On Schedules and Habits

Almost every writing guide, or h ow-to recommends some form of scheduling time to write. Whether it's scheduling yourself a block of time, and stopping as soon as the time expires (apparently Dan Brown uses an hourglass), or setting yourself a word limit and trying to hit that limit, writing advice is generally accompanied by some form of advice on structure.

The romantic ideal of writing is that of a writer who wanders through life seeking inspiration, and then writes in inspired bursts. Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road, one of my favourite novels, in just such a burst of short prose.

When I started the 52 Short Stories project, I didn't have a plan as to how I was going to write, whether it be in scheduled time blocks, specific word limits, at pre-appointed times, or whenever inspiration strikes. However, I have found myself finishing two consecutive stories on two consecutive Sundays, and writing two consecutive blog posts, on two consecutive Mondays.

I'm not a strong believer in flashes of inspiration. I think writing, just like anything else, is work, and you need to work at it. When you hit a block, you need to push through it.

So, that being said, what is my own writing process?

Long story short, I don't have one.

I started off attempting to write for an hour per day. However, while on some days I found that to be very fruitful, on others I found that an hour could have been better spent watching cartoons.

Then I switched to trying to write 1,000 words per day. Hemingway would write 500 words per day. That turned out to also be a little difficult because on some days, I'd blow by my 1,000-word limit, and on others, I'd be checking the word count every two minutes, and groaning that I had only added another ten words (no way to write, I assure you).

The other issue I ran into was when to write. Many writers swear by writing before breakfast, such as Joyce Carol Oates. Others stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Still others, write in marathon all-day-long sessions, like Don DeLillo, who writes for four hours, goes for a run and then keeps going. Well, I'm not a morning person, so even if I tried to write before going to work in the morning, I guarantee it would be garbage. Writing in the evening works well for me on most nights, except that I tend to like to go out in the evenings. Writing late at night would just make me useless at work the next day.

What's the solution? Write whenever you can.

The only thing that I stand by as far as a schedule is that I need to write everyday. If I don't, I lose the habit, and feel like I've lost progress and momentum when I come back to it.

Everything else needs to be flexible to my surrounding circumstances. I have a full-time job, and so I can't write from 9-to-5. Even if I could, I know I wouldn't. I do other freelance work, and so I sometimes need to bump my fiction down a notch on my priority list. I have a social life that I would rather enjoy than putting it aside to write. I have a girlfriend who I'd rather spend time with whenever I can, rather than locking myself in a room and writing.

So, you must be thinking to yourself, how can I possibly find time to write, then? Well, like I said, I write whenever I can. It might be in the morning before my girlfriend wakes up. It might be after work, before dinner. It might be after coming home from watching the game at the bar. It might be during my lunch hour. It might be while I'm waiting for friends to be ready.

There are a lot of advantages to writing this way.

The first is that you're not a prisoner to your muse. The muse is the death of any artist. You must work at her will, and that is a big price to pay.

The second is that you can still live your life. I don't understand writers who sacrifice so much in order to write. If you've sacrificed your life and all the experiences that go with it, what do you have left to write about?

The third is that you're free to write anywhere at anytime, and that does wonders for creativity. If you associate writing, or any other creative process, to a certain environment, you handcuff yourself. You will find it hard to be creative in any other setting. Also, that environment, and the act of writing will begin to feel like work. Don't get me wrong, it is work, but it doesn't need to feel like it.

At the end of the day, there is really only one thing to remember. Live first, write second.

Photo courtesy of kodama.