There's no specific pattern you can follow that leads to the perfect piece. This is why writers always give “writing tips”--they're tips, because even after following their methods faithfully, the end result is unknown.
A friend and I have blogs, and she tells me she rewrites constantly for her audience. She wants to perfect her craft, because she fears her readers won't understand and lose interest. She rewrites and rewrites her words, changing, deleting, adding. She doesn't do what I do—put out “raw writing”. Not revising. Writing something within minutes and posting.
This friend is definitely more successful than I am; people are in love with her writing. Her words are powerful. Beautiful. I envy her patience, her imagery, her emotions. She envies my description, my understanding, my varying points of view.
We're always picking at our own writing, believing it's not good enough. I remember reading a piece that won me thirty dollars six months after I wrote it.
I wanted to burn it.
Some nights I wonder why I even bother putting pen to paper. I wonder why I don't just listen to my parents and become a doctor. And then I realize that this is really what I want to do—I want to write in order for people to understand each other, but also feel they've been saved.
I think ultimately, that's success. There are so many people who can pat you on the back and say “that's good”, “I like it”, et cetera. They only say that because they want you to do the same for them. I love hearing people tell me they can relate to characters I created. Sometimes, I feel like there's a "thank you" hiding in their words. These characters aren't just made up people anymore. They're pieces of ourselves, extensions of us we're willing to share with people we don't know.
And if they connect with you, then the pain of wondering why you write goes away.
Nice first post, Caroline!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how every writer has their own preferred writing process, or lack thereof, and everyone seems to be envious of someone else's abilities or unique talents. It's great that you have a talented friend with whom you can discuss writing and better your own creations.
You brought up two interesting points--writing can be extremely frustrating, but it can also be completely rewarding. "Success" in writing is so beautiful in that it isn't clearly defined. Doctors have clear-cut successes and failures. Writers experience the two as they interwine throughout the course of a day, or a lifetime. It sounds like if you stay on the route you're on, you will learn from others, inspire other writers and find more success as you become more experienced and comfortable with your own voice :)
-Jackie
I agree with Jackie--great first post to the blog! And, Caroline, if I've learned nothing else as a writer, it's that rereading even the "successful" pieces later in life can really make a writer cringe! I heard David Sedaris say once that he can't even read his first book because he hates it so much now, ten years later or so. You're not alone in that!
ReplyDeleteI also really like the idea you've put out there of saving readers through writing. I really believe that at the root of most writing is the ambition to understand and/or explain the world in some way. You're definitely onto something here. Great work!
- Jessica
Great post! It's always difficult to deal with the self-consciousness that comes with writing something to be read by other people, especially in the process of writing a draft. Not writing anything isn't exactly a good answer to that obviously.
ReplyDeleteWe're always our own harshest critics, so sometimes you just have to tough through any insecurities you have while writing in order to edit and finally finish a piece that usually turns out a lot better than you imagined it being.
-Tom