Close to mania

[vaneramos]

Last night, on the way back from dropping my daughters off at home, I stopped in Toronto and had coffee with schillerium. He is the first new friend from LJ I have met. We are both shy, but we sat at Timothy's on Church Street and talked for two hours. He is a nice guy and we have much in common. In particular, we have the same career struggles: writers in search of work, wondering how to find the balance between pursuing our dreams and making a living.

In my own life I found a small part of the answer yesterday. Not a new answer, but one that needed revisiting.

From time to time I chip away at The Sierra Club Nature Writing Handbook by John A. Murray. Yesterday morning I read Chapter 3, "The writing process." He discusses how he wrote this book itself:

The entire book took roughly thirty-two days to write....I would write one chapter of 2,500 to 3,000 words each day, and revise it the next day, as well as gather thoughts for the next chapter on the production schedule. Each day I would work between four and ten hours on the writing, usually at night (from 7:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.) when there would be no disturbances.

On that kind of a schedule I have time to complete a book manuscript between now and the end of June, when I become a fulltime single parent for two months.

I am capable of writing that much in a day. I routinely complete essays for Suite101.com (500 to 1,000 words) in under an hour, but that doesn't include the preparatory research, and admittedly they are rarely as focused as I would like. But I would acquire focus from the overall vision for a book.

I don't need any new ideas. I have plenty of them buzzing around inside. The difficulty is in figuring out how to accomplish anything. Murray's book has shown me a framework. One that is extremely challenging, yes. Am I setting myself up for failure? All I can do is plunge in and learn from any mistakes.

This morning I have the enthusiasm. One idea that has been fermenting for a couple of years has risen to the surface over the past 24 hours and started to take shape. I got out of bed, had a shower and breakfast, sat down and wrote a chapter outline. Now I need to start sifting through notebooks and old essays to gather material.

For the past eight weeks, since my surgery, I have been feeling bored and unmotivated. But having Marian and Brenna here for the weekend hit my emotional reset button. I'm experiencing something I haven't felt in a long time. It's as close to mania as this timid, introspective guy ever gets.

I will ride with it. I need the drive. Something has to happen now.

Comments

[missprune.livejournal.com]

Ah, hypomania! Gotta love it. I wish I could stay balanced on that fine edge between peace and hypomania. Good luck to you and I'm delighted that you are buzzing with energy and creativity.

Go with the flow

[stealthpup.livejournal.com]

Flow is such an amazing experience. Take it. Use it. Ride it while it has you.

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

I love that kind of intensive writing schedule when the "flow" is on. It can also be very draining. Go with it when it's serving you well, be sure to allow yourself to step back when it becomes merely manic (as in, "I've revised this paragraph twenty times already but I just can't help myself, I need to tweak it another 40,000 times!") And best of luck. It's wonderful that you've had the "emotional reset".

writing

[zombietruckstop.livejournal.com]

I write for a living, so I know how you feel. My own writing issues can be summed up in the words of a friend of mine (I don't know if these are original, but I've only ever heard her say them, so...):

Writing takes two disciplines - discipline of the word, and discipline of the chair. Now, I have discipline of the word. I can construct sentences, scenes, etc. I'm also blessed with being able to write solid first drafts quickly.

What I didn't have until the last couple of years was "discipline of the chair". Meaning, no matter how many ideas I had racing around in my head, I couldn't get my ass in the chair to write them down. And when I would finally get through something, I could be two pages from the end and still not finish.

I solved this by making deals with myself. At first it was "You must at least sit in front of your computer without the internet running for 30 minutes, five days a week. You must have your document open. You can just stare at the screen, but you must be at your computer for the full 30 minutes." And that worked, because inevitably I would start work grudgingly, then three hours later I would be racing along, lost in writing.

Somehow my whole attitude changed about three years ago, and now I consider writing to be pure pleasure. There are some days when I can't wait to start working. I'm not sure why that happened, but I'm sure glad it did.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Fortunately I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to revision.

But what I tend to get hung up on is worrying about having all the information. I spent a few hours today sifting through old journal entries and doing research online. It was all very useful. I want to do more reading on certain topics.

But I need to limit the research time, plunge into the writing and trust that my inner voice will inform me. If I don't act quickly on the idea, it will start to feel stale.

Re: writing

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I have trouble getting my ass in the chair, too. I do love writing. Hell, writing is my source of sanity. I'm keep the creative flow going in my daily handwritten journal.

But as soon as I try to focus on a specific project, I get hung up on background work. I just need to plunge in.

Thanks for your recent comment re: the writing I do after my walks. I agree it is some of my strongest stuff. The current project will draw largely on that material. My relationship with the river will be an important theme.