Writing in Times of Chaos, With Lessons from Dickens

Writing should be a problem right now.  But it’s not.  It should be a problem because winter weather is harassing my home town, a virus is circulating that seems never to go away, it seems like my country has descended into indiscriminate madness, and my supply of huckleberry jam has run out. Not to mention kids, work, favors asked, etc.   It should be a problem, but it isn’t.

We all know these times - the kids are too noisy, there are extra shifts at work, the wash machine breaks down, the cat pukes on the rug, and the phone will not stop ringing.  There are bills to pay and repairmen to deal with and relentless noise.  How in the name of all that’s holy can we be expected to sit down and focus on the page, to immerse in the story, to get even a single acceptable word written?

Lots of us are having that feeling right now.  We feel overwhelmed with daily news of contention and

protests and accusations and lies and deep, nation-wide division.  Then, y’know, the wash machine, too.

So why am I writing so nearly effortlessly?  Why are pages and pages of words just flowing from my pen right now?  Why do I stop in the middle of the million or so other things going on to grab pencil and paper and write a scrap of scene, a section of dialogue, a perfect description?   That is what is happening to me right now, and I have been a bit confused by it.  Like so many, I am overwhelmed and saddened by the state of our country (and the world) right now.  I have children and work and bills and broken drawer-stays and a leak in my storage shed.  I have phone calls and emails and letters to answer, and more of the same to make.  Nevertheless, daily, ten, twelve, thirteen, fourteen pages are flowing from my pen. (Yes, I am writing the first draft of my current manuscript entirely by hand - I often do that.)

The feeling of being overwhelmed is akin to the feeling of loss - a loss of stability, of the familiar, of everything you’ve counted on.  It is like a barely-controlled internal panic, a deep anxiety that grips you when you don’t know what to do.

The story has been told, (possibly apocryphal), that Dickens, when he needed inspiration for his

writing, would begin walking around London, just taking random streets in random directions until he felt completely, irretrievably lost. And then he would walk some more.  It is said that he told those who asked that, in that feeling of lost-ness, that lack of sense of direction or anything familiar, he found it easier to open to whatever presented itself to him - that he could then look at the people of London around him and see in them their stories.

This may or may not be true, but, like many writers, I know poets and novelists who have odd routines to bring about inspiration, to bring about that openness to the world that lets you see stories that need to be told.  Nearly all of them I know of involve some sense of surrender to chaos.  Some sense of embracing the madness, of surrendering any hold you have on the familiar and just, simply…...opening.

It is, I think, why my writing comes so easily right now.  To borrow a line from a fictional character, we all have ways that we enter the world, and if writing is your way to do so, you need to surrender your perceptions of what is real, what is stable, what is dependable, and embrace the dark and the light around

you.

So, if your writing feels stymied by the state of the world right now, or by the state of your life, or both, sit down.  Put a pad of paper in front of you and a pen. Then let all the things that harass you IN - don’t resist them or block them out - let them in, let go of how you thought life was, and take it in.  Cry if you need to.  Rage if you need to.  But don’t resist it.  Hold the pen in your hand as if it were your lifeline, because it is.  And then feel the words as they rise up in you.  

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NOTE: This free-flowing period of writing (coupled with many of the things above) is why I have not posted weekly as I am used to doing. Returning to more regular posts now!

Three Decisions Every Writer Needs to Make

Every writer has known that moment of frustration - you’re facing the blank page, you have a good idea - you know it’s marketable, you know you can pitch it, but something is missing.  You can’t work up enthusiasm for it, you can’t focus your mind in the right way to approach it.  As good as the idea is, as much as others have responded enthusiastically to your idea for it, you can’t get there.  Something is missing.  For most, when we’re honest with ourselves, and really dig for that elusive thing, it comes down to simply not feeling all that important.  You know it’s good, has potential, but you’re just having trouble caring.

Students facing assignments and journalists facing assignments face this frequently, and perhaps more surprising, so do freelance and independent writers.  If you are at a loss what to do when that “something missing” haunts you, then this writing is for you, and, in the end, it might actually help you find a way to write that idea that you had, or to decide to let others take on that subject, while you change direction. To begin,  you have three decisions to make - in reverse order of importance.

