Wednesday Writer’s Workshop
I got the idea for starting a Writers Workshop on MidLifeBloggers when a friend, Merlot Mom, wrote on her blog about finding her own way to write rather than bowing to conventional wisdom of how it must be done. I jumped in with both feet to the conversation, and afterwards I thought—whoa! You certainly have a lot to say on the subject. So I sat at the keyboard and made a list off the top of my head of all the Things I Know For Sure About Writing. I suppose I shouldn’t have been amazed at how passionate I felt about it, considering that I have this whole background as a writer and a writing teacher. So I began creating the program that became the MidLifeBloggers Writer’s Workshop. I knew from the start that the whole thing was an experiment and might not work as planned– which it didn’t. But I’m still passionate about teaching writing, so I’ve scaled back my plans and I’m presenting them to you now as the MidLifeBloggers Wednesday Writer’s Workshop. Every Wednesday, in this same space, I’ll post about writing. Let’s see how that goes….
Things I Know For Sure About Writing
The first on my list was the post on Process that I put up last week. The second on the list is this:
It doesn’t matter how or where you write, so long as you write. Start anywhere in your story. Begin anywhere the words come to you.
Where else is one to start but at the beginning of a post? Ummmm, in the middle? Or with that something that sparked the idea in the first place? I come from the Vomit It Out school of writing. Charming, yes I know, but really, just spew the ideas out any which way. I could continue my metaphor here (as is my wont, you know) and point out that you can always flush them later…or use them as compost for further writing. Instead, let me tell you why it’s crucial that you allow yourself to begin wherever you want to.
- Your words are not precious commodities that must be treated like rare pearls to be strung in a certain order. It’s the ideas that are the precious commodities, and they’re fleet of foot in getting away from you. Best, then, to get them down as and when you can.
- Sometimes starting at the beginning leads you right down a dead-end alley. You won’t know that until you hit the wall, and by then, it’s too late. If it’s the beginning that is driving you, by all means start with it. But if you’re chipping away at the beginning just so you can get to the good part, the real meat, which is in the middle—start there. Maybe the middle is your beginning and you just didn’t know it.
- It doesn’t really matter where you begin, because you’re going to be revising the whole thing after it’s finished. Right? Aren’t you? Of course you are.
- Sometimes the post we think we’re writing isn’t really the post we are meant to be writing. You have to be fluid, to allow yourself leeway to find that out. It’s called writing organically—which means writing from your truest self—and it’s antithetical to think it can happen if you’re imposing rules on yourself.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to get yourself writing organically:
- Are you a rule-follower?
- Do you generally believe there’s a right and a wrong way to do things?
- Where do your ideas about The Proper Order of Writing come from? Teachers? Other writers?
- Do you find yourself getting frustrated because you can’t seem to follow The Proper Order of Writing?
- Have you ever started in the middle, just to do it? What happened?
- Have you ever written the ending of a piece first? Why? How did that work for you?
- And–most important–do you have any wisdom or experience to add to this Workshop post?
All Top Stories 
As a journalist-turned-flack, I have found that, when stuck for a good lead, I just write the story, all the who-what-when-where stuff, and eventually the lead pops up. It always works. Just start writing, and the unconscious mind, when confronted with all the verbiage, will kick in and start organizing and even contributing. I’m on my first NaNoWriMo, and I’ve been repeatedly amazed at what comes out, what twists and turns of plot and character develop, as I keep writing. The novel is dreck at this point, of course, badly organized and flabby and full of inconsistencies, but I’m actually looking forward to rewriting it.
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Duchess reply on November 13th, 2009 10:13 pm:
Hey, Ms Meta,
I have been rather dropping in and out, so maybe you have been around more than I have realised, but I have missed your voice on MidLife Bloggers and on your own blog.
You are right (of course!). The point is to write. Maybe there are those who get it from the start, but most thoughtful people find their way through the process. When they have written everything they have to say, they begin to understand the point they meant to make. The real genius is not in writing; it is in editing — rereading and losing the rubbish.
I guess that is almost the opposite of blogging. Good journalists must develop the instinct to write – and then lose – awfully fast!
I admire you for “having a go” (as my British children are wont to say) at NaNoWriMo. I would like to boast that I had written the book on not writing, but, unfortunately, that is among the books I haven’t written.
When you are feeling extra brave give us a look at your novel flab. That’s what friends are for.
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byjane reply on November 14th, 2009 2:30 pm:
Hey, Duchess, talk about a person MIA (or should that be B for Blogdom?). Thanks for adding your wisdom and experience to this Workshop post. I so agree about the real genius of writing being in rereading and losing the rubbish. I don’t use the work “editing” because people tend to think of that as working on the fiddly bits of grammar or word choice. What we both mean, I think, is revision or as I so [cleverly] write it: Re-Vision.
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MsMeta: NaNoWriMo is the ultimate in getting one to write organically. There’s no way you can finish that thing without just spewing on the page. It really showed me how much I stood in my own way as a writer. Which, I suppose, is what I’m trying to share with this Workshop
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Loooove your blog and looooove the title even more (smile).
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byjane reply on November 14th, 2009 2:32 pm:
LaVender: looooove your name–is it French (as in The Seller?) or lavender blue dilly dilly?
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I’ll be here every Wednesday!!!! Thanks a million Jane.
xo
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Thank you, Joanna. You’ve been really faithful and I appreciate it.
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As a midlife mom, working full time I love to express myself but I was never very good at following any rules! Blogging works for me in that way- I rarely edit and I’m, slowly, finding my own voice. Thanks for all of your efforts Jane- even for slackers like me!
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byjane reply on November 15th, 2009 9:06 pm:
starrlife: Thanks for your comment, which has given me a new way of looking at why people blog. To be able to express yourself as and how you wish–that really is the way to find your own voice. I wonder if at some point you’ll start editing/revising…because you want to tighten something up or make something clearer.
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