Process
You know how there are people who like to run? And they can run…pfft…I dunno…twenty miles in a day and they feel GREAT. I would feel…DEAD. Then there are the wonderful housekeepers, who love to bake pie and make bread and sweep the floor and at the end of the day they feel GREAT. I would feel PERSECUTED.
Because people are different. The pace we move at, the activities we enjoy and find fulfillment in are different. Writing, and the writing process is no different.
There are people who love plotting, people who love the act of writing, people who love research, and people who love all of the above. There are those who write sloppy first drafts, those who write clean first drafts, those who write five drafts. There are those who feel accomplished after writing five hundred words in a day, and those who feel accomplished at 5K words in a day. It’s subjective. It’s personal.
And even if you don’t understand how someone else’s process works for them…if it works…they probably aren’t doin’ it wrong. It doesn’t mean YOU are either.
I’ve seen a lot of debate on fast writing/slow writing. People who write slow should be faster, people who write fast will burn out/write crappy books.
I HATE that. Because it is, again, subjective. Remember the runner? I can’t run a lap without feeling exhausted so in my mind, when someone says they’re going to run twenty miles (heck, two miles) I think…that sounds like death served with WHAT ARE YOU THINKING sauce smothered over the top.
When those people think of it? They think of the high, the endorphin rush, the satisfaction. The fact that they’re doing something they love.
Same with writing speed. If the thought of writing over a thousand words in a day makes you feel like you want to die, then don’t do it. And don’t think you have to, as long as you can make deadlines. But understand that someone who has a higher word count thresh hold may feel the rush of satisfaction after getting a high count, not exhaustion. The tortoise and the hare is a fantastic story. It doesn’t always apply.
Just like someone with a high output has no right to assume someone with a lower count ‘could do better if they tried’. If they are doing it, and they are happy, then it’s RIGHT.
That doesn’t mean it’s wrong to try and find new ways of doing something if you don’t feel like your process is working for you, that doesn’t mean don’t ask questions. But one thing I’ve noticed is that if you ask authors a question about process, you’ll get ten different answers. It doesn’t mean nine of those answers are wrong, it means that different things work for different people.
Now, my process, or your process, may change in the future. Because just like people are different, people also change over time. It stands to reason process would too. Mine tends to be slightly different with each book.
So why am I talking about this? Because I want you to know that as long as your process works, as long as you feel happy with it, you don’t have to worry that it’s not the same as someone else’s. You don’t have to take every piece of advice you’re given. So what if someone can write a book in four weeks and it takes you eight. If you’re happy and you know you would feel completely stressed trying to do it in four, and it would steal your enjoyment…then don’t do it.
If you love to story board, and use visuals and your writer friend doesn’t…maybe your writer friend even says they never use celebrity pictures because they find it harms their characterization well..fine. You do your visuals if they work for you. They don’t have to. Neither of you are wrong.
Isn’t that freeing?
Write happy, my friends!
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LOL Maisey have we all been teasing you too much about how super-speedy you are? You know we’re all jealous, right? My process can change from book to book. Some books zip and some… don’t. And it also depends on what is going on in my life at the time!
😛 I love you all. You never have to worry about bothering me. 😀 But I do think it’s important that people understand that they don’t have to do things like someone else. It’s not about what’s best, but about what works best for you.
And of course, life will always factor in to how writing goes! Life doesn’t stop for deadlines. 🙂 Sadly.
I agree, but if you’re a slow writer I think it’s natural to wish to be faster. I think accepting what is best for you can be challenging if it’s not what you *want* to be best for you… feeling that now as my latest is going like molasses.
I think to a certain extent it’s always natural to wish you did SOMETHING differently. (sometimes I wish I COULD plot better since I think it would save me some grief…) So I understand that. Here’s hoping your book starts coming together for you! (But really, you’ve have a big life change, so it’s totally understandable.)
Ps. totally didn’t intend this as a criticism of anyone. I’m not saying, be happy with your process or else. Just saying you have the freedom to find what works for you. 😀
I’ve been thinking about process quite a bit lately, and I think that I personally need to be wary of labelling myself. I’ve always said that I’m a slow writer, but I the reality is that sometimes I’m slow, and other times I’m fast. Sometimes (not often!) the words flow, and sometimes they are extracted with much angsting and knashing of teeth 🙂 But telling myself I’m slow only makes it just that much harder to sit down at the computer. And just makes me more envious for those who always write fast!
So, I guess my acceptance isn’t so much of my particular process, but of the fact that whenever I sit down I’m going to get words down in one way or another. Fast, slow, whatever 🙂
Leah, I think it’s pretty common to have fluctuating speed. It takes me a lot longer to write the first part of a book than the end. I think it’s because, pantser that I am, I don’t know the characters yet when I start.
I don’t think speed has to come into it. You’re a writer. It’s what you do, and you’re right, as longs as words get on the page, it doesn’t really matter how fast they get there. Story and your sanity are the important thing anyway!
Great blog Maisey. You are so right. We are *all* different. We all have strengths and weaknesses, and no one person is ever the same. Like you I can’t run for toffee. I’ve got weak ankles, that just kept buckling under me whenever I ran anywhere. So, as a child I took up swimming instead, and loved it. I found the right thing for me to do. I loved it so much that I still swam competitively until I was 40! So do what you can for yourself, and *not* because you think you have to do it to please others. Caroline x
I think one of the keys to becoming a happy person is to learn to accept yourself as you are, the good and the bad.
The same with the writing. If I am constantly fighting my process and beating myself up for not writing the way other authors write, the way I ought to write, I’ll never be happy with the process. I’ve really tried the last few months to embrace my own process -uneven production, inconvenient inspirations, and all. It makes the writing much more joyful, even if the work itself isn’t going quite the way I wanted.
Caroline, that brings to mind one of my favorite quotes. “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.”
Julia, I think it’s easy to add stress that doesn’t need to be there. You think you SHOULD be doing something x way because so and so author said they do it that way. But if what you do works, who cares how you get there? 🙂
It was freeing. Thanks, I needed that.
Marcie, you’re welcome!
I’m always fascinated to read about other writers’ processes. Because there are so many different ways that people go about stuff, and it’s great to see if any of those work for me! I’ve taken bits here and there, and formed my very own, which works for me. But I agree, every writer and every book is different. Varying the process can help if you get stuck, and that’s what I do. I pantster it, then plot when I’m a way in (rather roughly), then storyboard, mindmap… gosh, I do anything and everything to give my muse a poke. But I could never write without a soundtrack blaring through my headphones…
I looooooooove this post. Loooooooooove, loooooooooooove, looooooooooove. Such a positive and encouraging message here! Also, I don’t run, and the WHAT ARE YOU THINKING sauce line still has me chuckling!
I wrote 5 books last year. I wrote one so far this year and edited another. I’m okay with that. I learn by doing, fail by failing forward. I’m finding my pace is somewhere in between (though I do write a first draft fast & furious), and still pursuing publishing while waiting to hear back from my dream publisher (Harlequin!).
That’s exactly right, Sally. It’s about finding what works for you. And sometimes that needs to be shaken up! Sometimes you have to approach things from new angles. It’s ALL about what works.
Jessica, thank you, my dear! I’m with you on learning by doing. While I had my first MS on submission I wrote thirteen MSs. And a lot of those are MSs I won’t submit, but I learned from them. Because you’re so right, you learn by doing.
And hooray for dream publishers!