Mar 13 2009
I Remember Writing
Many times I have read the writing advice, “If you’re going to be a writer, you just have to write — park yourself in a chair and write something every day, no matter how small” and nodded sagely, smug in the knowledge that I do that. I write. The park-self-in-chair method has worked rather well for me, producing over 14 book-length manuscripts (I haven’t counted recently), not including short stories or articles.
But lately that advice makes me squirm. I haven’t written in weeks. No nonfiction other than marketing letters and press releases for Hiding Place; certainly no fiction. Write for fun? It’s been ages. I am so busy doing writing-related work that I have no time to write!
(This blog is an obvious exception. It’s either keeping my skills whetted or stealing valuable fiction time — you judge which.)
For now, I’m going to take this as a season. Objectively speaking, my plate is heaped Everest-high, and it can be good to take a sabbatical from any discipline now and again. Objectively speaking, my plate will shrink back down to normal about mid-May. Then I will write again, and all these months of character-stretching work, ministry, and new experiences will have made me a better, more mature, more capable person, and that will spill over into my stories. I hope.
In the meantime, if you haven’t read any of my writing, there’s a lot of it on this site 
. You can read Taerith, a novel about a young wanderer at the crossroads of good and evil, in its entirety. Or check out Letters to a Samuel Generation, a collection of essays on walking with God. “Journey” is an allegory in the vein of Pilgrim’s Progress. Worlds Unseen, my first fantasy novel, is available for download as a PDF, as is Part One of Tales of the Heartily Homeschooled. Or, if you feel like supporting a starving artist, you can even buy books 
.
And if you do read any of the above? Please, leave me a comment and let me know. Even writers who aren’t writing love to know they’re being read.
I’ve read Taerith, Worlds Unseen, and Burning Light, and I loved them all! I recently finished Burning Light for the second time, and you wrote the important scenes so vividly that I could picture them all beautifully.
You’ve got 14 book length manuscripts written? Are you going to publish any of them? I would love to read some more of your fiction!
To be honest, I have not been following the park-self-in chair method very well. Guess I’d better work on that!
Sixteen, actually; I counted after I posted. I will probably publish more eventually, but right now I’m trying to break into traditional publishing, which is a long and arduous process which involves much mailing of letters and then waiting. For a long and arduous time.
I’m really glad to hear you’ve enjoyed those books; they were a blast to write, and they all have special places in my heart!
Sixteen manuscripts. Wow.
I have been parking myself in a chair and writing a little bit every day since I read this post, and I completed drafting a rather long chapter I had meant to finish several weeks ago. The method works!
This strikes me as funny: I knew I should have been trying to write at least a few paragraphs every day, but I never put it into practice until I read your post. Thanks!
[...] first is Elisabeth, who this morning commented on my recent “I Remember Writing” post. The post advocates the “Park yourself in a chair and write something every day, [...]