Decision #3:   Who am I writing for?   How you approach this one may - may  - vary depending on whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction.  I write both, and my answer is the same either way, but, for others, it makes a difference.  There is a story (very possibly apocryphal) that John Steinbeck used to, at the beginning of writing each of his books, put a one-sentence statement on the wall above his writing desk.  That one sentence described how he wanted the reader to think, and what he wanted the reader to feel at the end of each book.  Writing teachers love it, and refer to it as “The Steinbeck Statement” when they are trying to instruct their students on ways to focus their essays.  It’s a nice tool, but for it really to work, you have to know who that reader IS.  This is something only you can decide.  Who is your audience?  People who believe just as you do?  The young?  Parents?  The next generation or the previous one?  People whose minds you’d like to change?   Many are helped by sitting down and creating “the ideal reader” - a mental picture of the person you would want to read your work,  so that you can focus on how the writing you do may impact them.  It’s harder than it sounds - the first impulse is to describe a person much like yourself, and that is a perfectly valid audience, but if you hope to be widely read, or to change people, consider more who is it who needs to hear what you have to say?  It’s easier to focus on the ones who will approve of you, but those who need what  you are offering are a much stronger motivator when you’re faced with that blank page.

Decision #2:  Why am I writing?  It seems simple, but if you really explore your motivations, it is often not quite so straight-forward.  For some of you, if you’re fortunate to actually have a job writing, you may think you don’t need to answer this - you’re making a living, but I urge you to consider it anyway.  Most of us - the vast majority of writers - do not make a living at it.  Many wish that they could (I’m not one of those), many strive for it (not one of those, either), and others just do it because they feel compelled.  So, think about this:   are you writing because you want to make your living at it, or because you feel driven to communicate what you see about the world to others, or both at the same time?  I never thought that I could become a best-selling writer, and so I never tried.  I just thought that I might from time to time get lucky and have something “hit” in some small way, and the resulting windfall cash would be helpful - and, from time to time, it’s happened exactly that way.  Others strive from day one for that “big hit” and therefore never get to appreciate the smaller victories they have along the way.  I write for the love of three very simple things:   the love of words, the love of stories, and the unmatched joy of that moment when you see/feel the connection to a reader.  What are the things that you must get from your writing?  Who is there on the other side of the page and what do they need from you that you are willing to give?

Decision #1 What kind of writer do I want to be?  There are dozens of large and small decisions writers make about this - fiction or nonfiction - independent or traditional - mainstream or literary - generic or sci fi or mystery or …   Writers make these decisions often on the fly, trying out different shoes and different paths in their pursuit of whatever suits their creative style best - and that is exactly what they should do.  Exploration is a fundamental characteristic of good writers.  With this decision, though, we’re talking about something more fundamental - what do you want to accomplish?  What is the essential purpose of your work with words?  This question, this decision, reveals that all three of these questions and decisions are deeply interwoven (as if you hadn’t figured that out already).  Why do you sit down to write, and who you are writing for both reveal (either to you or to others) what kind of writer you are trying to be.  Before you answer this question, make this decision, I urge you to think about your purpose - what is it that is the most important thing for you to accomplish with your writing?  I figured out a long time ago, with the help of an excellent mentor/guide, that my main purpose had to do with exposing abuse of power, and at the same time dispelling myths based on class or social standing.  That clarity of purpose has guided me ever since.  I don’t sit down to begin a new story or essay thinking, ‘ok, how can I expose abuses today?’ - but I do find it developing in my characters, informing how a character develops under my pen, and how the truth of people’s lives unfold in my stories.  It gives me a clarity of  purpose and a strong sense of direction with each and every piece I write, and I would not have that had someone with far more wisdom than I not guided me through exploring these questions and making these decisions many years ago.

There is nothing wrong with having one of your goals be publishing and making a living off of your writing, but remember these two things as you pursue that goal:  editors buy the pieces that speak most clearly and distinctly to them, pieces where the clarity and the passion jumps off the page, and you cannot write those clear passionate pieces unless you feel  that clarity and passion.  Do that, follow Joseph Campbell’s advice and ‘pursue your bliss,’ and let it guide you to the success you seek.  For all those times when the rejection slips come and it’s hard to summon up the courage to send your piece out again, remember that the most successful writers have been turned down dozens, often hundreds of times before their work ‘hit,’ and also remember, as has been said by many better than me:  it is better to write for yourself and have no market, than to write for the market and have no self.  Be brave.  Make your decisions, and then live them.