“Writing is not a linear process. It’s all work. This is work.”
January 30, 2015 3:20 PM Subscribe
Very much a coffeshop writer. I think about writing constantly, but all the actual typing gets done in 3-4 hour sessions away from home on one or (if I am lucky) two of the weekend days.
I basically can't write at home anymore. Even on the rare occasions that I'm home, reasonably awake and there's nothing that needs doing (kids related or otherwise) I've trained myself out of it.
All in all it means I am fully occupied writing a lot less than pre-kids but I get much more done in that time.
Oh, and writers block just sounds like nonsense.
posted by Artw at 4:00 PM on January 30, 2015
I basically can't write at home anymore. Even on the rare occasions that I'm home, reasonably awake and there's nothing that needs doing (kids related or otherwise) I've trained myself out of it.
All in all it means I am fully occupied writing a lot less than pre-kids but I get much more done in that time.
Oh, and writers block just sounds like nonsense.
posted by Artw at 4:00 PM on January 30, 2015
Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 on a coin-operated typewriter in the basement of the UCLA library. I believe his was a similar home situation: loved his kids, couldn't work around them.
posted by Iridic at 5:27 PM on January 30, 2015
posted by Iridic at 5:27 PM on January 30, 2015
Iridic: "coin-operated typewriter "
This exists? I need something like that, only one where I have to pay to not write. I think it'd be great motivation.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:38 PM on January 30, 2015
This exists? I need something like that, only one where I have to pay to not write. I think it'd be great motivation.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:38 PM on January 30, 2015
I'm a pub writer - always write so much better in the pub. Probably helps my subject matter is beer/cider/wine/booze.
posted by drewbage1847 at 5:38 PM on January 30, 2015
posted by drewbage1847 at 5:38 PM on January 30, 2015
This exists? I need something like that, only one where I have to pay to not write. I think it'd be great motivation
There's Write or Die, which starts deleting your work if you stop for too long.
posted by Artw at 5:43 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
There's Write or Die, which starts deleting your work if you stop for too long.
posted by Artw at 5:43 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Artw: " There's Write or Die, which starts deleting your work if you stop for too long."
OH GOD
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:45 PM on January 30, 2015 [7 favorites]
OH GOD
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:45 PM on January 30, 2015 [7 favorites]
There's Write or Die, which starts deleting your work if you stop for too long.
Egads. Now I need a tums.
posted by slipthought at 6:21 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Egads. Now I need a tums.
posted by slipthought at 6:21 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
I am writing a book. It's not fiction, but apart from the gauzy illusion of one being more creative than the other, it's the same thing. I don't even have a kid, but over the year I've been hacking away at this, I've definitey found it true that home is a really, really hard place to write. It's easy to blame it on the distractions of other people, but that's not really it, even though it's part of it. It's more the fact that your daily life is surrounding you, suggesting many things you really should be doing. Laundry. Bill paying. Organizing that record library. Cleaning under the cabinet where the trash can is. Feeding the cats. Bringing the porch furniture in for the winter. Walking downtown to pick up dry cleaning. Blah blah blah. There is your life, always insisting that it is importnat.
For this reason I managed, through the kindness of friends, to set up some "escape" weekends where I stayed in their houses while they were away or in their guest rooms when they were too busy to spend time with me. It worked really, really well. 8 hours in a place that is not your own home is worth any week in a place that is, productivity-wise.
That doesn't solve the other relationship and friendship issues, especially when you're on deadline. The whole "I can't go out, we can't go to a move, we can't go do something fun today, we can't visit our friends because I have to write" seems noble but after a few months feels really old hat and like a hard sell. It is lousy to be the person whose whole outside-of-work time is one long, quiet, dull tunnel of writing that other people simply are not in with you. Even if they are rooting for you and understand its importance, that doesn't make it easier on them when they say sweetly "want to go for a walk?" and you say "NO MUST WRITE, ALWAYS WRITE." It is a little rough on relationships. "A process built for one" is right.
posted by Miko at 7:08 PM on January 30, 2015 [6 favorites]
For this reason I managed, through the kindness of friends, to set up some "escape" weekends where I stayed in their houses while they were away or in their guest rooms when they were too busy to spend time with me. It worked really, really well. 8 hours in a place that is not your own home is worth any week in a place that is, productivity-wise.
