A question for any older people who mess about with writing

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As a wannabe writer, I keep reading the advice “just write.”

My understanding of this phrase is that little or no ‘slow and deliberate conscious thought’ is allowed to impede the creation of a first draft.

That may be a slight exaggeration, but it helps provide a perspective on further comments.

I think it might be generally agreed that as we age we become more set in our ways.

I’m wondering where that “set in our ways” leaves the much older person who by nature is guarded, cautious, circumspect, who by nature thinks everything through first, before acting, who has spent maybe seventy years honing those characteristics, and who THEN decides writing might be interesting.

“Just writing” would appear to be the very antithesis of the way they’ve developed over the years.

Do you think such a person could break out, and begin “just writing?” And if so, what tools would they use to start knocking down the walls?

Mushrooms and LSD might do the trick, but suggestions like that are not really helpful.

Thank you.

I think the only real way to break that barrier is to write, which is why the phrase has become such a cliche. I don't even see how doing other things instead of writing to ease you into it would do anything more than postpone the moment of literary consummation and even mystify it.

I spend lots of time fighting with whatever mental barriers stand in the way of writing, and while I think 'just write' is the best advice, there are some ways to scaffold this process. You don't have to launch straight into the first draft of a novel; you might just put pen to paper and write whatever comes into your head, and then throw it out. You might start some private piece of writing and then, once comfortable with that, move it into a public forum or start writing in a more public forum. Maybe a good piece of advice is just write anything.

Good advice.

Maybe you could start with a journal, because no one else would ever have to see it. Anything random that comes into your head, just jot it down. In fact, this could even be a small memo book you carry with you during the day as you go about your business.

The stuff that results from this can be pretty surprising. Give it a try.

first, to dr. s----good to see you survived the bombs. me thinks writing is just like kung fu grasshopper, you must practice. wax on-wax off. not possible to write while using lsd, unless it's in klingon. write about what you know-the deserts would be good. climbed ayers rock in 17 minutes, wrote about that for the local mensa magazine. three drafts before ready-so slow. do it for yourself, self publishing makes it easy to have a book published,so, lots of people write. finding an agent, well, good luck with that. please write in forums. don't believe age has a lot to do with it. my body is gone, been dead 4 times, mind still works. i'm 63. 63-how is that possible?

I used to think just writing is NOT for me, I'm not like that, I don't write every day on a regular basis.

STILL I joined Nanowrimo, and it was the dangest best thing I ever did! Even though it was totally different to my usual writing style, it really gave me something I didn't have before. I basically wrote every day (well almost), both years I participated.

I reached the goal both years.

The journal thing works for me also. Not only does it help get stuff out of my head (as much as anything can) but when I make up little stories and conversations throughout the day I can jot stuff down. Some turn into scenes, characters, etc. Some don't. Just write and write stream of consciousness style and weed through it later--something will make itself known and the structure can come later.

Yes I think it can be done even if you're oldish. Depends on how set in your ways you're happy to be. Best way I know (for music in my case) is to hang out with artists who have a flair for immediacy. They're not usually the type to make and keep appointments, but when they do manage to drift into my circle, they make me want to be immediate too.

I used to have a lot of problems with getting way too technical and perfectionist about music, so I wouldn't begin to play until I'd contrived the whole thing and thus squeezed the life out of it. That was when I was just recording alone. I don't get anything like the perfectionist results with these fellow artists, but it's a price worth paying for that constant wakening of my creative juices.

forcing 3 pages a day works some people out of writer's block. don't censor; just get 3 pages out as quickly as you can.

i think writing and editing are two different processes and if you try to get it out right the first time you're in editing mode and need to switch gears or you'll get stuck.

One way to approach writing is with a list of points you want to cover. Then fill in the details, and arrange the parts to flow easily.

Lots of good replys, here already! My former husband is a novelist. This is what I've observed over my 30 years with him:

He just writes. He writes practically every day.

Numerous times he has swarn-off writing because it hasn't been lucretive to his standards.

He can't stay away from it long and always goes back to it. (This cycle is amusing to me. It's clearer to me why he writes than why he feels the need to renounce it.)

He usually writes a first chapter then does an outline for the book. (As a published author, this is enough to serve as a book proposal for agent/publisher.) But I suspect that the facility to work within this structure was developed over time.

