And Now, A Rant.
I have seen some posts about what writers do and do not do around the blogosphere lately. In general, I thoroughly enjoy craft/habits posts, as I love seeing what other writers do, learning how they work, and, of course, stealing the good stuff. But a number of things I've seen, particularly on one LJ community which shall remain nameless, have implied, if not overtly stated, that if you don't have X habit, you are not a Real Writer. This aggravates me, but as I am more of a lurker over there, and don't like to be confrontational on-line (I get my fill in the day job), I decided to bitch about it here rather than jump in the fray. Lucky you!
So here's my scandal: My belief is in the old cliche that a writer writes. If you write things, you are a writer. The only prohibitive maxim I believe in is that you cannot be a writer if you do not write. And no, office memos don't count, unless you want to add the title "of Office Memos" to the end of the statement (incidentally, I firmly believe that life would be better if we still used a list of deeds at the end of our names. "Behold Thigrid, Son of Thom, Filer of Papers, Writer of Memos, and Wielder of the Mighty Stapler Exalibatch.") I'll add to that the fact that if you want to be a Published Writer, you have to submit and sell things for publication. In order to be a Successful Writer, you must do so in such a fashion that allows you to meet whatever goal you set for Success. And of course, there's the alluring status of Professional Writer; different organizations have their own definition of that, which are good guides, and you can decide for yourself whether you agree.
Beyond those simple base definitions, or non-definitions, I am highly skeptical of anyone who says you must do X to be a writer. Writers do things differently. Some people need to write every single day. Some can get away with not writing for half a year, then sitting down and hammering out a book in the last month or so before a deadline. I strongly advise that the average aspiring author avoid that latter habit, but if it works for you, good! And it does work for some. Some people set minimum word goals for a day. Some set them for a week, and could give a crap less if they miss a day. Some people write no matter how empty their heads are or how cramped their fingers, others spend weeks letting their next story form in their minds before touching finger to keyboard. Some create detailed outlines, some are pantsers. And all of these methods can work.
So here's my point: learning from the way others do things is good, and there are certainly some general tips that can be very helpful to the newbie. But there is not One Write (get it? sigh.) Way To Do Things. I'm still looking for My Right Way To Do Things, and I appreciate every bit of advice that I get. But I don't appreciate people saying "if you're not sitting down everyday to write, then you're not a writer" or "a writer enjoys writing, no matter what," because these just serve to convince people that they aren't good enough. Sitting down every day to write is a good habit. Enjoying your writing 100% of the time is a wonderful thing. But I take days off, and sometimes, I find writing to be like pulling teeth, and yet I still will consider myself to be a writer so long as words are flowing out of my body and pooling onto the page.
So there. Rant Accomplished.
So here's my scandal: My belief is in the old cliche that a writer writes. If you write things, you are a writer. The only prohibitive maxim I believe in is that you cannot be a writer if you do not write. And no, office memos don't count, unless you want to add the title "of Office Memos" to the end of the statement (incidentally, I firmly believe that life would be better if we still used a list of deeds at the end of our names. "Behold Thigrid, Son of Thom, Filer of Papers, Writer of Memos, and Wielder of the Mighty Stapler Exalibatch.") I'll add to that the fact that if you want to be a Published Writer, you have to submit and sell things for publication. In order to be a Successful Writer, you must do so in such a fashion that allows you to meet whatever goal you set for Success. And of course, there's the alluring status of Professional Writer; different organizations have their own definition of that, which are good guides, and you can decide for yourself whether you agree.
Beyond those simple base definitions, or non-definitions, I am highly skeptical of anyone who says you must do X to be a writer. Writers do things differently. Some people need to write every single day. Some can get away with not writing for half a year, then sitting down and hammering out a book in the last month or so before a deadline. I strongly advise that the average aspiring author avoid that latter habit, but if it works for you, good! And it does work for some. Some people set minimum word goals for a day. Some set them for a week, and could give a crap less if they miss a day. Some people write no matter how empty their heads are or how cramped their fingers, others spend weeks letting their next story form in their minds before touching finger to keyboard. Some create detailed outlines, some are pantsers. And all of these methods can work.
So here's my point: learning from the way others do things is good, and there are certainly some general tips that can be very helpful to the newbie. But there is not One Write (get it? sigh.) Way To Do Things. I'm still looking for My Right Way To Do Things, and I appreciate every bit of advice that I get. But I don't appreciate people saying "if you're not sitting down everyday to write, then you're not a writer" or "a writer enjoys writing, no matter what," because these just serve to convince people that they aren't good enough. Sitting down every day to write is a good habit. Enjoying your writing 100% of the time is a wonderful thing. But I take days off, and sometimes, I find writing to be like pulling teeth, and yet I still will consider myself to be a writer so long as words are flowing out of my body and pooling onto the page.
So there. Rant Accomplished.