Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Organic

Whenever I get frustrated with the speed of writing, I remind myself that the best writing is organic. The story itself grows at its own pace, taking on a life of it's own. You can't rush it. You can't rush writing it; you can't rush revising it. There are other things that you can't rush.

You can't rush relationships. Some may happen quickly. You may find a kindred spirit. But the trust? The comfortable familiarity? Well, you can't rush it. It has to be organic.

You also can't rush knowledge. You can't skip a rung on the learning ladder. You can't jump past where you.

And I think that if you are firmly with the moment, if you are letting things grow, organically, then the universe responds with what you need. To enable you to grow and keep moving forward.

I am where I need to be right now, as is my writing. Would I love it if the writing resembled what it is in my imagination? Yes. Will it get there? Yes. Organically.

13 comments:

  1. Love this post Heather!

    I totally agree. I would love to write quicker and faster, but I find that when I force it, it doesn't come out well.

    Sometimes you have to let go and be open to write organically. This is where the beauty of writing happens. But it does require patience.

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  2. Great post, Heather!

    I've been trying to un-rush lately. My story just isn't coming together. I'm trying to force it and I think it's getting worse.

    But at the same time... I'm thinking about doing NaNo again this year with a new project.

    Oh, the contradictory nature of me. ; )

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  3. Karen--I agree. Forcing it always makes it feel, well, forced. Sometimes I think the best writing is accomplished by not writing at all, in order to let an idea stew for a while.

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  4. Casey--I am all signed up for NaNo, mostly because I am super curious. I'm hoping it feels like Mardi Gras for writing. (Everyone seems really pumped to do it!) It'll be fun to work on drafting again.

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  5. I did it last year. It was a great experience. What I wrote wasn't very good, but I learned A LOT about myself by the end. I definitely recommend giving it a shot!

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  6. Great post. I write fast - like 6,000 words a day is easy for me. (I know, annoying.) NaNoWriMo has never been a challenge for me because of this.

    But revising?

    ARGH!

    I spend months - a year, most of the time - revising my manuscript. And sometimes I can't stop. Writing is totally an organic process. But I think it is also something that has to be collaborative too. I think you need people to encourage you and say, "This IS good..." That's something I've had recently, agented writers in my corner cheering me on.

    Good post!

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  7. I write rather quickly as well- I liken it to skiing straight down a steep slope. And then I take my time in revisions. But you are right-- it does take collaboration. I'm so happy that you are getting great feedback now. I'm stoked for your recent success!

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  8. I write fast and I edit fast and I mash all of my characters into a rigid outline. If they give me any lip, I mash harder.

    I guess what I'm trying to say is: I probably write wrong.

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  9. Is there a wrong? I think I'd like to try the mashing method. My characters give me lip all the time--maybe it's a problem that I allow it.

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  10. Organic--For me, I think this means staying in the present moment. Be with the story now, whether you're cranking out 5,000 words a day on a first draft, doing line editing, or just pausing at a fork in the road of your story, exploring in your mind what would happen depending on which fork you took.

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  11. Paul--I agree, and I love how you put it. The idea of being with the story and doing whatever the story needs in that moment.

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  12. I know, from doing NaNo previously, that I can write whenever I sit down and put fingers to keyboard. Does that mean the words are what I was hoping for? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But when I let it flow naturally from being in one of my creative moods, I get the same results. What's different is whether or not I'm enjoying the process and how much writing gets done.

    I need that balance between flow and pushing it.

    The year I did the NaNo, I burnt myself out on writing until February. It's quite a drain to the old creative juices, but I learned invaluable lessons from doing it.

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  13. Sarah--good points. I like how you talk about enjoying the process. I forget during revisions or tedious times to try to balance and put the enjoyment back in.

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