His kernel idea for new novels are usually the character and his circumstances. He developes that in the first chapter.

He always has more than one book in process at a time.

Evidently he has a lot to say which is interesting to readers. This is an important point. I, for example, enjoy writing but don't have much to say.

His published novels are all thrillers, but in my opinion his best novels are unpublished; his mysteries and historical mysteries. Why are they unpublished? His editors at his two publishers are in the thriller departments and they know his stuff sells for them. He has heretofore failed to interest any mystery editors.

For one publisher he writes original novels under his own name. For the other he writes under a psudonym and they come to him with their own projects; their character & genra ideas.

He is considering writing a cozy under a female psudonym and have our 29 yr old daughter be the author's "face"; as a business tactic. (Cozies are mysteries written by women and popular with women, think; Agatha Christie.) But I think it's actually a psychological tactic he's using to inspire another book.

He reads a lot and when he discovers an author who's books he likes, he knows exactly what makes those books good. I think he has learned writing through reading and continues to grow in his own craft that way.

He has great regard for the novelette format (100 page novels) but publishers aren't interested in them. He believes that many successful novels would have been better books were they shorter. Perhaps a novelette would be a good starting place for a new writer.

A LOT of his writing is rewritng.

I make my living at it - I've published for near 30 years. I like much of what MountainLaurel said. I have only written one novel - although it was instantly snatched up by an agent, so I must have done something right. I write a lot of non-fiction, how-to, informational. That gives me a way to channel my overabundance of enthusiasm for obscure subjects into something lucrative.

The best thing about writing professionally is that I don't have to leave the house, and I rarely have to communicate with anyone at length. It allows me to avoid the stress of daily social interaction. The challenge is to get out and about anyway once in a while, and not become a hermit - which for me would be extremely easy and would not help my chronic tendency toward depression.

I find that my thinking tends to be very literal and linear, so it is a constant challenge for me to "think outside the box" when writing. On the other hand, like the typical aspie, my imagination is vivid. It's putting images into words that is the issue. I also am a fabric artist, and I have the same issue there - my creations, although lovely to look at - lack depth of message and emotion. The emotion is there - translating it through the creative process is a great challenge.

Practical tips:

-Yes, you have to just write. Sitting around thinking about it doesn't help you. The act of doing it - even badly at first - gets your mind into learning the patterns it needs to in order to write well. The three-page-a-day rule is a really good one. Some people do it with a timer - write for three hours nonstop - no sitting and thinking about the next line, just continuous train of thought to the keyboard. I think this is an excellent exercise. When you finish, print and put it in a drawer. Chances are, at a later date, you can look at it and pull something useful out of it. It has served you today in that it is practice in forcing your mind to work in a certain way - toward greater grasp of the creative process.
- Talking excessively about what you are writing saps your creative energy - when you tell it out loud, you lose the fire to get it onto paper. Learn to keep your mouth shut and you will write better.
- Take time to read good books on writing. There are great books available for each type of genre, and good ones for publishing your work, in general. Pay particular attention to the advice on how to format work before submitting, and how to submit. Pay attention to formalities such as how to approach an editor in a socially correct and professional manner.
- I find I work well with the news on when I am writing on politics. I find that if I am writing fiction, I need to shut things out. I wear headphones and do some music. The phone is off. This is a constant point of contention between me and family and friends. I tell them that other people don't take personal calls at work, and I don't either. I say to editors up front that they can reach me daily by email, and discourage them from phoning. The truth is, the sound of the phone ringing sends me through the ceiling, into sweats, and it takes me half an hour to recover. I hate the darn thing.
- Reading other writers for inspiration and to get my creative juices flowing is important.
- Poetry is something I love and admire and is extremely difficult for me to write because I think so literally. I am more proud of my published poems than I am of even my first book. Those one-page things stretched and challenged my way of perceiving things. There is an excellent Poetry for Dummies book. Most people don't understand good poetry or have any idea how to write it well. When you learn, it can really be a great exercise in teaching your mind to express concrete thoughts and images through creative language. This ability will translate into your other writing as well.

I forgot to address your concern about coming to it later in life and with a conscious, logical approach. I don't think there is anything wrong with that at all, and in fact it may serve you very well. It does me.

