I recently enjoyed being the guest of a book club. After a wonderful dinner and the subsequent talk I gave about my writing journey, my work with the Atlanta Writers Club, and my novels, it was time for Q&A. The first question came from the hostess: “With everything else you’re doing, how do you stay disciplined to write?”
Without missing a beat, I replied with full disclosure: “I don’t. I’m an undisciplined writer. I’d rather do anything than write. To avoid writing, I’ll even do housework.”
Laughs all around, but it’s true.
A novelist named Frank Norris at the start of the 20th century is credited with first penning the line, “Don’t like to write, but like having written.” That sentiment has always resonated with me. I’ve found the act of writing, the stringing of one word after another to provide information or to prompt emotion, both easy and difficult. Writing is easy for me when I’m providing facts, guidelines, and opinions about topics I know inside and out. It’s also enjoyable when I’m merely trying to entertain others.
Writing becomes difficult for me—and the desire to vacuum, dust, walk the dogs, etc. becomes irresistible—when I’m working on a novel. At any stage, mind you, from the initial plot and character development to the effort of deciding on each word needed to convey action, description, dialog, setting, voice, and more. Every word must be selected with care—and then edited brutally when I later realize I made incorrect choices. I can rewrite the same sentence five times. I’ve rewritten entire novels dozens of times and still wasn’t satisfied enough to ever let them loose in public. (You’re welcome.)
Yet, I’ve experienced the joy many writers are familiar with, rereading a sentence or paragraph I clearly wrote but can’t remember doing so, and thinking, “Damn, that’s good.” It makes me wonder whether I would be more pleased with my efforts if I could write while zoned out on sodium pentothal.
Another thing I dislike about my writing habits is my inability to let go of a manuscript without what I promise myself will be “just one more” round of edits. Twenty rounds later, I’m still rearranging words and playing with punctuation.
I try not to envy my author-friends, but some are absolute speed demons when it comes to producing high-quality prose in a short span. Ten thousand words in two days? No problem! I usually can’t write that many words in two months. But I’m busy, I reassure myself. I help other writers. I have other responsibilities. Dogs need to be walked. Meals need to be fixed. That funny trope on Facebook simply must be shared. And will you look at that carpet! I swear, it seems like I just vacuumed yesterday.
The rub is, I want to have new books to sell and talk about. I want to create new stories that entertain people while reaching their emotions.
What I need, I decided, is an accountability partner, someone with a goal of their own who’s also having problems staying disciplined. Fortunately, there are a bunch of writers with this issue, and when I started considering candidates, that partner was right there in front of me.
If you’re also struggling with this aspect of the writer’s life, you might try this approach, too. We’re each going to set date-specific milestones and progressively larger goals and check in with each other daily to applaud achievement and apply affirmative pressure when backsliding occurs. Because we have the same goal of becoming more prolific, we’ll be able to share tips and cautions with each other as well.
Will we succeed in becoming more disciplined, productive writers? Stay tuned! If you embark on an accountability-partnership journey of your own—or have experience with doing this—please let me know how it’s going!