A quote from the inimitable Madeleine L'Engle:
"I know writers who write only when inspiration comes. How would Isaac Stern play if he played the violin only when he felt like it? He would be lousy."
I've often wailed over all the *practice* novels I've written and why it took so many of them before I got published. Why do I have to practice more than other people? Why aren't I more talented? Why does this feel harder for me than other writers?
Whine, whine, whine. Oh, woe is me.
Maybe I just have more to learn.
Maybe I spent too much time in my early years of writing waiting for inspiration. Or the dishes to get done. Or a clean house so I could concentrate. Or the errand list was finished. Or waiting for the babies to take a nap. (Which mine rarely did, even as infants. They were born wide-awake and stayed that way!)
Or. Or. Or.
Maybe I really did not practice enough.
"I know writers who write only when inspiration comes. How would Isaac Stern play if he played the violin only when he felt like it? He would be lousy."
I've often wailed over all the *practice* novels I've written and why it took so many of them before I got published. Why do I have to practice more than other people? Why aren't I more talented? Why does this feel harder for me than other writers?
Whine, whine, whine. Oh, woe is me.
Maybe I just have more to learn.
Maybe I spent too much time in my early years of writing waiting for inspiration. Or the dishes to get done. Or a clean house so I could concentrate. Or the errand list was finished. Or waiting for the babies to take a nap. (Which mine rarely did, even as infants. They were born wide-awake and stayed that way!)
Or. Or. Or.
Maybe I really did not practice enough.
3 comments:
Kimberley I think that writers work at different paces, and that each work has its own time-line. You can't hurry it up. All you can do is show up regularly to keep chipping away. I think a lot of us have those practice novels tucked away.
Uma, I love that "show up regularly and keep chipping away." Wow, I have SO been there the last few years with several different novel projects. With each revision, I learn something new. I have to remember that. I am learning, I am growing, I am getting better. I AM practicing. It just took me longer to learn that than I would have liked. ;-)
Thanks for the post!
By profession I'm an accountant. So, I spend my days, Monday through Friday at least, being very analytical and non-creative. Creative accounting is what got Enron into trouble...
Anyway, I find it a challenge to come home from work and flip the switch to my creative side. Do you have any tips for that? At the moment, I write on my blog; I'm hoping that can get the juices flowing, but my blog is my Book of Mormon commentary, as well as discussions on other doctrinal concepts. I find it to be rather analytical as well.
Like any aspiring writer, I have a novel in the works. However, when I try to write after work, it really feels like I'm forcing my writing, and therefore not very compelling writing, if you ask me.
Any thoughts or ideas?
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