How to be a Better Writer: On Perseverance

Madly at work on several essay revisions, I've been feeling a bit mad (as in crazy, not angry) as I witness the erratic pace of my own writing process. After clocking 60 hours in January on the revision(s) of "Wildish Woman: A Portrait," about a wildlife biologist in Alaska, the writing went dormant in the post-submission phase as I recovered from the burn-out and accompanying self-doubt that followed. It took another two weeks before I could start up again, then--BAM! I spent all weekend writing another short draft for an anthology and completing a 2,500-word essay revision. If I were to graph the inert vs. active phases of my writing like an EKG, the spikes and dips might look like this:

Recently, someone sent a link to "25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer." Check out this list compiled by Jocelyn K. Glei--what she calls "snippets of insight from some exceptional authors."

9. Sarah Waters: On being disciplined…

Treat writing as a job. Be disciplined. Lots of writers get a bit OCD-ish about this. Graham Greene famously wrote 500 words a day. Jean Plaidy managed 5,000 before lunch, then spent the afternoon answering fan mail. My minimum is 1,000 words a day – which is sometimes easy to achieve, and is sometimes, frankly, like shitting a brick, but I will make myself stay at my desk until I’ve got there, because I know that by doing that I am inching the book forward. Those 1,000 words might well be rubbish – they often are. But then, it is always easier to return to rubbish words at a later date and make them better.

20. Hilary Mantel: On getting stuck…

If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don’t just stick there scowling at the problem. But don’t make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people’s words will pour in where your lost words should be. Open a gap for them, create a space. Be patient.

24. Joyce Carol Oates: On persevering…

I have forced myself to begin writing when I’ve been utterly exhausted, when I’ve felt my soul as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another five minutes… and somehow the activity of writing changes everything. Or appears to do so.