Writing every day

Vikk Simmons at Down the Writer’s Path asks Why write every day?

I read yesterday in The Writer’s Mentor that Mark Twain began writing the story of Joan of Arc six times over the course of twelve years. He said, “There are some books that refuse to be written . . . only because the right form for the story does not present itself.” Of course, he didn’t let that not-ready-to-be-written story stop him. According to the site linked under his name, Twain published nine works including Life on the Mississippi, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer Abroad, and Pudd’nhead Wilson during the twelve-year period prior to Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc.

Regarding the need to write every day, the only question a writer in that situation ought to ask is: Do I want to write? If the answer is yes, even though what you think you want to write may be stuck for now, that doesn’t mean you should stop writing. Write what you can. Write every day. When the story you want to write is ready it will flow onto the page. Or you’ll wrestle it onto the page, as sometimes happens. But if you’re not in the habit of writing, how will you know when that story is ready—and what shape will your writing skills be in when you come to it? We write the way a musician plays scales sometimes, for practice, to improve our technique. We write to work out ideas, the way a painter or sculptor sketches. When the work flows, we write in forms more palatable to the world. But even practice or journal writing can take on a life of its own. Did Anne Frank dream that her journals would be read as widely as they’ve been and touch so many people? Or did she write primarily to work out a terrifying situation for herself?

I’ve been absent from my blog—the entire Internet actually—more than usual. Blogging isn’t always a good form for me. It can break my concentration—in fact tie it up for entire days. I’m not alone in this. Reenie sent me a New York Times article today titled Blogging, As In Slogging. It doesn’t reflect my experience precisely, but it offers another, related perspective. Recently it tends to be those days I decide to rest that I wind up here at my blog.

I am writing, and getting a lot done on projects other than blogging. I have numerous ideas on the back burner, including one novel I started two years ago as a sequel to Shadows Fall. It’s on hold, mainly because it’s not ready to be written, and partly because I haven’t had the heart to delve into some of the research regarding a virulent and depressing real-world problem. While that heavier topic is on hold—hopefully not as long as Twain’s Joan of Arc—I work out my writing muscles on other things. Currently it’s my lighter tarot reader mystery, which will be the first in a series.