Robb Lightfoot
Not always well. Most of my block comes from just letting life get me too busy to write. I have bills to pay, and I'm not yet where writing does that. When I do break through, it's usually a matter of sitting down and doing what Anne Lammott says: Allow yourself to write shitty first drafts. In fact, it's not a matter of letting it happen. For me, it's usually the ONLY way it can happen. Once I have something on paper, then it can me massaged. My friends tell me that I write fast (but not always well) some of this comes from being hyperactive and some of it comes from being a former newspaper reporter and learning to turn SOMETHING in on deadline.
As to being hyperactive. I have not been diagnosed, but I have all the symptoms of family members who have. I drink gallons of coffee because it calms me, and I find it hard to site down for more that short stretches. Professionally, I am a speech teacher, and I find that after 10 minutes of listening to a speech I want to--and do--bounce up to the front of the room to have a brief discussion with the class about what they just heard.
This restlessness goes as far back as I can remember. I had my own special desk in the principal's office, and went there almost every day because I was talking in class. Learning to write allowed me to channel some of this in a way that I quit talking so much, but it makes for tons of journals. These are not really suitable for publication. But they do make me think about things that CAN be helpful. I used the Julia Cameron method of journal writing for a number of years--even studied under her for a weekend at Esalen. But I find that journal writing can get in the way of my regular writing.
When I'm writing fiction with an intent to publish, I have to be in character, and this character must be walking around in a space I know or am learning about. Just writing about how much I hate my wife's minivan isn't going to get me into my story world. I have to have a problem that I'm working out. The classic elements of comedy can all be brought to bear, but it must start with "something goes wrong."
So, my advice is pick a problem, inflict it one someone, and start writing. I think this is true even for non-fiction.
As to being hyperactive. I have not been diagnosed, but I have all the symptoms of family members who have. I drink gallons of coffee because it calms me, and I find it hard to site down for more that short stretches. Professionally, I am a speech teacher, and I find that after 10 minutes of listening to a speech I want to--and do--bounce up to the front of the room to have a brief discussion with the class about what they just heard.
This restlessness goes as far back as I can remember. I had my own special desk in the principal's office, and went there almost every day because I was talking in class. Learning to write allowed me to channel some of this in a way that I quit talking so much, but it makes for tons of journals. These are not really suitable for publication. But they do make me think about things that CAN be helpful. I used the Julia Cameron method of journal writing for a number of years--even studied under her for a weekend at Esalen. But I find that journal writing can get in the way of my regular writing.
When I'm writing fiction with an intent to publish, I have to be in character, and this character must be walking around in a space I know or am learning about. Just writing about how much I hate my wife's minivan isn't going to get me into my story world. I have to have a problem that I'm working out. The classic elements of comedy can all be brought to bear, but it must start with "something goes wrong."
So, my advice is pick a problem, inflict it one someone, and start writing. I think this is true even for non-fiction.
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more