Creativity is Messy
A few weeks ago I was able to present a group of authors with a sweeping overview of what editors wish writers knew about the writing process. When we understand these things we grow in confidence and can save a lot of money preparing our manuscripts to be ready for the world.
In this series, I'm going to present things editors learn so they can be the ones getting paid to polish words!
Pulling ideas out of your head
The first part of writing is to get the words on the page. In many ways, a rough draft is more like a painter's palette than the finished painting. You can feel the colors and values the completed work will have, but the effect is far more chaotic.
Long ago my piano teacher spent time preparing me for an upcoming recital. We had worked for months to develop my ability to present a piece of music that would be accurately performed for the delight of my audience. But then she told me something that has helped me in every endeavor since then:
There is no such thing as a perfect live performance.
To record a "perfect" CD, a world-famous pianist will spend hours recording take after take. It can require something like 25 attempts for even a master to get through a tricky passage and have every note both technically perfect and musically intoned.
So, my job is to do my best, but let the inevitable imperfections go. Otherwise, I ruin the moment and will become paralyzed by my impossible expectation.
For a performer or speaker, this is the best they can hope for. But as writers we have a major advantage. This first 'performance' is only the beginning of our process!
At the same time, I can bring this awareness of the messiness of creativity to my blank page. If I try to write with perfect spelling, grammar, or even clarity from the first keystroke, I'm going to hamstring my creative process. My first responsibility is to simply get the story out of my head so I have something to work with.
It's far easier to shape something that is there than to invent something new. That inventiveness is a precious gift, even when it mangles the English language in the process.
I've heard of writers who turn off the grammar and spell checkers in Word to keep from being distracted as their page fills up with green and red squiggles. Whether you do this or not, it's a good idea to teach yourself to ignore them until you've gotten the thought down on the page.
Writing takes time
This same performance mindset helps explain why having a block of uninterrupted time is what so many of us need to produce our best work. Later on it will be a good thing to detach from my words so I can spot problems, but at the beginning I need to be deep in the world of my ideas or imagination so I can develop a whole thought or story without it breaking into fragments.
While I often have no choice but to write while my surroundings are busy, it is probably going to take me a lot longer than it would have if I'd been able to find someplace to be uninterrupted.
As a busy mom with two kids sitting next to me right this minute, I've had to develop ways to quickly get back into my thought flow. What I learned that works for me is to move back a paragraph or two, not exactly watching for mistakes—although fixing the worst seems to help me get back into my words—but getting back into the mindset I was pulled out of.
Usually, this only takes me a minute or two if I was able to hold a part of my mind in readiness or it was clear where I was heading when my fingers stopped. But whether it happens smoothly or only with difficulty I don't worry about it.
Life happens. Art is messy. But if I don't write, something God gave me to share would get lost. You have something only you can give the world. And we'll look at how to clean up the mess and finish the painting next time!