Writers Lie about Writing
The Truth is….Writers Lie About Writing
I’m going to do for you what few writers actually do — I’m going to tell you the truth about why writers lie and what are the lies they – we – tell.
That in itself is a miracle statement because as Stephen King once said, “Fiction is a lie. The good fiction is the truth inside the lie.” So buckle up.
FICTION: Writing is an adventure.
Truth: Writing is not an adventure. Writing is hard work. Writing is misery. Writing is painful. Writing is like pulling your socks up through your stomach. Learning to write is also not an adventure. It is time consuming and tedious and never ending. The act of writing is hard work. And you have to really want to do it – no, you have to feel compelled to do it — no, you must be obsessed to do it – in order for you to get through all the trials and tribulations that is the act of writing.
FICTION: Writing is its own reward
Truth: No, chocolate is its own reward. Some writers won’t admit it but they write for money. Other writers won’t admit it but they write because they don’t know any other way. Me? I write because if I don’t all the stuff in my head will make me crazier than I already am. The reward I get from writing comes if I hear just one person say, “Oh I loved it.” That is the truth. Oh sure I write for myself but I’m never going to say I like it. That reward must come from without. Meanwhile, I’m eating chocolate.
FICTION: Write a little every day and you’ll finish that book in no time.
Truth: Bologna! Yes, if you write a little every day you might finish a book. It will be “no time” for sure, meaning that it will take you an incalculable amount of time to finish. You won’t finish in any reasonable time. First because you won’t feel like writing every day and second, because if you only write a little very day, your book will read like a piece of hopscotch. Yes, write every day but when it comes to writing a book, write as much as you can every day, and let it be a great deal. Write until you can’t write anymore that day. Write until your brain is screaming. Write write write!
However, if in doubt that a book is possible, Stephen King will tell you, “Write a page a day. Only 300 words, and in a year you have written a novel.” (That’s a 109,500 words before editing).
FICTION: The more you write, the better writer you’ll become.
Truth: This is a tough one. The more you write, the more you will produce. However, getting better at your craft depends on more than just the prolific writing habit. It depends on your studying how to write. It depends on your reading all the books you can get your hands on – not just about your favorite wizard or dystopian planet, but also about dialogue and punctuation and correct word usuage and how to build plot and write deep characters (just to name a simple few things). THEN the more you write, the better your chances are that you will become a better writer than you were.
FICTION: If you are having a hard time, just stop and walk away for a while. You’ll be better for it.
Truth: NO. DON’T DO IT. Bad advice. The only stopping should come when you are between projects. Never stop in the middle of one. Coming back to it is hard. Remembering what you intended is nearly impossible. Recapturing that feeling you began with is not going to happen. If you let go of the magic while you are in it, you will lose the initial momentum of a good thing. It won’t feel better when you come back. In fact, you will be more tempted to quit.
Stephen King, “Stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard either emotionally or imaginatively is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it & sometimes you are doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing to do is shovel shit from a sitting position.”
FICTION: Once you finish that first book, the second will be easier.
Truth: I equate this to something I heard in a movie once, “The first murder is the hardest. After that, they get easier.” Only a sociopath might think this! I can tell you for a fact that once you finish the fist book, you should dance and celebrate. Finishing is awesome. You are ready to keep going, right?
Time for the second book? I’m here to tell you that it is JUST AS HARD AS THE FIRST OR THE LAST. There is no “easy” book. There is no “fast” book. Every book wrenches something out of you and the pulling and and taking is more like cutting yourself open and bleeding for a while. Nothing easy about it. (unless you’re a sociopath!).
Writing any book is hard. Each book is just as hard in its own way. Every book is a unique challenge. Does it get easier to plan or plot or do you feel smarter about your craft? Probably. Possibly. I hope so. But the work itself is never easier. Don’t let anyone fool you.
FICTION: You are too old to start now. There’s no point.
Truth: Bologna. Here’s Stephen King again, “You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.” Writing has no age. It simply is. It calls and you answer. Writring is a need, a calling, a desire, an obsession. If you want to write, then write. If you feel strongly about it, nothing on this world will stop you. Will you be published? Will you be a best-seller? Those things are issues for another day. For today, just write. Write because you believe there is nothing else you can do.
FICTION: Writers need inspiration in order to write.
Truth: Bologna. Writers WANT inspiration. Writers crave it and sometimes do need it. But if writers waited to be inspired to write a book or a story or a poem, very little would get done. Writers who want to succeed and/or publish have a motto. Butt in chair. All that means is if you want to get the job done, you have to simply do the work. (see first truth). Stephen King will tell you, “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”
Work. Writing is work. Oh once in a while you hit a magical nirvana when the writing flows and you feel as if you won’t ever stop the train of prolific thought. And then you do. Yes, there will be moments when you think you are in the groove and it will always be this marvelous feeling of achievement.
And then reality sets in. Writing is unglamorous. Writing is sometimes tedious. Writing is sometimes writing the same page over a dozen times. Writing is sometimes frustrating. Sometimes impossible.
And sometimes writing is the most incredible, wonderful, surreal work you will ever accomplish. But if you are waiting to be inspired, you are just looking for a way to talk yourself out of doing the work.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Writers lie. We finish our books mostly in solitary confinement. We work hard. We scream at the page, we edit until we hate our work. We write because we must. We breath ink and vellum and when we are holding the final product, we lie.
We tell you and others what a wonderful journey it was to get the book done. And why do we do this? Well, I’ve never had a human child but my mom told me that the horrible pain fades and only the joy of the child remains. So when the book is finished, it is our baby, our joy. Given this truth, we tend to diminish the work with an honest lie.
Writers lie but we don’t really mean to (Is that truth or a lie?). We writers only want one thing — for you to find your moment, the joy of birthing your own book, project, play, whatever. We are happy and proud in the end and we want that same joy for you, the would-be writer, and the reader.
Think of this the next time someone asks you, “I want to write, but…..”
Let me leave you with more words of Stephen King, “A person is never too old for stories. Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them.”
and remember my opening quote — “Fiction is the truth inside the lie.”
Given that truth, go and tell some lies. But now you know the truth why you are doing it.
Thanks for stopping by!
Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry
(the philosophy above is my opinion based on my experience and in discussion with other writers)
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****The following items will always appear to keep you posted on activities.*****
WIP (Works in Progress): – NEW BOOK OF POETRY! – expected release July 2016
– first novel in the Evening Bower series, about vampires and other supernatural creatures
– fictional memoir – November 2016!
– four-part fairy story (part one complete)
On the Desk: (next reading): A Potion to Die For – Heather Blake
Off the Desk (book just finished): Rock-a-bye Bones – Carolyn Haines
Coming Soon: Are you writing every day? Why you should and how I can help!
Guest Interview coming in June!
