It’s pretty hard to write about your writing process when there isn’t a specific writing process to write about (try saying that three times late on a Saturday night!).
While I completely understand that there needs to be some kind of flow, to be honest that’s not how my brain’s wired.
Given I’m juggling a lot of hypothetical balls (and I’m worse than Mr Magoo when it comes to juggling), the chances I get to write “properly” are few and far between.
However, since the kind ladies at Morning Rain Publishing recently?asked about my writing process as part of their series looking at how their authors work, I’ll try my best to accommodate with something that at least looks like it might be a process.
It Starts With A Scribble
Much like the way William Carson described his own writing process, my ideas usually come to me at the most inopportune time – running to catch a train, munching on a lunch-time banana, or even changing my two-year-old daughter’s diaper.
Because of this, many ideas are often lost – try writing something down with banana-covered fingers, or worse (I’ll spare you the diaper info).
Because of that, when I do get an opportunity to put down an idea, it’s wherever I can find somewhere to store or share it. This can be a text to myself, an email, a Post-It, or (on occasion) a marker on my forearm.
If I have the luxury of being near a computer, I’ll pop into Word, or my blog, and draft up the headline that sprang to mind, along with a one sentence “brief” that gives me the pointers to work on when I actually have some downtime.
I find this works really well for me, since I’m the kind of writer that writes as the thoughts come into my head, and keeps writing.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Readers are drawn in by stories that evoke an emotional connection – be that connector. #writing” quote=”Readers are drawn in by stories that evoke an emotional connection – be that connector”]
I usually don’t worry about how well it’s edited (that’s why there are far smarter people than me called editors, after all!) – instead, I want to catch the raw story and emotion at exactly the time I’m thinking about it.
On my blog, this has led to some of the most personal and confrontational posts I’ve ever written – but isn’t that what good blogging is all about anyway, rawness and emotion?
Besides, as a reader, I’m drawn in more by the story and how that evokes emotional connection in me, versus worrying about whether or not I’ve pissed off some grammar Nazi god somewhere.
The Surroundings Don’t Necessarily Matter
On top of the way I string ideas together, and how I write, I’m also pretty haphazard when it comes to where I write.
When I was speaking to my wife about this, I mentioned my writing space is essentially my head. Which doesn’t make for a very visual picture.
The image below is of the table that’s in one of our front rooms.
It’s a mish mash of family life – kids toys, baby wipes, portable DVD player, my headphones (perfect for late night YouTube watching when you don’t want to wake the family), and my trusty MacBook Air.
While it might look cluttered – okay, not might: is – ?it’s actually a very therapeutic little place for me. It reminds me of how lucky I am in having the kind of love a household needs to make it a home, while still affording me the little space I need for my own belongings.
If I’m not writing there, then I may draft some ideas during lunchtime at work, or simply text myself on the Lakeshore West GO train on any given weekday.
Because I write as an idea comes to me, versus meticulously planning, re-planning, and revising, I find even the craziness of clutterdom works in my favour. Which is alright in my books (no pun intended).
After all, the process is merely the tool that gets us to where we need to be – it’s the initial step on a new writing adventure that really matters.
And isn’t that how it should be?
A version of this post originally appeared on the Morning Rain Publishing blog, where my book The Little Book of Inspiration will be published early 2015.