A Writing Axiom

"The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair." - Mary Heaton Vorse

After telling someone I was a writer, he asked, "Are you one of those annoyingly disciplined writers who gets up early and writes for hours every day?" I assured him that I am not. However, I would love to be. I strive for this more than just about any other goal I've aimed for. I have settled into a bit of a routine, and for the most part, I stick to it. I stumbled upon this by trial and error. It started like this: I kept telling people that I was writing a book. The problem was the talking and thinking about it began to exceed the reality of it. I felt like a fraud. The only way I could stop being a fraud was to actually write with more discipline. Strangely enough, the book grew. Thus I discovered another axiom of writing - when you write a lot, the words add up.

Another Writing Rule

 It is very tempting to use blogging as a dump site. I just composed a whiner and then deleted it. That sort of stuff belongs in a journal or the trash can. Thornton Wilder said, "An incinerator is a writer's best friend."

The Golden Rule of Writing

Writing rules are still on my mind, particularly rule # 1, which is "Write. Write regularly and write a lot. Aimee Bender's law is that she writes every day for two hours. When asked how she gets herself to do this she responded,"You don't understand. It's the law." Here are what other writers have said about writing:

• "The first thing you have to know about writing is that it is something you must do every day." Walter Mosley,This Year You Write Your Novel, O Magazine, August 2007
• "This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it...You practice whether you want to or not. You just do it." Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones
• "A thousand words a day--or two hours of revision--five days a week for the rest of your life." Carolyn See, Making a Literary Life
• "You learn to write by writing." William Zinsser, On Writing Well
• "(Writers) write with everything they have, daily if possible, and for the rest of their lives." Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
• "I can fix a bad page, but I can't fix a blank one." Nora Roberts, J.D. Robb
• "If you want to be a writer-stop talking about and sit down and write!" Jackie Collins
• "Get to work. Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the belt in the engine of belief that keeps you and your desk in midair." Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
  

The Rules of Writing - #1 and #2

Robert Benchley said, "The biggest obstacle to professional writing is the necessity for changing a typewriter ribbon." Mr. Benchley died in 1945, but had he been alive, I am sure he would have sympathized with me the past 2 days while I dealt with an uncooperative computer. This leads me to a rule of writing - always back up one's work. I am diligent about this, making weekly copies of my most important documents. Living in the Sierra foothills, one never knows when a fire will force an evacuation, so I back-up my computer on a thumb drive. However, I did not back-up my monthly newsletter article for the November issue and for awhile I thought I'd be rewriting it. But all ended well.

Maybe backing up one's work is not the most important rule of writing, but it certainly is a sanity-saver. I believe the most important rule is to write and to write a lot. If you don't practice this, then you have nothing to back-up. So, if you want to be writer, write a lot. If you want to be a sane writer, back-up your work regularly.

A Writing Admission

This morning I woke up with the intention of erasing yesterday's post. It is embarrassing to admit that I do not write merely to write. I write hoping to enter into an relationship with a reader. It makes sense to compare writing to the proverbial tree in the forest. If it falls and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Edna Ferber said, "Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement. Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth. Writing may be interesting, absorbing, exhilarating, racking, relieving. But amusing? Never!" Thank you Edna, thank you Lizz (my first follower) and thank you readers.

Why, Oh Why?

You may be wondering why I am blogging? It really comes down to platform building. This is one of those business buzz words which means this: before a publisher will consider my manuscript, I have to prove that I have an audience. Blogging is one of the recommended platform builders.

However, although I know a few people have read my previous posts (my husband, for instance), no one has officially signed up as a follower. When I open my blog page, the phrase "There are no followers yet. Be the first" taunts me. I feel like the kid in gym class who isn't going to get picked for the field hockey team. So, I am pleading with one of you, please rescue me.

Romance is Hard Work

I courted writing. Much like everyone I dated, writing had a honeymoon phase. Sooner or later, the novelty wore off and I faced reality. Writing a book has been the harshest reality so far. The writing part is relatively easy compared to the unromantic parts. Doing the research, writing a proposal, building a platform - these are roughly equivalent to living with someone for a long time and realizing that it takes effort, commitment, and tenacity. My husband and I have been married since 1981 and together since 1978. I have just started to date the manuscript I am working on. It snores and doesn't put the seat back down on the toilet, but I am sticking with it.