Writing: It’s More Than Typing

Many years ago, I used to imagine what it would be like to be a writer. A writer would sit in his or her study, gazing out at trees or a nice lake, drink some tea, and then start to type. “Chapter One.” A couple of weeks and many gallons of tea later, he or she would type “The End” and send the manuscript off to the publisher, and then sit looking out at the trees or the lake, full of accomplishment and caffeine.

I wasn’t completely wrong.

I’m typing this looking out at the trees, and there’s a lake down there somewhere (I live at the top of the hill) and there’s definitely tea in my future and probably cookies (I should have fantasized cookies) but everything else was wrong. For one thing, I’ve written over twenty books, and I’ve never typed “The End.” That’s probably because I never let go of a book, I’m still editing on the galleys, but still, who types “The End”? Isn’t the fact that there are no more words enough of a clue? No? Okay, fine, type “The End.”

So I’ve made some discoveries about writing in the twenty-three years I’ve been doing it. One is that a lot of writing isn’t writing. It’s staring into space a LOT. It’s doodling on a pad of graph paper or in Curio to see where everything goes. It’s pasting pictures together. Mostly, most importantly, it’s listening to the voices in my head once all that other stuff I’ve just mentioned makes them come alive. After that, it’s just transcription and revision. The key is knowing when to stop staring into space and start typing. You need to learn when the “not yet, not yet” in your head is because the story isn’t quite there yet (give it time), and when it’s just fear shutting you down (you’ve given it enough time). Getting to the stage where you’re not just planning the story, you’re dreaming about it night and day, when everything you see and hear sticks to the story and gets sucked into it (sticky time), when the story world is more real and more compelling than the real world, that first part is crucial.

But after that, you have to type. (Or write long hand, we don’t judge.) Welcome to National Typing That Story Month. How’s your NaNo starting?

Edited to Add:

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