What do you like most about writing and what do you like least?
Q&A With Shay Each Sunday
I think most writers have something of a love/hate relationship with writing. The good generally outweighs the bad, but it’s definitely a challenge not to get hung up on all the frustrations that come along with writing.
Q: What do you like most about writing and what do you like least?
A: I think the things I like most and least about writing are almost the same. What I like most is the rewarding feeling of creating a world with characters that I can believe exist. I love getting wrapped up in scenes as I write them and forgetting that it’s a work of fiction. On the flip side, it’s similarly daunting to create a work “wrong.” Sometimes, well a lot of the time, creating a whole world and characters doesn’t come very easily, so I find it really great when it’s working out well—a feat in itself. But it can be a dreadful and tedious feeling when the story or world isn't working well. And the funny thing is that readers could think it’s great still, but we as writers analyze and try to perfect to the point of insanity, which I think is better than simply declaring something done and throwing it out into the world.
I like being able to put my thoughts on paper and see them come together in a way that makes sense or strikes a cord with me—or the reader. But…so often I have an initial thought in my head and even if I write it down right away it doesn’t come out as clearly as it did when it was simply living inside me and not on paper (or more realistically notes in my phone or computer) yet. Then of course there’s all the times where I have a “brilliant” thought and I don’t write it down right away. I don’t even usually try to convince myself that I’ll remember it anymore like I used to. I just say, “Eh, it’s never as good as I think it is once I write it down anyway.” But, actually I don’t say that, I still get frustrated when I can’t remember what it was, always thinking it’s the brilliant thought that will make everything come together. SO, being able to actually get the right thoughts on paper at the right times in a way that resonates and makes total sense is probably one of the best things about writing for me, because it usually takes me many attempts to get there, but every so often it comes right away. And that’s a rewarding feeling.
Things I don’t love about writing:
I don’t love that it feels like I have to motivate myself to just write most days. Especially when I’m in a bit of a writing rut, the resistance I feel to even wanting to write can be so strong. And it’s not fun feeling that way when I know it’s something I actually do love and it just isn’t going well at the moment or I haven’t gotten to a turning point in my work in progress yet.
Deciding to cut something that I really like but isn’t working for the overall story. The editing process can be maddening. Even when I know it’s for the greater good of the story it is so difficult to come to terms with gutting entire chapters and scenes and reworking others so they’re nothing like when they were first written. I have quite a hard time with the quote (usually attributed to Faulkner but actually traced back to Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch) put simply: “Murder your darlings.” I cannot let them go! And it takes me a long time to do so.
Going the wrong way in the first draft, but not knowing what else to do so I just continue to write when I already know that it’s not the right path to take. Those anxious feelings that I’m going to have to get rid of all of it later creep in. This is another thing that could be seen as something I like about the process on the flip side because you can go wherever you want in the first draft with much less pressure than later drafts—you’re not expected to be close to finished yet. But, I still feel a lot of pressure because I just want the story to come out how I envision it—even if I can’t envision it yet!
Things I love about writing:
That it’s a solitary act and I don’t have to worry about socializing or running anything by anyone else. I can simply do it alone without having to feel awkward or anxious. I sometimes feel anxious while writing, but it’s at least not of the social variety!
Creating characters out of nothing that I can fully picture and hear and know what they’d do in a given situation. Characters that become a part of me and me a part of them. Even if a book or story is never published I feel the pull to that character because I have spent so much time with them. Having readers relate to those characters in a similar way is also rewarding because my intentions and dedication to these people have come off the page and into another other than myself.
Finding a way to describe something that is truly unique and actually feeling like I’m smart when I’ve come up with something fresh. Sometimes (not often) I have even Googled a line I’ve written to make sure no one else said it because it doesn’t feel like I could have actually come up with that myself. And in some ways I don’t think I do come up with these things myself. It might sound kind of out there, but it’s like I’m a messenger who gets these ideas, feelings, and fragments from the atmosphere and morphs it into a story. How else can I describe having no clue where a story is going as I write it and suddenly being somewhere that my mind didn’t see happening? I don’t actually get this feeling while I’m in the act of writing, but later on when re-reading it sometimes seems like someone else wrote what’s in front of me. Though, I guess most of the time it’s pretty clear it was me even if it took a direction I never intended.
Anyway, there’s a lot to love and a lot to find challenging in the very wide process of writing, re-writing, editing, and simply thinking about writing. Some of it is easier than other aspects, but nothing is entirely good or bad. What I love I can also find reasons to dislike and vice versa. What are your favorite and least favorite things about the process?
