How I Write

geralt via Pixabay 

Two weeks ago, I wrote about my writing "why," the penultimate who/what/when/where/why/how writing post. All that's left is my writing "how."

In some ways, I saved the most difficult for last. When it comes to the "how" of writing, even after almost thirty years of practicing, I haven't discovered one consistently "right" answer to the question of "how?" The only thing that's always true is that, in the end, I need to sit down and just do it.

How "it" looks depends on what I'm working on. Over time, I've learned to come at different projects from different angles. With fiction, I start with characters; with non-fiction, a proposal that sets parameters for an idea. If I'm writing an article, I'm conscious of time. Experience in writing for magazines and online sites has taught me to aim for an hourly rate, and I set out to complete pieces in a time frame that earns me that rate.

But writing, like any creative pursuit, isn't a cookie cutter process. Some projects bend to my will and my process; others resist, taking more time than I allotted. Non-fiction proposals need to be reshaped and rearranged to meet the needs of different publishers. When I'm working on fiction, my characters sometimes refuse to talk to me or fail to reveal enough of themselves to give me the foundation for a solid story. 

Side note: this was never the case with Marita, Angel, Charli and Bets. They spoiled me.

But it has been the case with my latest work-in-progress. I'd first sketched the novel out a couple of years ago, only to set it aside as other projects -- projects with paychecks and deadlines -- popped up. Then, when it came time to find the notes I'd carefully filed away, they were nowhere to be found. This is very unusual for me; I frequently set something down and have to retrace my steps to find it but this folder has gone missing. Completely.

So I went back to the drawing board. And still she resisted. (Maybe she was mad at me for misplacing that file). I knew she was a private person, but this was getting ridiculous. 

steve_a_johnson via Pixabay

It wasn't until I was at the beach with my family earlier this summer that she began to re-emerge. I did worksheet after worksheet -- not my usual approach -- until finally her friends gave her away. A tenuous story began to take shape.

And I was ready to write. Once that happens, the "when" is often my biggest obstacle but, sometimes, the "how" becomes an issue as well. One chapter flies by, another leaves me staring into space, looking for inspiration in unlikely places and trying to do research without going down the hyperlink rabbit hole. Type/delete/type some more/check a word or spelling and keep typing until I run out of words. 

And then do it again another day.

Once something I'm not totally ashamed of materializes, I share it with my critique group. Their comments play a role in the "how" too, and their questions sometimes leave me with a different "how."  How will I close a loophole, fix an engineering problem, up the ante?

And I'm back to my computer again. 

How do I write? 

However my characters tell me to.