Yesterday, though she had no idea this was happening, best-selling fiction author Tawni O’Dell affirmed my resolution to “write it my way.” She insisted more than once that you cannot learn to write a novel in a classroom. “There is no process! I don’t have a process, so I can’t tell you what to do.”
I knew that. I make the point in The Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing that we each have a unique writing style, and that we must find our way, work with it, and not let anyone intimidate us into believing otherwise. Nobody was telling me how to organize my material. Nobody was even suggesting. But I have been in danger of drifting into a formula approach, of writing what I think readers want rather than what feels right to me, and Tawni’s words seemed confirmation of my inner sense of things.
She explained also that she can’t write on a schedule, or “every day for four hours.” Her style is more along the lines of writing feverishly without stopping until her fingers are bloody stumps. At some point her characters go silent. She has to take a break and do other things, like walk, clean house, go on a reading binge. Her characters tell her when it’s time to get back to the keyboard. She cannot/will not even try to produce a novel a year. Her agent, editor and publisher know that is not her rhythm, and don’t push her. “Your work is worth waiting for. Do it your way.”
In memoir we don’t have characters quite the way fiction writers do. We have memories. Sometimes the memories grab me by the throat and drag me to my chair. Other times they tell me to go out and make more.
As she was delivering that message about the futility of classes for learning to write a novel (and by extension any larger project), she did say that classes are worth taking because you never know where you’ll find inspiration and it’s good to hang out with other writers. Writing is a lonely pursuit. I think she also said you can refine your wordcraft skills, like description, etc. Phew! That was welcome news since I teach stuff like that!
The best class, she claims, is the one you teach yourself, by reading voraciously with attention to structure and craft. It sinks in, almost by osmosis, and makes you a better writer.
Thank you Tawni!
April 30, 2010 at 10:31 am
Hi Sharon,
This makes sense from my own experience and in light of comments made in group Wednesday.
Thank you.
April 20, 2010 at 6:44 pm
I really enjoyed reading this post and hearing what Tawni had to say about not being held hostage by all those rules. I realize that writing is a business and there is much for a new writer like myself to learn but you have reinforced the notion that I must learn to trust myself as I tell my story, my way. Thanks for sharing this!
April 20, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Few of us are writing as a profession, and there is a bit of difference.
April 20, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Sharon, I am glad I am not alone with irregular habits, re. writing. Sometimes, I can be at the computer all day long till late at night, till I finish the story. That releases the pain I have been carrying over the years. Sometimes I need a break and my mind gets dormant like the trees and bushes. Reading a book until it is done is a punishment to my aged joints. I can’t help it.
April 20, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Mita,
Sounds like you are attuned to your inner voice and body both. Lucky you. I have trouble putting a book down if I start it in mid-day, but these days I tend to read before bed, and it can take a very long time to finish a book when my eyes refuse to stay open after ten pages.
April 20, 2010 at 8:20 am
You’ve written exactly what I need to hear today. Thank you, and please thank Tawni for me.
April 20, 2010 at 9:04 am
I almost didn’t go — that seemed a long way to drive. But it was exactly what I needed to hear too. It reinforced the importance of attuning to intuition or whatever it is.