Artistic Development Takes Time

I was in the car listening to an interview on NPR today when I heard words that rang in my head like a bell. I repeated them to myself until I was stopped at a light and could write them down, because I was afraid I would forget them.

“If you love what you do, what’s the hurry?”

Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, was talking about the dangers of being too successful too soon. He said his interest had always been focused on developing artists instead of producing hit songs.

Oh, how I needed to hear these words.

Here was someone who has been successful because he worked with people he believed in and was willing to let them grow slowly over time. He worried that too much success too soon would stunt their growth and trusted that, given enough time to do the work they loved, these people would produce a career’s worth of quality work, instead of one or two flash-in-the-pan hits.

Just last night, I told someone how I choked on my novel because I’d become obsessed with writing something that would sell instead of focusing on writing a story I loved. While I’ve found my way back to writing with joy, I am starting to look ahead to the end of this draft with trepidation. Once it’s done, I plan on pulling out all my novel drafts (I’m up to 6) and going through each one of them before deciding what I will work on next. With luck, I will rediscover my enthusiasm for an old project, have some new ideas about it, and be able to start on a second, better draft.

The trick for me will be not to let my desire to produce something publishable warp my writing into something that isn’t mine. Once I make my choice, I will have to remember that writing a novel is only part of developing as a writer and that both require patience, perseverance, and time.

Rilke likened the life of an artist to that of a ripening tree. It might be a while before my writing bears obvious fruit, but that doesn’t mean the other stages of growth aren’t important, even essential, to making that fruit the best possible. I just need to remember that growth happens over time.

I love what I do.

And there really is no need to hurry.

NaNoWriMo: Lessons Learned

Now that November is over, it’s time to see what I learned and decide what’s next. Even though it’s my fifth year writing a novel the NaNoWriMo way, I still learned some things about writing and the creative process that I didn’t know. In some cases, I was just reminded of some things I’d forgotten, but that’s a form of learning, too.

One of my goals for November was to remind myself that writing is fun. I learned that I have a choice — I can force myself to work on the things I “should” be writing or I can write about the stuff that I enjoy. Letting go of what I think I need to be writing and working on what I want to write makes a big difference. I don’t know if I can ever finish anything if I make it all about having fun. But I do know I look forward to writing when fun is one of my top priorities. The biggest benefit of all is that I actually write.

Even when I’m having fun with my writing, the creative process is hard. I moaned and groaned a lot last month about the uncomfortable journey into the unknown that a first draft requires. Looking back, I can see clearly that not knowing what is going to happen next really is a key part of my process. Accepting that and finding ways to live with it are essential to sticking with the creative life. Fortunately, I discovered an important tool for dealing with all those times when I didn’t know what comes next: writing.

It sounds bone-headed to say that the best thing I can do when I’m stuck with the story is write about it, but that happened repeatedly in November. When I was flummoxed, just thinking about things didn’t cut it. I always got my best ideas by making lists or writing about the characters and their needs. I did have one idea that seemed to blossom just from thinking about things, but I realize now that it was thinking about the ideas I had just listed that led me to the one I finally used. So writing to get writing really works.

Counting words works, too. Writing a novel is like rowing across an ocean. Once you’ve lost sight of the shore, it’s hard to tell if you are making any progress. Everything looks the same for weeks on end. My word count gives me a sense of forward motion that I can’t get from looking at the scenery. And having a daily word count goal kept me writing, even on the days when I didn’t feel like doing a thing.

Perseverance is a trait I need to cultivate if I want to get books written and finished. Long journeys are just a bunch of individual steps. Novels are just lots and lots and lots of words strung together. It’s easy to have some amazing ideas over the course of a few days. It’s hard to stick with the weeks, months, and years of work involved in turning those brief thoughts into a book. Not only does NaNoWriMo encourage me to sit down every day and shove my story a little farther down the road, but it reminds me that it is returning to my desk day by day that gets the job done.

Now that writing is fun again, I am eager to keep working on my novel. I know there will be tough times because that goes with the process. Fortunately, I have discovered some tools to help me keep paddling, because I am determined to reach the far shore. Thanks to my month of blogging about my novel, I am now more committed to blogging in general. One of my first goals for this month will be coming up with a plan for my blog. I’ll let you know what it is as soon as I decide.