Had dinner last night with a journalist friend. We were talking about the writing process and how to get started with a story or an article. His method is to give himself no more than 15 minutes to stare at a blank screen. After his 15-minute grace period, he forces himself to start typing and not stop for a paragraph or two.
He doesn't expect anything he types to make sense yet, but it's important to get something on the screen. He then revises or, more often, replaces those paragraphs over and over until he's satisfied that he has his lead (in journalistic circles, the opening of the article). At that point, he's off and running.
Different story with me. If I had to feel good about the first paragraph before moving on to the second, I'd never be able to complete a story.
I found out on Friday that my college writing teacher, Elizabeth Christman, passed away in her home town of St. Louis at the age of 95.
Miss Christman (after I graduated she invited me to call her Liz, but I could never quite get used to it) was the first person to assure me that someday I would have a novel published. Her encouragement was no small ego-booster: She had been a literary agent with Harold Ober Associates in New York for 20 years. At the age of 55, she went back to school for her doctorate and eventually became a professor at the University of Notre Dame. For the next 20 years, she inspired students to keep writing, keep sending out manuscripts, keep collecting rejection slips, keep dreaming... but most of all keep writing!
Generous with her time with both current and former students, Miss Christman was my writing coach during my first attempts at a novel more than 30 year ago. She even sent the manuscript off to some of her old contacts in New York. That novel didn't sell, but she wouldn't let me pout over the rejections. "Get used to it," she said. "And keep writing."
I did. And when I found out last May that, at long last, one of my novels was going to be published, Liz was one of the first persons I thought of. I looked forward to the day that I would be able to hand her a copy. Sadly, we're going to miss that day by a few months. But I can almost see the smile and hear her saying, "Told you so. Enjoy it. And keep writing."
Another of her many grateful students, renowned journalist Melinda Henneberger, has written a tribute that captures her life story beautifully. It's a story you should read, whether or not you're a writer. To read it, click here.
Thank you, Miss Christman. Your life's work lives on.
For years, I've been telling clients that "Writing is rewriting." Makes me sound like a reasonable, even-keel, professional writer, doesn't it?
Well, that temperament was put to the test recently when I received a few "notes" on my novel from my outstanding editor at Viking/Penguin, Liz Van Hoose.
Okay, I'll be honest: Seven pages of notes and suggestions.
After I picked myself up off the floor and read the notes carefully, I was struck by the number of "cut or revise" suggestions that reminded me of the internal debates I held while writing the book. My gut would tell me that a certain sentence, or entire scene, didn't quite work. I couldn't say exactly why, but it just didn't feel quite right. Still, I kept it, because I had so impressed myself with my own unique brilliance.
Wrong approach. If your gut is telling you that something sounds contrived, rewrite it or get rid of it. If something sounds out of character for one of your heroes, rewrite it or get rid of it. If the beginning is slow, rewrite it or get rid of it. If the ending is too Hollywood, rewrite it or get rid of it--unless you're writing for Hollywood, of course.
Not easy. But your work almost always benefits from the process.
This morning, while shaving and listening to the local all-news radio station, I was informed by the news anchor that increased Internet usage worldwide is leading to a "perfect storm" of energy failure.
Huh?
Using a cliche is one thing (usually, the sign of a lazy writer); using it incorrectly only increases the irritation factor. According to Wikipedia, a perfect storm is the "simultaneous occurrence of weather events which, taken individually, would be far less powerful than the storm resulting of their chance combination."
But that's what happens with cliches. People become so accustomed to using them that they get sloppy. So stay alert to those hackneyed words and phrases, and get rid of them from your writing. Business correspondence, in particular, is a haven for the hackneyed. My nominations for retirement include:
The Mother of all...
At the end of the day...
Think outside the box...
The bottom line is...
I can get behind that...
The remedy? Simply look for other ways to express that thought or idea. Demonstrate some creativity. Make your writing memorable by making it unique. When your writing stands out, you do, too. Just make sure it's standing out for all the right reasons.
And by the way, I think Sebastian Junger's 1997's book, "The Perfect Storm," is a terrific read.
I was in a local bookstore recently, a gift card burning a hole in my pocket, trying to decide between a novel, a biography, and a political best seller. To make my decision, I did what I always do when browsing: I opened to the first page and read a few sentences to decide if I like the writer's style -- the writer's "voice," if you will.
A few sentences is all I'm willing to invest before making a decision. I don't think I'm alone among book buyers in that approach.
The lesson for me? Readers aren't going to wait a few pages or even a few paragraphs for me-as-writer to "warm up." I need to establish a strong, likable, readable voice immediately.
The voices that appeal to me vary according to genre. But in all cases, I need to feel that I'm in excellent hands, that the author is an outstanding writer who isn't trying to impress me with his or writing skills, but instead just wants to tell me about something I might find interesting or exciting or life-affirming or... whatever. Just not boring or pompous. In fact, the best writers make me forget I'm reading somebody's writing. I'm just "there" with whomever or whatever the author is writing about, completely immersed, and glad of it.
If you're wondering which book I selected... I didn't. All three openings were so good that I have to go back for more before I choose. Based on how I've handled this situation before, I may end up buying all three.
