Fletcher - How writers work : finding a process that works for you

Recently I visited a fourth grade classroom. When I walked in, one girl stared at me, totally star-struck.

Ive never met a real live author before, she said.

Have you met any dead ones? I joked. But I understood what she meant. When I was in school, I had no idea how books came into the world. Maybe the librarian wrote them! Authors were just names on the spine of a book. I never thought that writers might be real, live, buttered-toast-for-breakfast kind of people like you or me.

Its misleading to think of writers as special creatures, word sorcerers who possess some sort of magic knowledge hidden from everyone else. Writers are ordinary people who like to write. They feel the urge to write, and scratch that itch every chance they have. Writers get their ideas down on paper using particular strategies that seem to work for them. These strategies are available to anyone who wants to be a writer.

While I was visiting that same classroom, one boy raised his hand to ask me a question.

I read your book Fig Pudding, he said. It was sad when Brad died. He paused and gave me a hard look. But then I realized: You wrote the book. You made him die. Why did you make him die?

An important moment! For the first time, it had occurred to him that books dont get hatched out of thin air. Books are written by people who make hundreds of decisions about how to shape their texts. When you write, you, too, will have countless decisions to make: what subject to choose, how to plan and begin, which words to choose, what changes to make, etc.

Readers should prepare themselves for another important moment, for in the introduction to this book I intend to reveal The Secret Of Writing. I hope you are reading carefully because The Secret Of Writing may surprise you: There is no secret. But there is a process. If you like to write, there are definite steps you can take to help you reach your goals.

Certain people talk about the writing process as if there is one, and only one, process for writing. Wrong! In one fifth grade class I visited, the students all brainstormed on Monday, rough drafted on Tuesday, revised on Wednesday, edited on Thursday, published on Friday. Writing doesnt work that way. Some people need less time to prewrite, more time to rough draft. I believe that the idea of a one-size-fits-all writing process has turned off some talented young writers.

True, there are interesting similarities in how various writers work, but each writer uses a process slightly different from that of other writers. I have listened to hundreds of writers describe how they work, and Ive been amazed by how many different ways they do it Some writers draw heavily on their actual experiences; others rely on their imaginations. Some make elaborate outlines before they start a book; others simply start writing. Many writers do a rough draft first and go back to revise later. Others revise as they go. (A few lucky ones claim that they dont have to revise at all, but Im not sure I believe them.) For every writer who works one way, youll find a writer who works in another.

So where does that leave you? Free to find your own way of writing, custom-made, a process that works for you. Sometimes you can only find your process through trial and error. If youre like me, your writing process will probably be a messy one.

While every writer is different, I believe we can learn a lot from exploring the various ways writers work. But heres the problem: We write like we readin private. The process used by most writers is hidden from view. In this book were going to uncloak that process and make it visible. Were going to take a close look at how writers go about shaping and reshaping their texts. Were going to talk about prewriting, getting started, going with the flow, rereading, revising, proofreading, and publishing. Im including several interviews from professional writers whose work you may know, so you can learn exactly how they work.

Think of this book as a buffet line filled with all kinds of food, all you can eat. You probably wont eat everything. Go through the chapters and decide for yourself which strategies or ideas you want to put on your plate. You may not know which ones to choose unless you try each of them at least once.

Good writing isnt forged by magic or hatched out of thin air. Good writing happens when human beings take particular steps to take control of their sentences, to make their words do what they want them to do. Its my hope that this book helps you to find a process that fits your personal style, one that will help you move your writing up to the next level.

ONE
A Place Where Words Can Grow

I keep pens and pencils within reach wherever I am. My favorite writing spot is in my bed.

Jerdine Nolan

Lately Ive been feeling unsettled. Shook up. Discombobulated. Im smack in the midst of moving myself and my family from Alabama to New Hampshire. We are renting a home while our new house is being built. Most of our furniture, books, and clothes are still packed in boxes.

In some ways I dont have much to complain about. Im writing in a large, airy office with windows on three sides that look out into the forest. Its a nice room, a great office, except for one small thingits not my space. The books on all the bookshelves are someone elses books. The desk, light, rug, easy chair, photos on the wall belong to someone else. Right now all my personal belongings are packed up in boxes. Im writing here, but Im counting the days until I can write in my own space, surrounded by my own stuff.

Walk into a restaurant and your stomach starts to growl. Walk into a gym and your body prepares to sweat while you exercise. Our brains are conditioned to know what to expect in particular spaces.

The same thing is true about writing.

Your writing place doesnt have to be a spacious office with windows looking out at the forest. It could be an easy chair in a corner of a room or a breakfast nook in the kitchen. It could be a place in the woods where you can lean back against a tree or rock. You may have to try out several different writing places before you settle on one that feels right.

Many people write best when they are away from all the distractions of home. Some people like to write in a noisy cafeteria; others need a quiet place like a library. I like public places where I can write surrounded by strangers babbling around me. Airplanes are okay, but I usually get squashed between two huge people. I need to be able to stretch out.

I love writing in rooms with tall ceilings and huge windows. I also like to write while sitting by a window in a busy coffee shop. Somehow the combination of the talk, the coffee smell, the sunlight pouring over me and my notebook make it a great place for me to write.

Writing is so compact, so portable, so easy to take with me wherever I go, says Jerdine Nolan, author of Harvey Potters Balloon Farm and other books. I hardly ever write at a desk, but there are times when I have to. I like to write in unexpected places like airports, train stations, the passenger seat of a moving car, on trains or planes. I like the idea of sitting still while Im moving very fast. Seeing scenery flash by me is also very stimulating. For a while I even wrote in a very small closet!