How do you write?
by robinhobb on May.07, 2010, under Robin Hobb and Sara Creasy
Posting back and forth with Dane has led me to think about this. Vonda McIntyre would tell you that there is no wrong way to write, and I would tell you that Vonda is one wise writer.
So how do YOU write? I’ll toss that question to Sara and to any other writers out there. Some swear by long-hand and an expensive fountain pen. Some sit in a noisy cafe, and others have to have absolute silence. Some need a certain keyboard or Must Have Coffee standing by.
I remember reading somewhere a theory that so many writers smoked or became alcoholics because of the rhythm of writing: that you work for a brief stretch, get up, do some minor thing (have a cigarette or fix a drink or brew a cup of tea) and then come back to sit and type a few more lines. I thought it was interesting but hardly convincing.
Over my years as a writer, I’ve had all sorts of techniques. Ball point pen and spiral notebooks and a seat in the back of the classroom in highschool. I’d also go home and climb the ladder to the meat cache (little log house up high on a log platform, sometimes full of frozen moose or caribou haunches in winter) and hide out there to write.
By the time I was 18 and living as a new wife in Chiniak Village on Kodiak Island, I had graduated to a portable typewriter. Smith Coronamatic. Those were the days of typewriter ribbons and creating a carbon pack for every page so you’d have a copy to keep with you when you submitted your original. It was also the days of Wite-out to correct typing errors, and discard the page if you made more than three errors in your typing. There was no delete key!
Then came kids.
You can be a parent, a stay at home parent and still write. If anyone tells you it’s impossible, just give them a steely eyed look and whip your stenographer’s notebook out of your diaper bag! Moms can write. I went from a full size spiral notebook to a stenographer’s size because it was so much easier to fit in a diaper bag and also to brace on my knee while I was writing. I wrote on the bathroom floor while kids were taking long baths. I wrote while sitting on the edge of the sandbox. While waiting for a doctor’s appointment. I wrote almost a full novel at a sticky table in a roller-rink while the kids were whizzing around on skates. You know the WWII thing about ’smoke ‘em if you got ‘em’ for catching a cigarette when you could. The same holds for writing. You CAN write in five minute intervals. Yes. You can. It won’t be great writing, but when the kids are finally asleep, you can then transcribe it via keyboard, and fix anything that’s wrong with it. As you transcribe, it will grow and change.
Time passes. Kids grow. The hours when the kids are in school and you are not at your ‘real’ job are much too precious to spend on housework! Write. You can sweep the floor while quizzing kids on their spelling words. Write while you can.
And when your kids become teenagers and find you embarassing and annoying, don’t be irritated or hurt! Settle down to the keyboard and write. Trust me, it does them good to see that you have a passion and a life, even if it involves pretending that you a pirate in an alternate universe.
How do I write now? Well, my last ‘child’ is registering for her freshman classes today. I’ll be a ‘Greener Mom’! And I don’t have to pick up my grandkids from school until 3. So I’ll spend the hours at my full size keyboard in my basement dungeon office. And late at night, I’ll add a few more hours to that.
I tried a laptop. The shrunken keyboard made my hands hurt. I really like the curved Microsoft keyboard with a gel cushion under my wrists. When I travel, I revert to spiral notebooks and pencils. I like the feel of lead on paper. Worst scenario was when I had to talk my way back through Australian customs because I’d left my notebook on the wrong side of the barrier! They did let me have it back, thank Goodness!
I’d say the best way to write is with whatever you have when ever you can.
Robin
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May 8th, 2010 on 12:47 am
My writing practices have changed plenty since I started. No matter what, I always seem to go back to the good old pen and paper. If I use a computer, I have to disconnect the Internet connection because I get way too distracted.
With a little one in the house now, the trick is to find time to write.
May 8th, 2010 on 9:33 am
Hi, just finished Dragon Haven. I loved the book but felt the ending was unsatisfying. I want to know what happens now that they’ve reached their destination.
May 8th, 2010 on 12:17 pm
Dane, it’s not easy to write with a little kid around. But I know it can be done and I suspect you can do it.
I mean, I bet that you still manage to watch a TV show now and then. Or read a book, or cook a meal. And Lord knows those things aren’t easy with a kid around.
So, sorry, I’m stamping your note with an Unexcused Absence From Keyboard, and requiring that you make up the lost writing time during the hours when you thought you were going to sleep . . .
Don’t make me get out my ruler, Mister!
Robin
May 8th, 2010 on 12:19 pm
Hi Shinam!
I don’t want to hijack Babel Clash to talk only about my book, so I think for now I’ll just say that the best place to end a book is where the next tale would logically begin.
And that’s what I’ve done there. And I’m hard at work on the Next Tale.
