[Writer Post] Processes
Or…why I probably can never meet Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Jose Molina…
Okay, so writing is a moderately occupation – just you, the voices in your head, the clicking of the keyboard, and/or the scratching of a pen. Hopefully leading to a big ole pile of words that don’t necessarily suck. Throughout the years many people have made money off telling young writers HOW YOU should write, WHEN YOU should write, for HOW LONG YOU should write, and if you Just Follow These Rules you will be PUBLISHED (AKA rich, thin, and the person of your choice will love you!).
To that I say, POPPYCOCK! Pure, unadulterated HOCKUM. Or… BULL CRAP (it’s a family blog).
So what do I have to say about PROCESS? What makes a good process? Do you produce words? Do they create a beginning, middle, and end at some point? Congratulations! You have a process. Your process is YOUR PROCESS. If it works for you, it’s a good process. Yay, you! (Yes, this year is all about the small, every day successes. Some days that’s all we can hope for.)
And guess what? Your process? It’s probably like someone else’s process – because even though details may shift in shipping, no one is original. If you can’t write unless you have exactly six red Skittles and a shot of tequila before you write, that’s pretty specific, but there may be whole writers groups out there who have do the same thing (just maybe with green Skittles and rum). For the record, SO NOT my process.
My process isn’t elaborate. It’s not weird. It’s not even unique. In fact if you listen to this episode of Children of Tendu — you’ll hear 90% of my process. Because it’s (seriously) almost identical to Javier Grillo-Marxuach. The advice on taking advice from other writers or writing books? Jose Molina echoes most of my advice (which was taken from yet someone else) which is “take what rings true to you and discard the rest”. But Jose’s process is one I know many writers also follow – and guess what? We all get along. We all write. We all get the job done.
Which is why I should probably never meet these gentlemen in person. Because I would, very likely, be the world’s biggest, gooberiest (shut up it’s a word) fan girl on the entire planet. Seriously, I’d embarrass myself and I’m a grown, professional woman (shut up! I am, too!)
So. No matter where you are in your writing life – embrace your process. Revel in it when you find like-minded writers, no matter what the genre or style. NEVER, ever let anyone tell you your process is wrong. Likewise, NEVER, ever tell anyone THEIR process is wrong. There’s no right way to do this. There’s no wrong way to do this – as long as you’re doing this. That’s the only key. If you’re a writer – write. Period. Full Stop.
Now…back to work.