. And I have rarely written in long, lovely stretches devoted to writing. Okay, maybe once in a strawberry moon I have a lovely time to write. But honestly, most of the time when that happens I don’t know what to do with myself. And I fritter away the time.2
So don’t believe it when people tell you crap like that.
Yes, it is ideal to have long hours to write your novel. And yes, I long for them, too. But my point is that you don’t have to have them to make it work.
How do you fall in love with your writing? By making it part of you. Part of your life. Because it is part of you, the most important part I daresay. Creativity is our light in the darkness. Make it part of your life, your everyday life. When you’re in love, you tend to something—a child, a pet, a lover. A novel. Maybe that tending takes the form of bits and pieces here and there. Maybe you get longer stretches of time upon on occasion.
However it happens, it doesn’t matter. Writing is writing. Every tiny bit counts.
Love, light, and good writing,
Charlotte
P.S. How often do you write? How do you keep the flow going?
P.P.S. Please see below for my new “class” announcement.
NEW CLASS ALERT
There are two more weeks of the Bird by Bird class to come and paid subscribers are welcome to join at any time. All classes are recorded! Anyway, we end on June 27. (Hard to believe that is just two weeks away.)
And then on summer Fridays, I’m starting something new.
It’s my version of an AMA (Ask me Anything)/Open Office Hours.
We can talk about:
—How to get your butt in the chair to write regularly
—Brainstorm story ideas
—Craft questions, on character wound and misbelief, structure, setting, dialogue, anything.
—Process
—Publishing, trad and indie
—Anything related to writing!
I’ll also come prepared with topics of my own and a writing prompt or two, just in case nobody has anything to say. Although: fat chance of that. So far, in both the Artist’s Way and Bird by Bird classes, we’ve never lacked for conversation. And the group that gathers for these classes is turning into the loveliest writing community. The writers are friendly and welcoming and always have interesting things to contribute to the conversation.
Since July 4th inconveniently falls on a Friday this year, our first gathering will be July 11, and it will start at 11 AM Pacific. (Pretty sure that 11:11 thing is a good omen, right? All calls will be recorded.)
Price: all paid subscribers will have access, so for as little as $8 a month you can join in. Please do join us! If you’re already a paid subscriber, you’re set. If not, upgrade and you’ll be included.
Articles and Resources
Is your novel a floppy fish? Give it some structure.
First Drafts and Other Torture Devices
A writer attempts to follow Stephen King’s advice for a writing routine.
Books
Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Amazon. Bookshop. Ugh. My bad. In my effort to study best-selling books this summer I chose this one first. I was bored from the get-go. Too much narrative summary, plodding dialogue. A wise coach (thank you, Camille) gave me permission to not read it. But don’t let my opinion stop you! Plenty of people are raving about it.
Great, Big, Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. Amazon. Bookshop. After I closed the above novel, likely never to open it again, I turned to EmHen. I got this book before my trip to England, but it was too heavy to take. And now I’m glad because so far I like it. I’m often up and down with EmHen, so we shall see.
Watching
Sirens
This five-episode series features Julianne Moore (not looking lifted and Botoxed to within an inch of her life, to my delight) and Kevin Bacon, but the stars are the two young women who play sisters. There’s a good sister and a bad sister and they are both delightful. It’s a very fun the-rich-are-different-than-you-and-I-thank-God type of show, a dark comedy.
Workshop in France
Our sojourn in England has come and gone, alas. But there’s still France coming up! We may not speak their language but as long as you give it a whirl (Bon jour is easy to say) you’ll be fine. Find out more on our France page. And seriously, give it a ponder. We’d love to have you accompany us for either workshop.
And if you want a taste of the adventure that awaits with our overseas workshops, you can read my posts about this year here, and here, here, here, and here.
Other places to connect with me:
My website (badly in need of an upgrade so maybe best to ignore it)
Our Let’s Go Write workshop website
My original blog (now for archive purposes only, no longer updated, but damn there are a lot of articles on it).
Because I am a weenie. And I dislike confrontations. Which makes it very hard to add conflict to my novels. But that’s a story for another day.
Stephen King says you also need a room with a closed door. Ha! I live in a small cottage attached to a house where three feral boy children roam. Said feral children often charge into my “office” unannounced. So no closed door here. Though I am a fan of ear buds and YouTube focus music.
Howdy Charlotte:
Read, enjoyed, and shared...as usual. I particularly appreciated this post's message because...because...because...when some writers (esp "that person") declare from up on literary high that you can only be a true writer IF you write EVERY DAY is...well, those people are jerks. And I bet they don't write every day!! My philosophy is more in line with your POV, i.e.: it's important to be engaged with your writing in some/any way.
Some days, I write A LOT. Some days, I write A LITTLE. Other days, I do research connected to WIPs. And some days, I read or even write snail mail letters, which is still writing related. The people who say the sort of "write every day on WIP...or else" simply lack empathy ; it assumes that the way they're approaching writing is the best way AND you should follow their examples.
"The Writing Life" is a broad statement that covers a lot of activities. If you're engaged in any level, with any aspect, to your writing life, then you are "writing every day."
The best approach is probably to unfollow those people and let them up-chuck their literary stuff far from you. Life is so short, esp for those of us reaching the last third or fourth of our lives, it's important to surround yourself with reasonable people.
Keep up the good job with this Substack publication. I've always said I think you have enough great posts for a little literary memoir. :-)
Thanks Charlotte. I completely understand your ire.
I happen to write everyday. When I inform you of this, please allow me to clarify that when I write and what I write may not be a part of some grand epic novel I’m cranking out, but just writing. For the sake of writing. Because it’s like breathing. I enjoy doing it.
I start each day writing I write in two different journals. One is a gratitude journal. The other is where I do a daily mind dump of the stuff in my head for three pages. Out of that dump has come plenty of jewels and precious treasures.
I recently finished a novel and I’m currently seeking representation. I decide to ease up on making more changes to my manuscript because I know I could to that until it becomes a totally different story. I had to learn to stop. Walk away. Step away from the keyboard. Yet I still write. Something. Anything. Now Substack is part of that.
I get so much satisfaction from jotting down all the quirky little things that could be the seed of something bigger. One never knows.
When I wrote my manuscript I wrote the majority of it on an Amtrak train commuting into NYC. That’s my writers studio. A crowded train taking me along the tracks on a bumpy ride. It took a year but I wouldn’t change that experience for anything. 🥳