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Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Faith as a Writer

 


Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of the amazing and generous Alex Cavanaugh. Thank you to the June co-hosts: SE White, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguire, Joylene Nowell Butler, and Jacqui Murray!


June’s optional question: When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to the end? If you have not started the writing yet, why do you think that is and what do you think could help you find your groove and start?

The title of my very first blog post was “I Can Do This.” All these years later that theme continues to resonate through my writing life. Joyce Carol Oates wrote a book called Faith of a Writer. In truth, it’s not my favorite book on craft, but the title has always resonated with me. Faith in my writing allows me to slog through many a story-struggle because once I get something down, I know the result can be edited. So many initial and fairly awful attempts end up deleted or changed beyond recognition, but as long as there is something to work with, I know forward progress is possible. Case in point, my current novel was inspired by a small glass bottle we dug up from our backyard. That bottle has long disappeared from the story, but a draft novel resulted from that initial passage.

Sometimes, when the effort feels notably painful, rather than decide I can’t write, I give myself permission to think. Recently my writing group suggested one of my characters wasn’t giving my story complexity. I agreed but didn’t know how to give it to her. I spent many middle-of-the-night-I-can’t-sleep-hours pondering her—letting her drift around my mind until she obliged me by fleshing herself out. Once I make the changes those think-sessions suggested, she’ll be less wallpaper paste and become more of the pattern itself.

And finally, on pieces like this blog post when often I have no idea what I want to say, I start by writing stream of conscious. Most of that ends up as a pile of discarded word glop—which happened to the entire paragraph with which I initially started today’s post. But once I get something down, a nugget appears that informs me of the direction in which I need to go, and I follow its lead. The fun part is more often than not, I end up in a totally different place than where I thought I would land.

It’s a little like sculpting. I chisel away, cutting, pasting and editing, knowing the right words will emerge as long as I trust they are there.


How do you keep writing when the going gets tough?

12 comments:

Jan Morrison said...

Faith of a writer! I like that and you express what it means and feels like beautifully. And that faith is internal - faith in our strength and commitment to the art and craft. Thank you for this.

Melissa said...

I've always marveled at authors who can free-write and then delete large blocks of their writing. I'm too much of a plotter (aka sentimental wimp) for that. Maybe it's because I work full-time in addition to my writing biz. The thought of drafting only to chop whole chapters out makes me cringe and want to cry.

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

I don't free write a much during the writing as I do before. I ask myself questions about the story, the characters, etc then scribble lots of answers, draw arrows all over the place. It's a mess but it helps. :)

Nick Wilford said...

I think having faith is about having confidence - in your own storytelling abilities as much as the writing itself. A finished book is in there somewhere. It's important to keep that in mind when you feel like you're floundering and just throwing words on a screen.

Diane Burton said...

You wrote: I give myself permission to think. I like that. Having faith in oneself sounds like what I need.

cleemckenzie said...

I think I'm going to steal your term, "word glop" and use it for those times my writing sucks!

Sherry Ellis said...

I think a stream of consciousness is a good way to go just to get some ideas out.

Joanne said...

well, I'm still waiting to get on with some writing - ha. Guess my faith isn't great. But I really liked your last sentence in this post. The idea of sculpting, chiseling, etc. Great nugget!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I have also spent some sleepless hours pondering a solution to a story or character. Good advice about the nugget appearing.

Fundy Blue said...

Wise words, Liza. Thanks you for sharing your writing experiences. I do have the faith of a writer. I just never thought of it in those terms before. I often begin by writing to discover what I want to write, and I often end up in a different place than when I started out. Chopping, revising, editing, no problem. You relate it to sculpting. I think about extracting a fossil from a matrix. Have a creative month!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Liza - I usually move on to other things - even something away from writing ... and getting out and about for a breath of fresh air ... good luck - but keep on writing ... cheers Hilary

Deniz Bevan said...

You're so right -- we need to keep believing in our characters and stories, to polish them before they go out in the world!