It took ages for me to just let go of an idea and head in another direction. I think it may come with experience, as well as our own comfort levels. Starting out, every sentence felt like it had been wrung out of my very soul. I agonized needlessly over everything I wrote, and the thought of throwing it out to go into another direction would have caused untold panic.
Now I enjoy experimenting. I'm glad I'm here and not back there!
Oh my goodness, this happens to me so often. The clearest example right now is the camping memoir that I'm working on, a long piece that undergoes significant changes every time I respond to notes from my beta team. By the time I finish my work it will be totally different from what my audience has seen in previews here on Substack.
I have fifteen ideas in my draft folder right now, and every time I sit down to work on one of them to finally hit publish, they take on a life of their own, often looking very different from the original reason I wrote down the title in the first place.
I wish my high school students understood that this is just part of the process 😉
Between finishing this damn book and the beginning of the school year, I've been pretty absent from Substack networking, but I'm trying to make a few minutes a day for it now 😉
How often? Probably every time I write! Writing helps me untangle thoughts, ideas, and experiences, so I always have to work that out on the page before I realize where my point is *really* headed. Kind of backwards, but it's more effective for me. 😊
Yes, everything we start is going to need tweaking, but I mean after we've worked on a piece for a while. Do you ever just scrap most of it and start all over again?
Sorry, I wasn't clear! What I mean is that I'll be working with a certain topic/idea in mind and then after my "untangling" process, realize I'm headed elsewhere entirely. I have many drafts with original ideas that hardly mirror the final piece. Hopefully that makes more sense.
I'll copy and paste the original piece just to keep if I want to reference in the future. But I start over a looooot.
Like the others here, this is normality for me. Even though I'm a passionate plotter, my stories always, always take their own detours. Wouldn't be fun otherwise!
Andrew, your piece on jiu jitsu is so interesting. I never knew about any of that and didn't even know I wanted to! So thank you for sharing it.
Your piece on observation and perspective is equally interesting. A lot to think about.
Do you do your own artwork?
You have a great blog there, but I'm going to be honest: I just can't subscribe to newsletters that post every day. I have a hard enough time trying to keep up with the ones that hit my inbox less often. I frankly don't know how you keep it up!
How often do you think you start a piece that veers into something else entirely?
Pretty often, although as I looked through my most recent pieces, I was struck that none of the last five or six were like that. If I had to put a percentage to it, maybe it's 20% or so. But of course, since I write and publish every day, that means every five days or so!
I certainly understand not wanting to subscribe to folks who publish every day. I'm writing as much for me as for my readers, I think, so I'm just gonna do what I enjoy. I also think that folks like us are in a very different reading position than most people: we are super burdened with stuff we want to read since we're so connected with other writers. At least, that's how it is for me.
Most of the art is done via Dall E. I really enjoy the serendipity of that process.
My latest piece was like this - I wrote a short reaction to a letter I received, but it wasn't quite "anything" yet. I put it away for awhile and when returned to it, I was surprised at where it took me. Instead of being about my snarky reaction to a negative doctor's note, it became more about the reasons I need this letter in the first place, fears and identity and safety for my son. My first little freewrite ended up completely rewritten as I dug into the real issue. This process is scary at first - Oh no, this is not working how I thought - but it's really fun and intriguing when I can I see it through... https://itslikethis.substack.com/p/36-identification-please
I always start with an idea and then suddenly it takes a turn. As I always use my intuition to write, this seems to be normal. But I can be surprised by the ways some writings change while just sitting with it and let my hands do the writing.
I think that's what writing is about. You have to relinquish control in some sense and let the writing decide what it wants to be, which is often different to what you start out with. There is definitely a part of the writing process which is unconscious. Things come out that you never would have thought of once you are in it. And in the end it's given away to the reader, and takes on a new life there.
"There is definitely a part of the writing process which is unconscious. Things come out that you never would have thought of once you are in it. And in the end it's given away to the reader, and takes on a new life there."
I am a little late to the party here but these comments are great. I love how the community echoes what you said Ramona. I am the same. I sit down and then meander around. I admit to being a tad concerned about what happens if this DOESN'T occur. What if there are no twists and turns? I don't think I would know what to write.
I write non-fiction but have often wondered how amazing it must be for fiction writers. They sit down having little, maybe no, idea of what their character is going to do. That process would be both fascinating and frightening!
Letting the characters take the lead is what I love most about writing fiction. Not that I would give them complete control, but enough so they're making some of their own decisions. It makes the whole process so much more interesting!
It's always so encouraging to see the comments that land in response to your questions Ramona. To know that others have similar experiences and "unfolding of stories" reaffirms that I'm not unique and I'm not alone. That's a heart and soul connection that results in the most lovely sense of always being "Perfectly on Time"... LOL! :-) Thank you!
And exciting too!
It took ages for me to just let go of an idea and head in another direction. I think it may come with experience, as well as our own comfort levels. Starting out, every sentence felt like it had been wrung out of my very soul. I agonized needlessly over everything I wrote, and the thought of throwing it out to go into another direction would have caused untold panic.
Now I enjoy experimenting. I'm glad I'm here and not back there!
