I had just spent the past 3 hours hiking through the Blue Mountains of Jamaica and I was sunburnt and exhausted. I needed the soft sounds of nature to clear my mind, but waiting for me around every bend of the trail was a different dreadlocked dude trying to sell me some ganja, an ashtray constructed from a coconut, or some gaudy jewelry. I decided to retreat back to the resort to witness the sunset while relaxing in the hot tub with a red stripe lager. If you ever have the chance, do yourself a favor and witness the sunset from the cliffs of Negril. Anyhow, I settled up with the bartender and headed over to the cliff to watch the sunset from the hot tub. Two females and a male were bubbling a conversation in the tub. I introduce myself. They introduce themselves. Three professional writers: Maria Popova, Ann Lamott, and Ray Bradbury. How often is it that an aspiring writer ends up in a hot tub with 3 professional writers? The topic of their conversation: The Writing Process.
I had to chime in and learn something.
“I love to write, but I often feel like my work is garbage. I can’t seem to get the words out. I write it. I hate it. I erase it. I start over. I’m just wondering, how do you get started?”
Ray raised his eyebrows in confusion and scratched his chin, almost as if he didn’t know how to respond, and then he said, “You stumble into it, mostly. You don’t know what you’re doing, and suddenly, it’s done. You don’t set out to reform a certain kind of writing.”[1]
Ann looked at me with sympathetic eyes, and with a reassuring tone in her voice she concurred, “Almost all good writing begins with terrible efforts.” [2]
She paused, and then added, “For me, and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty drafts. The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later.”[3]
I was relieved to hear that, because I think I‘m pretty decent at writing shitty drafts. So I should just dive in and write my ass off. Practice makes perfect. But when I am dealing with deadlines, have a shitload of distractions, have very little time to proof read or revise, and I am desperate for my work to be perfect, I feel unconfident. So I asked them, “What do you do that helps perfect your writing, or helps you to feel more confident?”
I heard the whistle of an android smart phone. All eyes were on Maria. She put her index finger up to signal, “hold on just a second’, as she began to swipe her finger across the touch screen like she was conducting an orchestra. Ann rolled her eyes and then reengaged the conversation with, “I always show my work to one of two people before sending a copy to my editor or agent. I feel more secure and connected this way, and these two people get a lot of good work out for me.” [4]
“That’s a great way to get some positive criticism”, I said. “When is the best time to write?” I asked.
The backlight on Maria’s phone goes dim. She places the device on the concrete ledge behind her, looks at me with an almost arrogant eye. I get the feeling that she may be in the middle of writing something as we are speaking. She says, “I write when I have to because the pressure builds up and I feel enough confidence that something has matured in my head and I can write it down.” [5]
Her phone lights up, she picks it up, looks at it, puts it back down and then she adds, “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without ever putting a word on paper.”[6]
She made a good point. Its like what people say about having kids, “If you wait for the perfect time to have kids, you’ll never have kids” I expected a little more insight from some professionals, but I guess that’s how writing happens. So I responded with, “You guys should be selling running shoes, because you sound like an advertisement for Nike. Is it that simple? Just do it?”
Ray laughed and said, “In quickness is truth. The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping.”[7]
I reply, “So basically, I just have to stay vigilant, search for truth, and focus less on my writing style? I need to eat, breathe and sleep words. How does that work for someone who isn’t much of a morning person?”
Maria picks up her phone, looks at the screen, chuckles a bit and then says,
“I’m always in a hurry to get going, though in general I dislike starting the day. I first have tea and then, at about ten o’clock, I get under way and work until one. Then I see my friends and after that, at five o’clock, I go back to work and continue until nine. I have no difficulty picking up the thread in the afternoon. …Most often it’s a pleasure to work.”[8]
“Ok, so I guess everyone has their own method. Sometimes you are inspired by pressure. Sometimes you can take a more lackadaisical approach”, I said.
Ray replies, “Run Fast, stand still. This is the lesson from lizards. For all writers. Observe almost any survival creature, you see the same. Jump, run, freeze. In the ability to flick like an eyelash, crack like a whip, vanish like steam, here this instant, gone the next. Life teems the earth. And when that life is not rushing to escape, it is playing statues to do the same. See the hummingbird, there, not there. As thought arises and blinks off, so this thing of summer vapor; the clearing of a cosmic throat, the fall of a leaf. And where it was--a whisper.”[9]
Now, at this point, I had to call it a night. Shit got a little bit too philosophical for how late the hour was and how long the day lasted. I think Ray may have purchased something from one of the guys on the trail. And I don’t think it was an ashtray or jewelry, if you know what I mean. The biggest thing I learned from my encounter with Maria, Ann and Ray, is that everything comes and goes. Writing is a process. It requires marathons, short sprints, and break times. Good writing may develop from shitty drafts. Never compromise the truth for a style.
[1] Zen in the Art of Writing (Ray Bradbury)
[2] Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Ann Lamott)
[3] Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Ann Lamott)
[4] Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Ann Lamott)
[5] Quote by Susan Sontag excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (Maria Popova)
[6] Quote by Kurt Vonnegut excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (Maria Popova)
[7] Zen in the Art of Writing (Ray Bradbury)
[8] Quote by Simone de Beauvoir excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (Maria Popova)
[9] Zen in the Art of Writing (Ray Bradbury)