The Writing Process
(OR LACK THEREOF)
"I'll get back to this later."
Which is a good way to describe my writing process: not only am I all over the place, but I put things off for longer than any sane person should. I'm a firm believer that my best work comes at zero hour, when all hope should be lost, and sleep is for the weak. The night before an assignment is due, I go into top gun mode and crack down harder than any human being should be capable of, and there's nothing that can bother me save for my supply of Dr Pepper running dangerously low or my dog needing to go out and chase squirrels in the yard.
Despite my best attempts to channel that energy into a more positive use, like, say, writing an assignment ahead of time and not saving the work for my entire course load of classes for one day, there has been little change in my writing patterns. If nothing else, I am a creature of habit. I enjoy turning a fan on in my room for the white noise and word vomiting all over a blank screen until it has something -- anything. It doesn't have to be good, it doesn't even have to make a ton of sense. But it's there, it's something I can shape, like a sculptor would shape a block of stone or a mound of clay. I can edit things, drag things, cut and paste things into different orders that make more sense . . . I'm just incapable of doing my work at a time where it makes sense.
Hopefully you'll agree that waiting until the last minute is worth it in terms of my writing quality and effectiveness. If not, there's always revision, where the process begins again. This is my #twitterive.
Which is a good way to describe my writing process: not only am I all over the place, but I put things off for longer than any sane person should. I'm a firm believer that my best work comes at zero hour, when all hope should be lost, and sleep is for the weak. The night before an assignment is due, I go into top gun mode and crack down harder than any human being should be capable of, and there's nothing that can bother me save for my supply of Dr Pepper running dangerously low or my dog needing to go out and chase squirrels in the yard.
Despite my best attempts to channel that energy into a more positive use, like, say, writing an assignment ahead of time and not saving the work for my entire course load of classes for one day, there has been little change in my writing patterns. If nothing else, I am a creature of habit. I enjoy turning a fan on in my room for the white noise and word vomiting all over a blank screen until it has something -- anything. It doesn't have to be good, it doesn't even have to make a ton of sense. But it's there, it's something I can shape, like a sculptor would shape a block of stone or a mound of clay. I can edit things, drag things, cut and paste things into different orders that make more sense . . . I'm just incapable of doing my work at a time where it makes sense.
Hopefully you'll agree that waiting until the last minute is worth it in terms of my writing quality and effectiveness. If not, there's always revision, where the process begins again. This is my #twitterive.
Oh, sweet baby Jesus, talking about my writing process gives me the heeby-jeebies. #twitterive
— Dave Lucas (@sellar_door) February 22, 2012