Someone above mentioned that if you want to sell what you write it must be interesting to someone besides yourself. I find that I need to think my writing through very consciously, and ask myself who would be interested. This logical approach saves me from wasting time. It often occurs to me that a budding "writer" needs to ask themselves whether they want to be a writer, or rather that they want to write. If you want to be a writer more than you want to write, you'll find it won't work. You need to want to SAY the thing - to want to say it desperately. That's why you write. The being called a writer someday is icing on the cake, and can't be the point of the exercise.

Someone also mentioned the use of outlines. This is really interesting for me. For books, I do massive detailed outlines, and absolutely hate doing it. But if I don't , I am in a boat without oars. BUT because of the way my mind works, I have to work at allowing myself to then veer from the confines of that outline. I need to use it as an anchor and a blueprint, but not let it become a cage. Stepping outside an outline is intimidating for me, but the best work usually ends up different than the initial outline - and probably should.

I hope all this is of some use to you. Every writer is different temperamentally and in method. Stop worrying about how to do it, and just start doing it. Along the way you will discover what your particular strengths are, as well as your challenges, and you can learn from that. Like I said, worrying about it, thinking about it, talking about it, aren't getting you closer to turning out a finished work.

I don't know how you are with groups of people, but I have just joined a writing class. I have wanted to light the flame under my enjoyment of writing and turn it into 'something more' (whatever that may be) for a while. Only now have I followed this up by joining the class. I went to my first session last Thursday and absolutely LOVED IT! There are a couple of reasons for this, the first one being the diversity of the people in the group.

As someone who has never quite fit any kind of 'normal' social mode, I enjoyed being around other creative types who also did not conform to some arbitrary norm. Whilst it is fair to say that there were a number of typical archetypes present e.g. the long-haired eternal student, the housewife aspiring for something more, the jaded luvvy, I found it all very refreshing.

Also, the advice to 'just write' was helped by being given a loose framework within which to do so. We were given an exercise in class where we were talked through pointers for a scenario. By the end of this 20 or so minutes, we each had a few pages of written work and, for myself, a sore wrist! Well worth it, tho. Our task for this coming week is to edit and modify that which we have written.

In light of this, I can echo the advice of one of the former comments and say it is best to keep your editing head off when you have your writing head on. That way, it is easier to avoid the pitfall of going back over and over one section of a piece and losing the creative flow. I am so guilty of this that I even find myself over-editing my e-mails (and comments on discussion forums for that matter!)

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you enjoy it. After all, the process of creativity should an end in itself - having it appreciated more widely simply an added bonus.

I'd like to share a relevant anecdote with you on this:

I cannot draw a stick figure if my life depended on it. I wanted to change that so I took a Drawing 101 class in college (no credit, personal interest). The first 2 weeks were absolute torture .. I could see other people's worst work seem like masterpieces compared to my epileptic doodles.

Then one day we had a substitute teacher come in. She was an elderly woman and she had been a painter her entire life. That day she had us do simple sketching ... drawing the outlines of a vase or a bowl of fruit or on of those little wooden mannequins.

She went around watching how each person did it.. and made us all stop. She said that we were all copying a form and that wasn't art. She said that we were all using the logical parts of our brains to measure and replicate the shapes and that was why we could not get it right and why we took so darn long sketching a simple shape.

Instead, we should be using the creative parts of our minds... to simply sketch things as fast as we could, as MESSY as we could and not care about mistakes. Leave your mind behind and do it.

Amazingly, after a few tries we were all drawing near perfect shapes in a fraction of the time.. it was FUN. You just had to let go.

When I took creative writing classes I found this to be extremely useful. I just took a piece of paper or sometimes a text to speech program and just 'let go' . I would end up writing a dozen different variations of the story I had in mind... from the absurd to the complex... character personalities would be changed and plotlines shift like crazy. After all that was done then I could switch to 'logical' and instead of writing I EDITED... taking stuff from any number of versions and weaving them all together into one polished work.

Later I learned that my favorite author, Frank Herbert, used this technique to write his DUNE novels. His brainstorm and editing periods lasted for years before he would finish a book. And the stuff he wrote and how he wrote is legendary.

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