That doesn't solve the other relationship and friendship issues, especially when you're on deadline. The whole "I can't go out, we can't go to a move, we can't go do something fun today, we can't visit our friends because I have to write" seems noble but after a few months feels really old hat and like a hard sell. It is lousy to be the person whose whole outside-of-work time is one long, quiet, dull tunnel of writing that other people simply are not in with you. Even if they are rooting for you and understand its importance, that doesn't make it easier on them when they say sweetly "want to go for a walk?" and you say "NO MUST WRITE, ALWAYS WRITE." It is a little rough on relationships. "A process built for one" is right.
posted by Miko at 7:08 PM on January 30, 2015 [6 favorites]
When I have something to write suddently home repair and cleanup become matters of life or death import.
I got so much more done when I had a writing partner and we met a few hours everyday to hack it out in a very boring apartment.
posted by The Whelk at 7:22 PM on January 30, 2015 [3 favorites]
I got so much more done when I had a writing partner and we met a few hours everyday to hack it out in a very boring apartment.
posted by The Whelk at 7:22 PM on January 30, 2015 [3 favorites]
"The hardest thing about being a writer is convincing your wife that lying on the sofa is work."
– John Hughes
I never achieved it.
posted by bryon at 10:32 PM on January 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
– John Hughes
I never achieved it.
posted by bryon at 10:32 PM on January 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
> Oh, and writers block just sounds like nonsense.
Just as depression and chronic fatigue syndrome sound like nonsense to people who don't suffer from them. You might want to talk to Joseph Mitchell about it.
posted by languagehat at 7:47 AM on January 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
Just as depression and chronic fatigue syndrome sound like nonsense to people who don't suffer from them. You might want to talk to Joseph Mitchell about it.
posted by languagehat at 7:47 AM on January 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
I don't think there are any "linear processes" left. The guys who paint the yellow divider in the roads? They don't even do that as a linear process, any more.
posted by thelonius at 8:00 AM on January 31, 2015
posted by thelonius at 8:00 AM on January 31, 2015
A recipe is a linear process, which is why I usually use really long recipes to re-focus when I'm feeling foggy/down.
posted by The Whelk at 9:25 AM on January 31, 2015
posted by The Whelk at 9:25 AM on January 31, 2015
I am technically a writer - well, I am an academic, but being an academic is basically being a writer who has to teach at regular intervals, too.
I think he gets at the heart of it when he says: "From the outside, from where my wife is sitting, it looks like selfish insanity: We’re chatting. I’m playing with the baby. I HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW THIS VERY SECOND I HAVE A GREAT IDEA. It is a process built for one."
Which is why I, and so many other academics I know, are unmarried. It is a process built for one, and there is no space for someone else -- or two other people or god forbid a BABY -- to gum things up. I have to write when I HAVE TO WRITE. Sleep be damned, friends be damned, boyfriend and cat be damned - when it's time to write, it's time to write. I have sustained friendships only with those who understand that I am ultimately very, very selfish about my time. Sure, if they call me, I will be there for them - once. Twice, maybe. But anyone who makes demands on my time that are not on my schedule is no longer in my life. It's not a great way to live, I'll be honest. On the other hand, I know no one who is needy, and that is pretty great. For me.
I am reminded of the recent thread on work-life balance in the academy. Some types of work are your life. Writing is one of those things for most of us who write.
posted by sockermom at 9:57 AM on January 31, 2015 [5 favorites]
I think he gets at the heart of it when he says: "From the outside, from where my wife is sitting, it looks like selfish insanity: We’re chatting. I’m playing with the baby. I HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW THIS VERY SECOND I HAVE A GREAT IDEA. It is a process built for one."
