Excuse my Dust - 2: More ideas to consider…

In Excuse My Dust - 1, we discussed the WHY behind writing and how to get started. In this issue we are going to consider the writing habits of some of the great pros, and then a few more ideas to set you on your writing journey.

It’s a known fact that Ernest Hemingway wrote standing at a lectern. He would shift from foot to foot, and when the writing really began to flow, sat at his desk to continue.

And Truman Capote claimed he was a completely horizontal author and could not think unless he was lying in bed, or stretched out on a couch or in a hammock.

Dame Agatha Christie tells us that she plotted her stories early in the morning while sitting in a bathtub of warm water, eating apples. John Nichols, who wrote The Milagro Beanfield War, also found soaking in a tub of warm water conducive for getting ideas flowing. I’m not sure what he munched on at 4:00 a.m. A writer friend told me that she needs a grease pencil in the shower. Must be something about warm water that generates the flow of ideas!

Kitchen tables were also a favorite for a number of authors. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote most of Uncle Tom’s Cabin on one. She managed to squeeze in writing between cooking, sewing, cleaning, and caring for her seven children. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte also used the family’s kitchen table to function as a writing desk. Jane Austen worked at a small round parlor table with hardly enough room for her notebook. In fact, she was so shy that at the slightest sound of someone approaching, quickly hid whatever she was writing.

Then there’s William Faulkner who maintained he wrote only when it rained. One wonders how the course of American literature would have changed if Faulkner set Yoknapatawpha County in Arizona instead of Mississippi.

Tennessee Williams worked seven days a week. He did not think writing on Sundays was a violation of the Sabbath although he did make one exception – Easter Sunday. Issac Asimov also wrote every day from early morning until late evening. Barbara Cartland, who produced over 500 novels, was still writing and being published when she was in her nineties. And Mark Twain never wrote another word after the death of his beloved wife Livy.

It seems that writing almost anywhere and time has been tried by some writer, still the act of writing remains as varied as there are writers. Now that you have taken on the role as writer, it’s your turn to find your writer’s space and time, your favorite pen, pencil, or computer, comfortable clothes, perhaps some background music, art piece, or pictures of loved ones. Do whatever works best for you. Writers share persistence and determination, frustration and ecstasy. By looking in your heart, you too, will discover your writer’s voice.

One final point in getting started is to check local community colleges for adult continuation or special interest classes in writing. Local libraries are other resources for writing groups, special presentations or writing workshops, or even critique groups. Signing up for a writing course, taking a workshop or joining a critique group can prove beneficial especially if you are a novice writer and may need the support and incentive from others with similar interests. A writing course can also provide the structure and basic techniques necessary for good writing.

Along these same lines, if several of your friends or members of a writing class are interested in starting a new and possibly small writing club, you might want to join them. This would allow for immediate feedback and critiquing of your stories, provide opportunities to share similar writing experiences with each other, offer encouragement to get through some of those darker moments, support each other’s efforts, shed light on new discoveries, and most important, laugh and cry together as you journey through this new adventure with pen in hand and love in your heart, transforming your creative ideas into captivating and inspiring stories.

Also consider joining organizations or clubs that offer networking opportunities with others who have already done what you are trying to do. Their suggestions, tips and resources are invaluable.

RECAP

1. Study the writing habits of the pros.
2. Find your writer’s space and time.
3. Practice writing techniques and styles to help find your writer’s voice.
4. Take writing courses, workshops or join a critique group to get feedback on your writing.
5. Join a writing organization or club that offers networking opportunities.

Comments, questions, suggestions: neeliepubl@aol.com

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