Sunday, March 09, 2008

After The First and Second Novel Jitters

Been going through a bit of a creative block lately, on the writing tip. It's something many writers say they go through. It's not a normal thing for me.

When I did journalism, there wasn't a such thing as having creative/writer block. You got an assignment, you got a timeframe to research and write it, and you did it. Journalism is a good training ground for anyone considering book writing. The discipline and time thing.

That's the same approach/advice I've given and received about novel writing. Do the first draft "journalism" style. Just get through a draft. Now, with journalism, there's not a lot of time to re-write and edit. With creative writing, you have all the time in the world to think about getting the story right.

But... back to me. There's one question going through my mind when I put pen to paper -- is it any good? Not a question that I used to ask myself. But now that I'm in "the business" it's something that plagues me all the time.

So for all you first-timers, aspirings, etc... be thankful that you're writing for fun. That's how I saw my first novel. The second one too. Now, all I think about are readers, editors, numbers, and is it good?

Not going crazy over it. It is what it is, ya dig? :-) Just a temporary thing.
fs

3 comments:

Demetrius said...

Learned from Bob McKee this October - writer's block comes from some unfinished life business of the writer that will somehow tie into their work at hand once it is finished. His observation was its something we're avoiding/ignoring (or trying to).

BuddahDesmond said...

I'm sure it's just a temporary thing. If your work thus far is any indication - it'll continue to get better and attract many readers. I'm already looking forward to the next novel. Continued success!

Anonymous said...

Care to drop any clues about the new book? If, it will continue in the same vein as the last one, could we have more Momma in it, that charachter I just loved, as I think many can relate to her.

I'm sure the block will clear, usually, its all the things that are swriling around outside your head that cause the blocks.