Writers First Aid

No Need for Discipline?!

June 21, 2010

discipline In one of my favorite writing books (Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True by Elizabeth Berg), there’s a chapter on writing myths that the author says you should ignore.

I was reading the list and nodding and “Amen!”-ing my agreement all the way up to Myth #8. It said to ignore the warning that “you have to be disciplined to be a writer.”

Shocking!

I recoiled. Such blasphemy! How could she claim that writers didn’t need self-discipline? “Everyone” knew you needed to discipline yourself to write every day, to study markets, to read in your field. How could she say that? It went against my deeply ingrained beliefs.

And yet…as I read on, her words resonated with me much more than I would have believed possible. If you don’t need to be disciplined, what do you need? She wrote:

“What have to be is in love. With writing. Not with ideas about what to write; not with daydreams about what you’re going to do when you’re sucessful. You have to be in love with writing itself, with the solitary and satisfying act of sitting down and watching something you hold in your head and your heart quietly transform itself into words on a page.”

Major Paradigm Shift

Hmm…You don’t have to be disciplined–but instead, you have to be in love with the act of writing. For some reason, that rings true for me.

Of my 34 published middle-grade books, I can’t think of a single one that I had to “make myself” sit down and write. Yes, I ran into occasional rough spots. Yes, sometimes I felt physically or emotionally shot, so writing wasn’t as much fun on those days. But I didn’t have to discipline myself to write. In each case, I had a story I was burning to tell, and I couldn’t wait for naptime when I could immerse myself in my fictional world–where I could make life turn out like I wanted, like it should be.

Fueled from Within

In the early years, the inner passion for writing fueled me–not discipline imposed from the outside. I think Ms. Berg just may be onto something here! Maybe on the days we can’t make ourselves write, we should check our passion quota about our current project.

Passion for writing versus self-discipline–I think I need to investigate this further! Is it one or the other–or both?

How about You?

What does “being in love with your writing” look like for you? Can you describe one of its attributes? If so, please leave a comment!

Post tags: discipline, focusing, habits, passion, writing challenges

Posted in: discipline,focusing,habits,writers block,writing habits | | Comments (16)

16 Comments »

I agree. You don’t have to make yourself do something when you love to do it. That’s the difference between legalism and freedom.

Comment by Beth Mac — June 21, 2010 @ 8:21 am
Beth, that’s certainly true. I don’t have to “make” myself eat chocolate!

Comment by Kristi Holl — June 21, 2010 @ 10:07 am
Blasphemy indeed! I am in love with stories and words and writing, but unfortunately, I am in love with a lot of other things as well … the kids, movies, music, friends, the pets. And so I have to have self-dsicipline because I could just as easily sit down and while away an hour playing the piano, or walk the dog. And actually I do — I think it’s good to be out there living life and doing stuff, but you also have to come back to the writing. And I have to write to stay sane, to make sense of the world and so I do … So for me:

Passion + Discipline = Success.

Comment by Vijaya — June 21, 2010 @ 11:34 am
Vijaya, I have to agree with you. There are so many things I love to do, and so little extra free time, that without some self-discipline, I wouldn’t get to the writing often enough. Unless I lived alone on a deserted island, and didn’t have a day job (whether child care or a paid job), I’m not sure the love of writing alone would get me to the keyboard or pen/paper often enough. So much in life requires balance, doesn’t it?

Comment by Kristi Holl — June 21, 2010 @ 2:11 pm
I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive! I think you must love your writing in order to do it, yes, but you also must place your writing high in importance among other things you love – because writers don’t *only* love writing – ergo, self-discipline.

If writers want to make a career of writing (which is my goal, eventually), we must exercise some form of discipline, habit, routine.

That’s the humble opinion of this beginner.

Comment by Yvette — June 21, 2010 @ 8:29 pm
Yvette, you’re making a great point here. There is a distinction between writing for personal pleasure only and wanting to have a career (more than a hobby) with your writing. Careers take almost daily work—and life being what it is (unpredictable)—some days we physically/mentally/emotionally just don’t FEEL like writing. Hence the need for self-discipline sometimes. I guess when it starts to require white-knuckling self-discipline day after day that we’d better stop and see where the passion went. But if writing is your hobby only, you can write when the spirit moves you (just like you do with any hobby.) Your point is well taken.

Comment by Kristi Holl — June 21, 2010 @ 9:16 pm
Being in love with writing – gel pens!, and the feeling of pen moving across paper – there is nothing like it – but when I started writing/practice again, it was discipline at first (gawd! What do I say?-arghhh! Just keep the pen moving…)
But soon the rehabilitated passion and love of it became the guiding force and addiction. For me, there is a direct energy – better than talking to a best friend or mate -wonderful solitude – there are no wasted words or “social” fill-ins or obligatory pauses to listen to something not directly fueling… it is pure truth and power – no word or action wasted – it is all me 100 % – even though I may revise – like being at the base of a waterfall falling full force. And the universes – one can step into the page into imagery – any universe one has or wants to create!
Discipline DOES come in handy with deadlines! I’d love a bumper sticker that says – “I’d rather be writing!”
or “So many worlds, so little time!” In the end – they fuel each other -but passion for me, comes first!

