A while ago I was working on a novel that was going to change the world. I thought it was at least. The idea was mind blowing, with all sorts of wild connections the reader would never realize until the very end. I had the last chapter written before I even started and was sure I was gonna win all sorts of prizes.
OK, maybe I wasn't that confident, but I did think I had a good idea, and I was enthusiastic about the chapter (which was the last one) that I had written. But then I found that I couldn't get to the chapter. Everything I was writing was full of cheese and lameness. So I was getting discouraged and wanting to give up.
I watched an interview with Neil Gaiman talking about his book, The Graveyard Book (ok, so I couldn't find the exact link, but this is him talking anyway. He's worth a listen). In the interview I heard, he said he had the idea years and years ago, but never felt he was good enough to write it until recently. And then he wrote it.
I took this as a free pass to slide my novel in my desk drawer and forget about it until I was good enough to write it. I thought I'd practice and practice until finally I could write my world changing novel.
But then I read Stephen King's On Writing (which changed my life), and he told a story about how he hated Carrie and ended up throwing it out, and it was only because his wife pulled it out and said she thought he had something that he kept going with it. “Stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position," said Mr King.
So then I felt like maybe I was a failure for giving up on my novel, or waiting to do it later. I picked it up again, and read it, and tried to keep going, but I found it was just Too lame, and I decided to embrace Neil Gaiman's approach (mostly to appease my guilt).
So the novel is still in my drawer, maturing (as I think Night would like to call it).
I guess I'm wondering what people think. Should a writer just keep plugging away at a project even if it seems like it's not going anywhere, like you're just not good enough to write it? Or should one take a step back and practice, practice, practice until one feels it is capable of 'tackling the project?
P.S. Here's an interview with Stephen King, just to be fair. He's also worth a listen.
I think both approaches have worked for me with different stories, but then I have never tried writing a novel. I know sometimes that I write something that is awful, but in editing it, I find something I really like -- and I am not sure if I would ever get to that something if I didn't write the bad thing first. But, all in all, I don't know if I would definitively argue either side.
ReplyDeleteI agree with plugging away at it...because then you at least have a finished draft that you can revise and edit, and the final product may be completely different from the draft...but you needed the draft to get to the finished piece.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, my husband is a wildlife and landscape artist and when he is working on a piece, sometimes he just needs a break...then he will come back to his work, and realize what needs to be done to finish the painting. Same thing with writing, I think.
So both ways work!
I feel a bit like Jared. I feel like there are no answers. Both sound like good advice. Which advice to pick depends on the context, on who you are and on what you are writing. One thing that I know for sure is that you should never throw writings in the garbage. One day you might go back to it and write something great.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would have to say against Mr. King's advice is: it is not good to get too frustrated. You don't want to get so frustrated that you don't enjoy writing anymore. Don't give up too easily but don't drive yourself crazy either.