Writing Advice: Showing Up To The Page Is Not Enough

One common piece of writing advice is to first show up to the page. Sit down and write. But if you’re anything like me, that’s not enough.

I always feel as though when I put pen to paper wonderful words will flow. I’m always disappointed when they don’t.

Showing up to write is not always enough.

Don’t get me wrong: showing up to the page is an integral step. A galaxy of ideas never becomes more than stardust if you don’t put your butt in the chair and write.

Ideas – good ideas – are hard work. Or they are for me, and if they aren’t for you, don’t tell me. I’d only be jealous.

And I don’t mean that I struggle to find ideas. Dear lord, I have more ideas than I’ll ever be able to write, and more keep smacking me up the side of the head. (My ideas can be violent. Perhaps that’s a reflection on me…)

At that point, I have a kernel of a story. A possibility. Not all of them have a spark. Some will grow to have one, some will lose it, and some will never have it. That spark is what makes me excited and passionate about an idea.

Yet when I find an idea that’s sparking all over the place, that’s not enough, either. Not to keep me in it for the long haul, anyway. Since I tend to write novels, I have a lot of long hauls.

For that, I need a concept. Plot. I need a direction or the whole thing gets stuck.

Maybe if I were a hardcore pantser, that wouldn’t be an issue, but I’m not a plotter, either. Trying to craft a full outline of a story kills the spark every time.

I have definitely reached the point in revision where I start climbing the walls for a different project. Not a major one – nothing to distract me too much from the revision – but I have a desperate need to simply sit and put pen to paper.

So I think I’ll take my cue from Elisa and track down some prompts. You never know where those will end up, but the journey tends to be worthwhile.

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