Comment by Jenny Tavernier — June 22, 2010 @ 2:32 am
Jenny, you’re right too. Passion and discipline DO fuel each other! I loved the energy and magical quality in your post. I think most of us fiction writers started out this same way. It’s a good reminder that you don’t want to lose that passion to “invent other worlds” with your words. And as you said, so little time! You should make those bumper stickers and sell them at writers’ conferences! I’d buy one!

Comment by Kristi Holl — June 22, 2010 @ 6:19 am
I agree! When I was blogging, I loved the creative freedom it offered me. But after I decided to learn to write adult fiction, I found myself having to force my butt into the chair. I had so many ideas. It was torture to stick to just one. Which was the RIGHT one? It wasn’t until I decided to write for children that the passion wake engulfed me. The shorter form just works for me right now. I only wish there were more hours in the day to write and revise the many story ideas swirling in my head at any given moment.

Comment by Heather Kephart — June 22, 2010 @ 7:41 am
Heather, you raise an interesting point here. I’ve never been the kind of writer who had too many ideas or had to choose amongst them. I get about two decent ideas per year, and I use them both. But having a wealth of ideas could be very distracting! I, too, wish there were more hours in the day to explore ideas to our hearts’ content!

Comment by Kristi Holl — June 22, 2010 @ 10:25 am
Maybe not disciplined, but dedicated. I am in love with my husband and I am dedicated to making it work. I am in love with running, and I am dedicated to training (the discipline part) when I choose to enter a race. I am in love with writing, too. Maybe when we don’t feel dedicated, we should discipline ourselves. Like go out on a date, or take a reading break.

I find that in writing picture books, a seemingly short and “easy” endeavor, takes much longer to accomplish than one would think. To keep my dedication fueled, I have several projects going at a time. I’m always working on at least one of them. It helps me to stay in love with writing.

I may edit a story one day, work on a new story arc another, do research another, read books another, and then go back to editing, then spend days writing up that story from the new plot line. In love? Definitely! Disciplined? Not so much. Dedicated? Absolutely!

Comment by Christie Wright Wild — June 22, 2010 @ 11:01 am
Christie, I loved how you intertwined the discipline/dedicated/in-love themes. I think you’re onto something here. Also, staying “in love with writing” by rotating from skill to skill and story to story would keep you from getting bored or disenchanted. I need to keep that in mind myself!

Comment by Kristi Holl — June 22, 2010 @ 1:22 pm
Three cheers for Elizabeth Berg! I’m weary of all the “shoulds” for writers. The must-do outline. The knowing in advance how many words you will write. Let’s not forget the current big essential, the platform and the marketing plan we’re supposed to o be ready to supply. Etc., etc.

I long for the time when writers were expected to write. Period. I love the process of writing, setting down my thoughts, finding the right word, being surprised sometimes by what I write. The rest of the package intrudes on creativity and feels like an obstacle that gets in the way of writing. Or am I the only one that finds this so?

Comment by Lenore Buth — June 22, 2010 @ 5:45 pm
Lenore, you are NOT alone! I talk to writers every week who have the same longing, either for a time in the past when they didn’t have to worry about marketing and platform–or a wistful longing of new writers for the way they thought the writing life would be like. I confess to both longings! I am still trying to work it all out. I don’t want to be lazy and not do the marketing because I just don’t want to–but I also don’t want to get sidetracked by it all. It’s easy to do. [Loved your blog post about the pastor with the tongue cancer, by the way.

Comment by Kristi Holl — June 22, 2010 @ 8:04 pm
A Promise: “Out of the heart flow the issues of life”

It’s a rule of life that whatever is on the inside will manifest itself through our words and actions.

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

If we want our outward self to be different we must address the issues in our heart. Too often we try to change our actions instead of analyzing our motivations and working from the inside. This is like placing a band aid on a compound fracture.

I love the way this article applies this truth to writing.

Thanks.
Ali

Comment by Ali Dent — June 23, 2010 @ 9:16 am
Ali, it’s so true that we have to deal with underlying issues many times in order to do the writing. And as a person thinks in his/her heart, so does s/he become! I think I’ve had to spend more of my life UNlearning stinking thinking than actually learning new ideas. A life based on lies about ourself or the world is a bumpy, downhill ride! Your points are well said and taken.

Comment by Kristi Holl — June 23, 2010 @ 10:09 am