Which is why I, and so many other academics I know, are unmarried. It is a process built for one, and there is no space for someone else -- or two other people or god forbid a BABY -- to gum things up. I have to write when I HAVE TO WRITE. Sleep be damned, friends be damned, boyfriend and cat be damned - when it's time to write, it's time to write. I have sustained friendships only with those who understand that I am ultimately very, very selfish about my time. Sure, if they call me, I will be there for them - once. Twice, maybe. But anyone who makes demands on my time that are not on my schedule is no longer in my life. It's not a great way to live, I'll be honest. On the other hand, I know no one who is needy, and that is pretty great. For me.
I am reminded of the recent thread on work-life balance in the academy. Some types of work are your life. Writing is one of those things for most of us who write.
posted by sockermom at 9:57 AM on January 31, 2015 [5 favorites]
Just as depression and chronic fatigue syndrome sound like nonsense to people who don't suffer from them. You might want to talk to Joseph Mitchell about it.
But both of those conditions affect every population that has to work. Writers seem to be alone in having special terms for their failure to get to the launch pad. Could be a sign that writing for those thus afflicted is more suited as a hobby than a job. To be flatfooted about it, consider Bernard Cornwell's take on it. He says "Do nurses say 'I can't come because I have nurse's block'?"
posted by IndigoJones at 11:21 AM on January 31, 2015
But both of those conditions affect every population that has to work. Writers seem to be alone in having special terms for their failure to get to the launch pad. Could be a sign that writing for those thus afflicted is more suited as a hobby than a job. To be flatfooted about it, consider Bernard Cornwell's take on it. He says "Do nurses say 'I can't come because I have nurse's block'?"
posted by IndigoJones at 11:21 AM on January 31, 2015
I stay at home all day with my 3 kids and have just finished my second book. I hire a woman to watch my kids 3 hours a day, 3 days a week, and for those nine hours I WRITE. If my computer breaks, I write on a napkin. If I get the stomach flu, I sit next to the trash can while I write. The other however many hours of the week, I memorize. I think about the book in detail while I am changing a diaper, or peeling carrots, or playing blocks with the kids. I figure out exactly what I want to say, exactly how the scene will read, and then I think about it until I remember it completely. Then, the minute the caregiver comes, I sit down and blah it all out. Sometimes the caregiver can't come, and then the only time I have to write is if the kids all nap at the same time. However, you never know how long they'll all sleep. Sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes 90. When one of them wakes up, game over. Maybe you'll get to write again today, but probably not. Writing like this is like waiting to smacked in the head by someone you didn't know was in your kitchen. Oop gotta go. Baby's awake.
posted by staggering termagant at 11:58 AM on January 31, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by staggering termagant at 11:58 AM on January 31, 2015 [3 favorites]
> Writers seem to be alone in having special terms for their failure to get to the launch pad. Could be a sign that writing for those thus afflicted is more suited as a hobby than a job.
If you're comfortable cavalierly dismissing the lived experience of people made miserable for years by it, and if you think Mitchell was a hobbyist, well, you're entitled to your opinion and I don't feel like discussing it.
posted by languagehat at 2:17 PM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you're comfortable cavalierly dismissing the lived experience of people made miserable for years by it, and if you think Mitchell was a hobbyist, well, you're entitled to your opinion and I don't feel like discussing it.
posted by languagehat at 2:17 PM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
He says "Do nurses say 'I can't come because I have nurse's block'?"
No, but they do say they can't come because they have work-related muscle strains and repetitive stress injuries,high rates of depression, are the targets of workplace violence, and suffer high levels of work stress from the pressure to excel continuously and be on top of everything all the time even when overloaded. Those stressors can cause poor diet, sleep disruption, unstable/sad/angry moods, problems relating with people outside of work, and contribute to maladaptive behaviors like smoking and excessive drinking. Nurses' "job stress is believed to account for approximately 50% of all workplace absences and for as much as 40% of employee turnover." Also, "The average suicide rate for nurses is 0.11 deaths per 1,000. While this may not seem significant, consider that this is higher than the national average of 0.07. Overall, a female nurse is four times more likely to commit suicide than other women." I don't know if you you know any nurses personally, but I suspect not, because if you did you might not be so eager to hold them up as examples of an ideal working life.