Stories just don’t fit well between two covers sometimes. They tend to go on and on and on . . .
Thanks for your comment!
Robin
May 8th, 2010 on 1:16 pm
It certainly takes a lot of drive to be able to not succumb to the bliss of just sitting back and doing nothing when you’ve got those spare five minutes!
I remember watching my father write; while we were playing football, in the waiting room for appointments, even taking a dictaphone out with him on walks. Seeing how much love he put into that, even with a job and two kids to look after, was certainly inspiring.
May 9th, 2010 on 11:13 am
I’ve always wondered how you have been writing the books I loved!
You know Robin, the first thing I’ve been sure of my life, since I was a child, is that I would have been a writer. But… I’m 26 now and still I haven’t find the way to live my dream. My head seems to be full of stories but when I’m front of that blank sheet… I just don’t know how put them outside! How did you do it? I mean, the first time. Do you remember it?
Sorry for my silly question (and my bad english!) and thanks if you will be so kind to answer.
PS. I’ll see you this summer in Italy! I’ll be the happiest one with an old copy of Clooven Hooves for you to sign!
May 9th, 2010 on 3:27 pm
Daria, just start typing!
There are all sorts of ways to begin. Pretend you are the main character and are writing your blog. Pretend you are writing a letter about the events to a good friend.
Or break the story into scenes, and write scene after scene, no matter how bad. Such as, “They meet for tea. He throws cup at her.”
Then you close your eyes and say, “Where are they? What do I see, what do I hear, what do I smell?” And start telling us about the white cloth on the table, the silly plastic flowers in the vase, and the smell of mint tea . . .
You can do it. Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect the first time. Just write it.
Good luck,
Robin
And when we meet in Italy, remind me that we’ve ‘met’ on line. Maybe we will have time for mint tea somewhere . . .
Robin
May 9th, 2010 on 5:40 pm
It would be really nice!! Thank you Robin for your words, I really appreciated what you said and I promise that I will try. I don’t know why - and I know I can sound naive - but if you say I can do it, I believe you! Maybe because you’re the one who created Pan and The Fool, so…
Thanks again and sorry if I went off topic!
See you soon,
Daria
May 9th, 2010 on 7:00 pm
Do you ever write while reading someone else’s work? I don’t write much, but I read all the time. Every time I do write I find myself re-creating a style or voice of my current read. It’s not a bad thing, in fact I find it’s kind of amusing. I just am wondering if it’s necessary to take a sabatical from reading in order to find one’s own voice? That could be a form of torture for a reader!
steve M
May 10th, 2010 on 1:02 am
Hi Steve!
Cross pollination isn’t a bad thing. I remember working on a fantasy tale while reading some hard boiled detective fiction. And after a time, my wizard started taking on a sort of Mickey Spillane attitude. I wasn’t sure what to do with that but I still think it has a lot of possibilities.
I try to avoid anything that is too close to my sort of work and in the same genre. Non fiction that relates is a good read while I’m writing. So is sometihng that is very different from what I’m doing. Sort of cleanses the palate . . .
Robin
May 10th, 2010 on 12:43 pm
Robin - I must say that you’ve completely reinvigorated my desire to write. If, and when, I get published, you’ve definitely earned your way into the acknowledgements!!!
May 10th, 2010 on 6:34 pm
I’m also of philosophy: wrtie using whatever I can whenever I can, just about. Usually, I work at home on my desktop. If the cats are being too annoying, I close myself up in a more private room with a laptop. But while I’m on breaks at my day-job, I scribble on a notebook and transcribe it later. When inspiration strikes there’s just no stopping it! One time inspiration hit while I was on vacation, and it’s a good thing I had my moleskin notebook with me, or … hm, I don’t know what I would have resorted to
May 11th, 2010 on 11:20 am
I’m still learning to write in short bursts. Usually I need (or think I need?) long stretches of time but I expect I’m just looking for an excuse to procrastinate. I don’t like music or any background noise. I’m very susceptible to interruptions… snack time, cleaning the bathroom time, pop over to the store time, check email for the ninth time this hour time. Any excuse will do unless things are going fantastically well with my scene.
So for first drafts I get the most words down away from my computer, using an Alphasmart (portable keyboard with a tiny 6-line display). Because editing is so laborious on the Alphasmart, I don’t edit as I go and the word count grows encouragingly. I aim for 2000 words an hour on that baby. Best eBay purchase I ever made!
May 14th, 2010 on 1:37 am
I can’t even imagine writing on pen and paper. Without a computer to revise on, I couldn’t get anywhere. I have a healthy respect for people who can.
Shinam, I have bad news for you: Dragon Keeper ends at an even more interesting place.