The holidays are upon us, and already I hear your heart rates increase. “How am I going to maintain my writing schedule through all the family dinners, out-of-town visits, and Super Bowl games?” you’re moaning. “How am I going to maintain the inviolable code of Butt-in-Chair?” For all of our consolation, I’d like to suggest that there’s more to writing than writing.
That’s right, and you already know it. For every page that gets typed, how much thinking, imagining, and hearing conversations in one’s head takes place? A lot. Now’s the time to dip into that part of the writing process until you can get a few hours at the keyboard.
Pay Attention!
The very first requirement of a writer is that she be observant. See, hear, smell, feel, taste. Notice. Revolve theses sensations. Put them in silent words. Observe how Great-aunt Jane’s eyes crinkle at the edges when she smiles. How the scarlet creeps up Grandpa’s cheeks after a few beers. (He can feel it from the inside too—it’s heat. Not that I would know.) Pay attention to the baroque curl of steam that rises from the perfectly golden turkey as it sits in it pan. How do you feel when your favorite cousin, whom you haven’t seen for years, gives you a big hug? You may not be writing about Thanksgiving dinner, but I guarantee that all of these impressions can be used somewhere in your novels, even in very different settings. The trick is to stock your brain with imagery that can spill out at command. It might not hurt to have a little notebook handy, but it probably isn’t necessary. Facts are forgettable, but not so much the impressions of the senses. And that’s true for our readers as well, so don’t neglect to weave this stuff in somewhere.
Talk to Yourself
This may be a little more challenging, but there will be moments when nobody’s talking to you and you can talk to yourself (silently, please). Ladies, have you ever wanted to blot out a whole football game? I give you permission! Eyes dutifully on the screen, work out details of dialogue. Feel around for the perfect wording. Keep yourself immersed in your story’s world. Try seeing the scene around you through the eyes of your protagonist. Interview him, even, to get deeper into his head. “That’s not the way I work,” you say. No, but isn’t it better than abandoning your forward momentum altogether for the duration of the holidays? Losing the thread, getting out of the habit—those are the enemies. And that’s why everyone tells you you must write every single day. It’s truer to say you must think about your story every day. You must understand your characters better every day. As long as you do that, you’re writing.
Maybe you’re lucky enough to have a few afternoon walks along the beach in your holiday plans. Or a long train trip or airplane flight. Don’t neglect to mine these moments of thoughtful silence. Be deeply present with all your senses—or be somewhere else, away in your fictional world! Don’t forget that world and the people who live in it, even if you can’t be putting them down on paper regularly. There’s so much mental preparation that has to be done in any case, and it’s something that doesn’t have to stop just because of our stepped-up holiday social rhythm. No need to feel guilty. You’re working around the clock.
Nancy J Cohen
This is very good advice. It’s easy to feel guilty when not writing, but being observant can inspire scenes in a story later on. You never know what will become fodder for the imagination. Soak it all in and consider it research.
Niki Kantzios
Amen! We ARE writers, we don’t just write.