November 15, 2010

Do you ever wonder if you’re a REAL writer? If you have doubts, it might be because you have a bad case of the “shoulds.”

Symptoms of the “shoulds” include:

• You should write first thing in the morning.
• You should write daily.
• You should keep a journal.
• You should write down your dreams every morning.
• You should have a room of your own and be organized!
• You should write for publication.

What if some of the “shoulds” just go against your grain? Are you not a real writer then? What if you write best after 10 p.m. instead of first thing in the morning? What if you start journals repeatedly and never last more than three days? What if you can’t remember your dreams? What if an organized office makes you freeze and you secretly prefer writing in chaos?

Are you a REAL writer then? YES!

What Am I Exactly?

If you struggle with your identity as a writer–if you don’t seem to fit the mold no matter how you’ve tried–you would love the book I found over the weekend. It’s called The Write Type: Discover Your True Writer’s Identity and Create a Customized Writing Plan by Karen E. Peterson, who wrote the best book on writer’s block I ever read.

This book takes you through exercises to find the real writer who lives inside you. You’ll explore the ten components that make up a writer’s “type.” They include such things as tolerance for solitude, best time of day to write, amount of time, need for variety, level of energy, and level of commitment. Finding your own personal combination of traits helps you build a writer’s life where you can be your most productive and creative.

Free to Be Me

To be honest, the exercises with switching hands (right brain/left brain) didn’t help me as much as the discussions about each trait. I could usually identify my inner preferences quite easily through the discussion. It gave me freedom to be myself as a writer. It also helped me pinpoint a few areas where I believed some “shoulds” that didn’t work for me, where I was trying to force this square peg writer into a round hole and could stop!

We’re all different–no surprise!–but we published writers are sometimes too quick to pass along our own personal experience in the form of “shoulds.” You should write first thing in the morning should actually be stated, It works well for ME to write first thing in the morning, so you might try that.

What About You?

Have you come up against traits of “real writers” that just don’t seem to fit you? Do you like to flit from one unfinished project to another instead of sticking to one story until it’s finished and submitted? Do you need noise around you and get the heebie jeebies when it’s too quiet?

If you have time, leave a comment concerning one or two areas where you have struggled in the past with a “real writer” trait. Let’s set ourselves free from the tyranny of the shoulds!

10 Comments »

1. 

   I generally need certain songs playing in the background when writing or editing (especially editing). Doesn’t matter if the house is loud or quiet, I need that music to keep me focused. I know writers who can’t have any music playing or those who can only have instrumental music to set the tone. I need rock and pop ballads – go figure. LOL. I also write better at night when everyone else is asleep, but practically long term it doesn’t work in my lifestyle with the kids and hubby so I try to do most of my writing when the kids are in school and only write late if inspiration has struck and I feel I’ll loose it if I don’t get it done. I think the best thing is to figure out where you can be flexible and where you can’t and try to accommodate yourself where you need to and draw the line where you need to.

   Comment by Angelia Almos — November 15, 2010 @ 11:56 am

2. 

   Angelia, my hat goes off to anyone who can write while listening to rock or pop. Yes, you’re right about having to be flexible when you have a family (and/or a day job).

   Comment by Kristi Holl — November 15, 2010 @ 1:16 pm

3. 

   Hee hee … yup, the write in the morning thing. I just can’t seem to do that one. I’m a night owl.

   I confess I tell my students to write every day. I don’t care what it is — a letter, a song, a list, but write every day, just for 15 min. So if you’re reading this, I still mean it. Do it!

   Comment by Vijaya — November 15, 2010 @ 2:20 pm

4. 

   Vijaya, I hear you! I told my students the same thing–and it’s good advice to keep the words flowing. I’ve noticed that my “best time to write” seems to vary with my health and my circumstances. Sometimes it takes a few hours to get going.

   Comment by Kristi Holl — November 15, 2010 @ 5:20 pm

5. 

   I love books that encourage uniqueness… thank you for sharing this one! It’s going on my to-be-read list.

   Speaking of books… I have a recommendation for you! (being that you’re a creative type like me). I just found out about “THE RENAISSANCE SOUL: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One” by Margaret Lobenstine a couple of weeks ago. I am currently waiting on the interlibrary loan copy that my local library has ordered for me. According to the author’s website, I am definitely a “Renaissance Soul“. If you want, Amazon.com has a “look inside this book” feature for this one, so you can check it out thoroughly.

   ~MizB

   Comment by MizB — November 15, 2010 @ 6:55 pm

6. 

   MizB, I never thought of myself as a renaissance anything, but the book sounds great! Yes, I regularly use that “look inside” feature at Amazon. It quite often sells me! Thanks for the recommendation!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — November 16, 2010 @ 6:57 am

7. 

   I’m guilty of thinking I needed to do every one of those (or all of them) at one point or another. I do try to write every day. That’s about the only one I absolutely stick to. In the meantime, I put that book on my wishlist. Seems like a unique approach to getting an individualized routine that might really work.

   Comment by Julie Hedlund — November 16, 2010 @ 12:08 pm

8. 

   Julie, I agree. And it’s about time that someone pointed out that because we are so unique and we have such different circumstances that we will naturally have DIFFERENT ways that work best for US. We need the freedom to try different things.

   Comment by Kristi Holl — November 16, 2010 @ 12:18 pm

9. 

   I always write better in the early morning hours or with instrumental music in the background. However, I seem to flit from one unfinished project to another. How does one stick to one project until it’s finished and ready for publishing? Or is it the norm to flit from one unfinished project to another until one of them IS finished?

   Comment by PamT — November 16, 2010 @ 12:44 pm

10. 

    Pam, one of the traits to explore was this very fact. Writers are different. I go nuts trying to flit from one project to another, but my best writing friend works best this way. (We have the same amount of publishing credits, so both ways obviously work.) At any given time she is working on a poetry book, a novel, a series, and a nonfiction ebook. She writes best this way and is very prolific! She eventually finishes all her projects and submits them. You sound a lot like her.

    Comment by Kristi Holl — November 17, 2010 @ 7:21 am

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