#68: Write, Now
Last week, I encouraged listeners to try out Raymond Chandler\u2019s writing approach to avoid resisting the work of writing and, perhaps, to write inspired:\nTwo very simple rules, a. you don't have to write. b. you can't do anything else. (154 Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler)\nHow did it go?\n\nChandler freed us to look out the window or stand on our heads or writhe on the floor. But during the time we set aside for writing we were not to do any other positive thing\u2014not read, write letters, check Facebook, or heart a photo on Instagram.\n\nWe were to write or do nothing.\n\nI contrasted this with the grit-it-out-and-churn-it-out approach that many people advise. You might have heard the quote that\u2019s been attributed to several people:\xa0\u201cI only write when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes at nine every morning.\u201d\n\nI shared that Barbara Kingsolver said she had no time to lure the muse into her creative process and wait for it, like many writers she admired.\n\nAs she explained in High Tide in Tucson, when she was a young mom, her writing time began the minute her daughter climbed on the school bus. At that point, she said her muse flipped a baseball cap around on his head backwards and said, \u201cOkay, author lady, you\u2019ve got six hours till that bus rolls back up the drive. You can sit down and write, now, or you can think about looking for a day job\u201d (96).\n\nI don't know which approach is more realistic or will produce better writing, so I proposed we give them both a test run.\n\nThere\u2019s the write-or-do-nothing approach of Raymond Chandler. If I\xa0got bored, an idea would eventually pop into my head and I\u2019d be back to tapping away at the keyboard.\n\nThen there\u2019s Kingsolver\u2019s approach, where we sit down and write, now, whatever we can as best we can, to get it out and meet deadline.\n\nIf you tried Raymond Chandler\u2019s approach, I\u2019d love to hear how it worked for you. Or if it worked at all. Did you sit for hours and do nothing? Or did the doing nothing part end up energizing your creativity?\n\nThis week, when you set aside your four hours, or two hours, or half an hour to write, you\u2019ll still have to avoid the temptation to click over and check email or pop up to fold laundry. The basic advice is the same from both Raymond Chandler and Barbara Kingsolver. You have to sit there. But where Chandler says you don\u2019t have to write, Kingsolver\u2019s muse urges her, \u201cGet to work. Pound out some words."\n\nChandler said write, or do nothing.\n\nI think Kingsolver was saying write. Period.\n\nKingsolver\u2019s approach is that you\u2019ve got six hours, or four, or 20 minutes, or whatever, until your writing time is over. "You can sit down and write, now, or you can think about looking for a day job.\u201d\n\nThis week, as part of our experiment, try the Kingsolver approach.\n\nSit down and write, now, whatever you can, as best you can. Get it out, get it down, and meet deadline. No stopping, no staring, no waiting, no writhing.\n\nJust write.\n\n\n\nClick on the podcast player above or use subscription options below to listen to the full episode.\nResources:\n\n \tEpisode #67: Either Write or Nothing\n \tSelected Letters of Raymond Chandler, edited by Frank MacShane. New York: Columbus University Press, 1981\n \tHigh Tide in Tucson, by Barbara Kingsolver\n\n* * *\nYou can subscribe with iTunes,\xa0where I'd love to have you subscribe, rate, and leave a review.\n\nThe podcast is also available\xa0Stitcher,\xa0and you should be able to search for and find "Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach" in any podcast player.\n\n____________________\nIs your writing life all it can be?\n\n\n\xa0\n\nLet this book act as your personal coach, to explore the writing life you already have and the writing life you wish for, and close the gap between the two.\n\n"A genial marriage of practice and theory. For writers new and seasoned. This book is a winner."\n\n\u2014Phil Gulley, author of Front Porch Tales