September. School starts and life switches gear again. One of my daughters used to start getting antsy in the middle of summer when she was little, and by August she was writing out schedules for the school year - when she’d get up in the morning, when she’d do her homework, when she’d practice the piano, etc. She longed for school to begin and to get back to discipline.
As writers, we need schedules and discipline too. But unless you’re taking a writing class, you need to create your own sense of going back to school or to work. You might write a passionate poem or short story flying on the adrenaline of inspiration, but very little ever gets written that way. Or rewritten. (And the bottom line is that writing is really rewriting.)
So, you show up at your desk, or the kitchen table, or a secluded table at a coffee shop, and you write your way into whatever you need to put on the page. You show up every day to write, and you thank heaven that you can sit there and write and not have to lay bricks or clean toilets or be subjected to a tyrant of a boss or drive a truck through miles of smog – at least not for the time that you get to sit there and write. As Brenda Ueland says in her wonderful book, If You Want to Write, “Know that it is good to work. Work with love and think of liking it when you do it. It is easy and interesting. It is a privilege. There is nothing hard about it but your anxious vanity and fear of failure.” I agree with all of that except for the part about it being easy. But it is a privilege to write and I try to remember that.
And speaking of writing in coffee shops – according to various newspapers, J.K. Rowling has been spotted writing in cafes in Scotland. Here’s a woman who has made a billion dollars, and she’s still showing up to do the work.
That’s all you have to do too. Show up and write.
I was just like your daughter - couldn't wait to get back to the routine of school! Now, it's a little harder to juggle all the balls I must keep in the air, and still find time to write.
Thanks for the reminder that it's all about "showing up to the page"!
Posted by: Becca | September 06, 2007 at 05:15 AM
Becca - Ah, the juggling. I know!
Posted by: Barbara | September 06, 2007 at 04:49 PM
I liked school for about a week after summer vacation, and then I was back to hating it.
On coffee shops, well, we'd all like to be JK Rowings (or at least as successful), but I'm looking for myself a quiet place to sit (coffee shops must not be like the old days since the advent of loud music technology). Not that I don't like hanging out in coffee shops people watching, being "seen" as a writer, listening to music and of course drinking coffee. But its more like play to me than work. I like it, but I like completing a story better. Sorry for the long comment. Love your site.
Posted by: storyblogger | September 07, 2007 at 09:20 AM
Storyblogger - I agree about school. I never liked it after the first few days either. You gave me an idea for a post: Where's Your Place to Write? Thanks -
Posted by: Barbara | September 07, 2007 at 10:21 AM
I totally want to do Diana's dream MFA progarm too! How much fun would that be?Great interview, great writer. Thanks. I'm looking forward to her new books.
Posted by: Chuy | May 17, 2012 at 03:59 AM