Write Now
(4) – Making a Start
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold
story inside you.”
(Maya Angelou, I
Know Why the Caged Bird Sings)
|
T
|
he urge to write
(novels, short-stories, poetry) comes from an inner compulsion to create, to
tell a story, to understand or recreate an experience, to shape an idea etc. You
don’t have to have all the details worked out before you begin but you do need
to test that impulse.
When I was a
schoolteacher one of my pupils expressed an interest in becoming a vet. I
encouraged her to get a weekend job working with animals. She found a placement
in a local animal shelter for abused and abandoned animals. After three weeks
she left. I asked her why and she told me she didn’t like the smell. She tested
her desire and discovered that the romantic notion in her head and the reality
on the ground were very different. So it is with writing, the longing must be
tested not in abstract thought but in a writer’s environment, alone at your
desk. Do you like spending a lot of time on your own? I suggested that she give
it more time but her mind was made up. It is possible that if she had given it
more time she might have had a breakthrough but I think she discovered
something about herself in those few weeks and that in itself has value.
A novel will
have a unique and universal quality. Each person is unique and so each person’s
perception will be distinctive. We all have individual experiences that cause
us to interpret the world around in a way that shapes our identity. But as
human beings we all have common desires, aspirations, yearnings, hopes, fears
and so on. The writer will take these familiar themes and many others and imaginatively
mould them into a work of fiction. There is no doubt that writers are peculiar
people who inhabit two worlds. They belong and yet they do not belong.
Sometimes they feel like aliens or outsiders and it is this duality of
connection and detachment that gives them a unique perspective. As E.L.
Doctorow has said, “writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”[1]
Intended
readership
Few people will embark on such a project
without also having a desire to share the finished product with others.
However, one needs to consider what role an intended readership should have on
the creative process. Publishers will want you to have a market in mind. This
is understandable. If their books are not commercially successful they will go
out of business. Genre fiction, such as, Romance, Historical, Crime,
Psychological Thrillers, Horror, Science Fiction, Paranormal etc. have a
clearly identifiable market. It might be more difficult to find a publisher for
a work of Literary Fiction that does not fit into these categories. But many
publishers want literary fiction too. There is a category of writing in the
publishing world known as Commercial Fiction. If your aspiration is merely to
make a living from writing then this is probably the kind of work you should
produce, writing to a formula. If you see yourself as an artist and you want to
explore the depths of your soul then Literary Fiction is the category for you.
I’m not saying that genre fiction is not creative but it is formulaic to some
extent. There is a template and there are rules – for example, a romance cannot
end in tragedy. It must have a happy-ever-after finale. I believe that, as a
writer, you should not be overly conscious of the market for your work as this
will inhibit your creativity. Nevertheless, if you want to be published you
should not entirely ignore the marketplace.
Tools
of the trade
A laptop or desk-top computer with MS
Word is an essential tool. A writer
should also have a good vocabulary, an ability to spell correctly and a working
knowledge of the rules of grammar, how to punctuate, write dialogue etc. A
deficiency in any of these areas will be a barrier to publication. However, you
should not let this issue stifle your creativity. You should still commit your
ideas to paper. You can always get a proof-reader who will make the necessary
corrections. But never expect your publisher to do this for you.
If you highlight
a word in an MS Word document and right click you will have the option to
choose from a list of synonyms for that word. Alternatively, from that list of
options, you can choose to look up the dictionary meaning and that might prompt
you to express the idea in a different way. Thus you can avoid overusing a
word, which will enhance the quality of your work and be better for the reader.
Use the Spellcheck/Review and use a thesaurus. Misspellings are underlined in
red and grammar issues are underlined in green. Make sure you deal with all of
these. You can leave the revision until the end or do it as you go along.
You
will need a dictionary, a good guide to English usage, a few books of
quotations, a thesaurus, an atlas, the Writers’
and Artists’ Yearbook. Many of these resources are available free online or
can be purchased in electronic format. I find it more convenient to access
these electronically.
Practical
advice
It would be of
great help if you could designate a space in your home for writing, at a desk.
A room without distractions will become a familiar space and when you inter the
creative juices should start flowing. Ideally, I think it is not a good idea to
write in your bedroom. This gives mixed messages to your mind as it is the
place where you sleep. If you cannot avoid this, try to have a desk in the room
so that you segregate the space for work and rest. This is merely my personal
preference and you may find writing in bed works perfectly well for you. The
familiarity of one’s writing den/study will induce the right state of mind for
the work you have to do. Don’t write at the kitchen table because, again that
is a space which is used for another purpose. Besides, unless you live alone,
this will cause tension with other users of the kitchen/table. You will see
them as being in your way and likewise they will see you in the same way.
Allow your mind
time and space to rest because it is here in the tranquillity that the inspiration
comes. These sub-conscious, seminal ideas ferment and develop into thoughts
that take shape in a way that is useful to the writer. So, don’t neglect rest
and recreation just because you have undertaken to write a novel.
The writer’s
life is essentially a solitary one that needs isolation, free from
distractions. Yet the writer craves stimulation and this is often found in
human interaction. Getting the balance right is important. Sometimes the things
that we think are a distraction may actually be a source of inspiration, so
never neglect your family. That would be selfish because you have a duty to it
and it should be a source of joy to you. But it would also be foolish because
it can be a great source of stimulating new ideas and fresh dialogue.
[1] Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (1931-2015)
was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known internationally for
his works of historical fiction.
Comments
Post a Comment