Oh my goodness, this happens to me so often. The clearest example right now is the camping memoir that I'm working on, a long piece that undergoes significant changes every time I respond to notes from my beta team. By the time I finish my work it will be totally different from what my audience has seen in previews here on Substack.
I have fifteen ideas in my draft folder right now, and every time I sit down to work on one of them to finally hit publish, they take on a life of their own, often looking very different from the original reason I wrote down the title in the first place.
I wish my high school students understood that this is just part of the process 😉
Yes! And thanks for restacking, Sarah.
Between finishing this damn book and the beginning of the school year, I've been pretty absent from Substack networking, but I'm trying to make a few minutes a day for it now 😉
Just do what you have to do, Sarah. We'll wait for you!
I also shared on Threads :-)
Thanks so much!
How often? Probably every time I write! Writing helps me untangle thoughts, ideas, and experiences, so I always have to work that out on the page before I realize where my point is *really* headed. Kind of backwards, but it's more effective for me. 😊
Yes, everything we start is going to need tweaking, but I mean after we've worked on a piece for a while. Do you ever just scrap most of it and start all over again?
Sorry, I wasn't clear! What I mean is that I'll be working with a certain topic/idea in mind and then after my "untangling" process, realize I'm headed elsewhere entirely. I have many drafts with original ideas that hardly mirror the final piece. Hopefully that makes more sense.
I'll copy and paste the original piece just to keep if I want to reference in the future. But I start over a looooot.
Got it. Me too!
Me three. :-)
Like the others here, this is normality for me. Even though I'm a passionate plotter, my stories always, always take their own detours. Wouldn't be fun otherwise!
We're such adventurers, right? Any other way would be so boring!
haha, yes! We are intrepid.
All the time, Ramona! This piece ended up turning personal, so I kind of leaned into it (a stretch for me!):
https://goatfury.substack.com/p/inflection-points
I love it when it happens. I wrote a little about this here:
https://goatfury.substack.com/p/the-observation-problem
Andrew, your piece on jiu jitsu is so interesting. I never knew about any of that and didn't even know I wanted to! So thank you for sharing it.
Your piece on observation and perspective is equally interesting. A lot to think about.
Do you do your own artwork?
You have a great blog there, but I'm going to be honest: I just can't subscribe to newsletters that post every day. I have a hard enough time trying to keep up with the ones that hit my inbox less often. I frankly don't know how you keep it up!
How often do you think you start a piece that veers into something else entirely?
Pretty often, although as I looked through my most recent pieces, I was struck that none of the last five or six were like that. If I had to put a percentage to it, maybe it's 20% or so. But of course, since I write and publish every day, that means every five days or so!
I certainly understand not wanting to subscribe to folks who publish every day. I'm writing as much for me as for my readers, I think, so I'm just gonna do what I enjoy. I also think that folks like us are in a very different reading position than most people: we are super burdened with stuff we want to read since we're so connected with other writers. At least, that's how it is for me.
Most of the art is done via Dall E. I really enjoy the serendipity of that process.
Ditto every comment so far.
😏
My latest piece was like this - I wrote a short reaction to a letter I received, but it wasn't quite "anything" yet. I put it away for awhile and when returned to it, I was surprised at where it took me. Instead of being about my snarky reaction to a negative doctor's note, it became more about the reasons I need this letter in the first place, fears and identity and safety for my son. My first little freewrite ended up completely rewritten as I dug into the real issue. This process is scary at first - Oh no, this is not working how I thought - but it's really fun and intriguing when I can I see it through... https://itslikethis.substack.com/p/36-identification-please
I always start with an idea and then suddenly it takes a turn. As I always use my intuition to write, this seems to be normal. But I can be surprised by the ways some writings change while just sitting with it and let my hands do the writing.
Serendipity. It makes life interesting!
it absolutely does!
I think that's what writing is about. You have to relinquish control in some sense and let the writing decide what it wants to be, which is often different to what you start out with. There is definitely a part of the writing process which is unconscious. Things come out that you never would have thought of once you are in it. And in the end it's given away to the reader, and takes on a new life there.
Perfectly put!
"There is definitely a part of the writing process which is unconscious. Things come out that you never would have thought of once you are in it. And in the end it's given away to the reader, and takes on a new life there."
I am a little late to the party here but these comments are great. I love how the community echoes what you said Ramona. I am the same. I sit down and then meander around. I admit to being a tad concerned about what happens if this DOESN'T occur. What if there are no twists and turns? I don't think I would know what to write.
I write non-fiction but have often wondered how amazing it must be for fiction writers. They sit down having little, maybe no, idea of what their character is going to do. That process would be both fascinating and frightening!
Letting the characters take the lead is what I love most about writing fiction. Not that I would give them complete control, but enough so they're making some of their own decisions. It makes the whole process so much more interesting!
It's always so encouraging to see the comments that land in response to your questions Ramona. To know that others have similar experiences and "unfolding of stories" reaffirms that I'm not unique and I'm not alone. That's a heart and soul connection that results in the most lovely sense of always being "Perfectly on Time"... LOL! :-) Thank you!
Well, you are unique but you're not alone! ❤️