A Pique Behind the Scenes

Usually, when you read something, you don't know much about the details of the writer's composition process. What was the writer wearing when she wrote the thing you're reading? (A somewhat scroungy purple bathrobe and rectangular glasses.) What time was it? (6:36 a.m.) What in god's name got her out of bed so early? (Yeah, yeah, you're thinking, get ON with it already! Show me the magic!)

Readers generally don't appreciate getting dragged into the bog of quotidian muck. Good writers know this, and they try to keep their prose clean.

However, this is a blog about the creative process. Which means I'm letting you, the reader, IN on my process, messy though it often is.

So please be warned: we are going to get our feet dirty.

Let's start off in a big ol' marital mudpuddle, shall we? What follows is the dialogue from a recent writing-related altercation between me and my husband, in two parts – one foot (schlupp) and then the other (squiiiish):

Misstep ONE

Me: (sigh) I miss having a reason to write. Ever since I finished [insert title of most recent project], I've been feeling... blah, like I'm adrift....

Him: Would you want to work on the multiplicity book?

Me: Yeah, actually, that sounded kind of appealing when we were talking about it the other day – but remember? You said you weren't sure about collaborating with me on that. You think I'm disorganized. My process annoys you.

Him: I wouldn't question it if you were successful at writing.

Me (flouncing out of the room and almost immediately marching back): Okay, I'm never dedicating a book to you. You are the most unsupportive person in the universe!

Misstep TWO

Me: Come here, come here – you have to read this!

Him: (reading my “Choose Your Own Adventure” blog entry, stone-faced)

Me: Wow. Way to crack a smile.

Him: (getting up from the computer & walking away)

Me: Well, I like it, so you can suck rocks!

Now, I've recounted this argument because I think it demonstrates several key things about both the creative process in general and the challenges I'm facing as I begin this particular process.

(It also demonstrates – let's be honest – that no matter how much we might think we've learned about effective communication, we are always capable of reverting to extremely childish behavior. Yes, each of us has a creative inner child, which is wonderful – as long as it's not tantrum time.)

Here's a list of some of the topics I came up with while I was sulking. Each will be discussed in greater detail later, in one or more future entries.

1. Audience Awareness: What happens when you write to please the reader? What happens when you write to please yourself?
2. FUBAR Feedback: Why does working with others sometimes help and sometimes hinder the creative process?
3. Memoir as Prostitution: It can be really awkward writing about yourself and the people you know.
4. Why Our Stories Matter: We all make meaning by turning our life events into narratives about who we ARE – so we need to be aware of the “spin” factor!
5. Cleverness and Wordplay (a.k.a. Formal Experimentation and Literary Devices): Might these tricks be sleight-of-hand, a way of distracting ourselves & others from what's really going on?
6. How to Make Lemonade out of Lemons: Our most difficult moments can provide us with the juiciest material!
7. In Defense of the Blog: Why I like writing in this format, in this forum.
8. No More Excuses: Anything, anything at all can be used as an excuse NOT to create – which is why an act of creation is always a leap of faith.