If you were able to push aside all the regularly scheduled tasks in your day; job, laundry, friends; and just write, would you? Isn’t that the dream shared by writers from all walks of life; to be able to live off of their writing, and in turn, have that as their daily job? I think this goal unites every writer, formally educated or not. Each writer takes a different path to try and achieve this goal; some write daily and some write as their schedules allow. Sometimes schedules are decided for us, and sometimes we get to choose.
I found myself lacking a daily loyalty to my writing as I approached the end of my Master’s program at DePaul. It was then that I realized that there were no longer going to be weekly deadlines that would force me to write. I needed to do it for myself. I never kept a daily writing schedule while in school, and things were usually rushed together a couple of days before the first draft was due for workshop. This didn’t always produce work that I was proud of, but rather ideas that I got plenty of feedback on; usually about how much work was still needed.
At this point in my life, being 25, single, and underemployed; my schedule is free enough that I believe to be productive as a writer a daily writing schedule needed to be implemented and maintained. Now I write every day in the afternoons and early evenings. This is the schedule that works best for me right now, but it’s every writer’s specific schedule that dictates when and how much they write. There’s no right or wrong answer as long as you’re writing.
Now that the Fall TV season has begun my writing time has become a little more concentrated. I’m an avid TV watcher, and was never able to buy into the adage (gained from a source that I can no longer remember) that writers shouldn’t watch. It seems ridiculous to me to cut this art form from my life when there is good writing, and amazing writers (Jane Espenson, Joss Whedon, Tina Fey), to be found there. Yes, the techniques for creating a visual episode are different from those needed to create one that exists in print, but there are techniques to be gained from listening to dialogue or from just watching for what they leave out; like skipping to a scene of conflict instead of showing what leads up to it.
Espenson is a female writer sought out in an industry that is mostly male for her ability to give specific voice to so many others characters, as she has done for Buffy, Gilmore Girls, Battlestar Gallactica, and most recently Torchwood: Miracle Day. Fey is a comedic force working on 30 Rock, providing laughs that satirize the television industry, and NBC and Comcast in particular, where breakout characters are memorable and unique (Alec Baldwin’s Jack Donaghy). Whedon deftly writes female characters and about issues, such as feminism and homosexuality, in a sensitive and entertaining way that leaves viewers wanting more.
It’s often concrete descriptions of setting and specific details, like the color of a central characters hair, or the mascot of the high school where the action is occurring, that get left out in those early drafts I write. The next time you watch a TV show (during a commercial break) try to write a description of the setting where the characters were found last, and see how well you can recreate that area on the page. I always seem to forget the most basic things: the color of a shirt, or that they were in the living room and not the kitchen, or that it was day and not night.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is also important in being able to produce quality writing; whenever the time of day you are able to write. Building six or seven hours of sleep into your schedule is just as important as making sure you’ve reached your specific writing goal. It’s especially important to maintain a healthy lifestyle as we enter fall, and the weather, for many of us, turns rainy and colder. Eating properly will keep you focused when you’re writing. I like to keep a glass of water and a snack at my desk, usually something sweet and chocolate, that I can grab without leaving my computer so I don’t interrupt my writing.
I’d love to hear from you. Do you write daily? How do you balance your life schedule with your writing schedule? Does your sleep schedule leave you writing during the early morning or late night hours? I’ll post some of the best responses in the next column.
If you’re a writer who doesn’t hold a writing degree, I’d love to hear from you. You would provide valuable insight into the process as a writer who’s working from a different place than those of us who are specifically educated in writing.
Literary Journal Spotlight
October’s Journal Spotlight is Ninth Letter. Ninth Letter is published out of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign twice a year; once in the spring and once in the fall. From their About Us page the editors describe Ninth Letter, “Ninth Letter is a collaborative arts and literary project produced by the Graduate Creative Writing Program and School of Art & Design at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Edited and designed by faculty and students as part of the core curricula of both programs, the journals mission is to present original literary writing of exceptional quality, illuminated by cutting-edge graphic design.” Ninth Letter is accepting submissions of fiction, poetry, essays, and interviews from September 1 to April 30 (postmark dates).
I purchased a Sample Copy of the journal at a discounted rate of $5.95, and the first thing I noticed about the issue I received was that it had a paper ring around the cover that kept it closed. I had to physically remove this piece of paper before I could open the journal, and that was just the first unique part of the physicality to this journal. The journal itself is printed on a thick cardstock paper and feels slightly heavier than other journals I’ve read. The added weight is also caused by the extra materials contained within the journal. There are written pieces to be found in this journal, of course, but there were also many visual elements that I wasn’t expecting.
I opened the journal to find several inserts that made it impossible to not recognize this journal as a tangible item, and that’s partly the point. There were posters folded inside and postcards that slipped out as I flipped through the pages. Scanning the stories, essays, and poems, I noticed that there is a large amount of color used in this journal. Words are highlighted yellow. Stories and poems are printed on pages of differing colors: pink, yellow, green, blue, red. The visual aspect of this journal is just as important as the written.
The amount of artistic time put into this journal is outstanding. The editors take time to compile materials to insert into the journal, print on pages of different colors, print text and images in color, and they pay for accepted work. According to the website, “Ninth Letter pays $25 per printed page, upon publication, for accepted material, as well as two complimentary copies of the issue in which the work appears.”
Ninth Letter would be an exciting place for any author or visual artist to have their work presented. I encourage you to check it out, purchase an issue, and consider submitting.
Thank you for reading column two. If you’d like, please leave me a comment or ask questions in the comment form below. I look forward to working on column three which will appear on the Niche website in November. Please be sure to check out the other columns on the site and check out the blog written by the Niche editors. Keep writing!
This column originally appeared on Niche’s website on October 11th, 2011.
The Official Niche Literary Magazine Archives 