This has no specific connection to historical fiction, but it might be worth thinking about anyway in this month of NaNoWriMo, when we’re all pushing ourselves to write as if the devil were at our heels. Is it possible to be too productive? I think it is, and I may have broken that sound barrier lately… to my detriment.
A Case of Logorrhea
We all know the cardinal rule of writing: butt in chair and fingers on keyboard. This sort of application is easier for some people than others. There are those among us who tend to be obsessive about whatever we do (you know who the rest of you are). Other obligations permitting, we can park ourselves at the computer and write—something—for eight hours a day. It’s a job, right? But the sense of responsibility can become a sense of frenzy. That’s how momentum works: once you start spouting, it gets easier. It develops its own imperative. The result: a bad case of logorrhea, that is, a pathological flux of words.
Just Do It… Or Not
Now, a first draft doesn’t have to be good; it just has to be done. I’ve worded away at stories where I had no clue as to the outcome, just producing pretty darned good scenes, full of dramatic tension and snappy dialog. Trouble is, they led nowhere. One could take the logorrheic output and spend time banging it into shape. Sit on it for a few months and come back to it fresh. There’s plenty of raw material; just prune away and come up with something that is good. That’s another cardinal rule. But once the frenzy is upon us, every aspect of the writing becomes a forced march. Our agent is waiting. A publisher has accepted one manuscript and is drooling for another. We feel obliged to keep the pipeline flowing. Produce a novel a year. Two novels a year. One every three months. It can be done. But should it?
The Importance of Doing Nothing
Any artist, in any medium, will tell you that creativity happens in a space of mental leisure. A state, as the French would say, of oisiveté, where the conscious shuts the heck up and lets the unconscious ferment quietly. Do you see where I’m going? That’s just the opposite of the frenzy of logorrhea. Yes, we crank out scenes…but we can’t see the big picture, the plot, the arc. That has to bubble up quietly from below the conscious, and not just at first, when we’re actively “plotting,” but at every step where connections suddenly reveal themselves, plot twists explode, wholly new directions start to emerge. And then there’s that incubation period, during which you don’t even look at the manuscript. But when you go back to it, your hidden copy editor has been at work, imagining…
Those of you suffering from writer’s block will curl your lips and say “Overproduction is a problem?” But it can be. Any extreme can be. Writing fiction is a blend of the right brain and the left, of perspiration and inspiration. Don’t let NaNoWriMo push you into the forced march of production that will drain writing of its fun and lead to burnout. Why don’t we declare December Sit-On-It Month?
paul iasevoli
Great advice.
Tilly Grey
Thank you.
Tilly Grey
Thank you. My thoughts exactly.
August von Orth
You get at something I haven’t heard many people address, how to strike the proper write/incubate balance. I’ve been on both sides of the problem, but still don’t know what the solution might be. I love your idea of balancing NaNoWriMo with December Sit-On-It. Great article!
Wil Clapper
Love the idea of Sit-On-It-Month, especially since I topped 50K words today and won my third NaNo. Now I’m eligible to buy a Winner 2018 T-Shirt for a mere $16.65. No thanks, I think I’ll sit-on-it awhile. Meanwhile, getting to the 50K manuscript won’t be happening for a few days, or a month. I’m taking a sit-on-it vacation and preparing for a holiday trek up north. So, sit-on-it is really a great idea.
vicki lathom
It’s so true that writing can become the Bataan Death March. I remember a therapist saying, “So, a busy mind is a productive mind?” She was being sarcastic and the idea passes through my mind at least once a day, giving me a feeling of liberation.
Niki H Kantzios
So glad to hear everyone’s take on this issue. At least I’m not the only one!!
Diana McDonough
So very true…Thanks for the insight.
Marie Pinschmidt
I agree completely. We can all put words on paper but to what end? Do we want just “so so” results or do we want excellence? Both mind and body requires periods of rest to function properly.
Niki H Kantzios
We’re all so exhausted from NaNoWriMo that this idea resonates, doesn’t it!