All work involves stress and different forms of work come with different rhythms, tolerances, and stresses. Variances in those rhythms doesn't make work turn into not-work.
I don't meant this to be negative about nurses; I am related to several and have several to thank for kindnesses and lifesaving treatment for my family. But their jobs are hard and they do not always love them wholeheartedly and benefit from them spiritually and serve dutifully in a perfection of spirit. That was nuns, and notice even they've mostly gotten out of the business.
posted by Miko at 3:51 PM on January 31, 2015 [3 favorites]
No, but they do say they can't come because they have work-related muscle strains and repetitive stress injuries,high rates of depression, are the targets of workplace violence, and suffer high levels of work stress from the pressure to excel continuously and be on top of everything all the time even when overloaded. Those stressors can cause poor diet, sleep disruption, unstable/sad/angry moods, problems relating with people outside of work, and contribute to maladaptive behaviors like smoking and excessive drinking. Nurses' "job stress is believed to account for approximately 50% of all workplace absences and for as much as 40% of employee turnover." Also, "The average suicide rate for nurses is 0.11 deaths per 1,000. While this may not seem significant, consider that this is higher than the national average of 0.07. Overall, a female nurse is four times more likely to commit suicide than other women." I don't know if you you know any nurses personally, but I suspect not, because if you did you might not be so eager to hold them up as examples of an ideal working life.
All work involves stress and different forms of work come with different rhythms, tolerances, and stresses. Variances in those rhythms doesn't make work turn into not-work.
I don't meant this to be negative about nurses; I am related to several and have several to thank for kindnesses and lifesaving treatment for my family. But their jobs are hard and they do not always love them wholeheartedly and benefit from them spiritually and serve dutifully in a perfection of spirit. That was nuns, and notice even they've mostly gotten out of the business.
posted by Miko at 3:51 PM on January 31, 2015 [3 favorites]
OK, first to the tangent. I shattered my ankle last March. Damn, I got just a shitload of kindly nurse attention in the three and a half days I was in the hospital. On leaving I asked a nurse what was going on. She confessed that they all liked me because I was always cheerful (yay, pain meds) and not a pain in the ass.
I work from home. My most productive writing time is when my wife is totally involved either on her computer, napping, or watching two star horror movies on Netflix. I burn a stick of yellow or red Nag Champa, crank up the tunes, and if I can block out the Internet (!) I can find that hyper-focus that stacks up words like cord wood. YMMV.
posted by Ber at 4:27 PM on January 31, 2015
I work from home. My most productive writing time is when my wife is totally involved either on her computer, napping, or watching two star horror movies on Netflix. I burn a stick of yellow or red Nag Champa, crank up the tunes, and if I can block out the Internet (!) I can find that hyper-focus that stacks up words like cord wood. YMMV.
posted by Ber at 4:27 PM on January 31, 2015
I get up at 5 of 5:30 am, write until 7, then wake the kids up, feed them breakfast, get them on the school bus, go to work (e.g. my normal work day). It's probably aging me prematurely but this book idea for me is almost like seeing one of my kids playing in traffic. I really have no choice, I have to run after it.
posted by newdaddy at 6:09 PM on January 31, 2015
posted by newdaddy at 6:09 PM on January 31, 2015
I'm on deadline and overdue and it's miserable. I work my normal rather insane job which also involves a lot of writing and screen time, come home, eat something and then sit down for a second shift from 7-10 or so. Weekends I try to get in 2 3-hour shifts per day. I find that 3 hours is about as long as I can actually work productively at one go. After that, my mind seems to flag, I mess up a lot more often, I start to wander, I lose sight of the big picture, and make a lot less progress. A few hours' break away from it actually makes the second shift much more productive of usable material. I don't think 6 hours at the keyboard straight could possibly produce as much useful work.
posted by Miko at 7:58 PM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Miko at 7:58 PM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]
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