A lot of people call themselves writers. Sure, there are many different kinds of writers: poets, screenwriters, novelists, journalists, bloggers...
But lets be honest. There are actually three types of writers...
A) Professional Writers: Those who are very apparently prolific and successful. Your Shakespeares and Hemingways. Even your Clancys and Rowlings out there. They make a solid living doing what they do. They're writers!
B) Practicing Writers: Those who write but haven't made it yet. These are your practicing poets, novelists, screenwriters. Maybe they've published a book, or even sold a small-budget screenplay. They keep cracking away at the nut but haven't busted it open yet. But no matter what they're working on their craft. I would categorize myself in this category, prepping myself for the "A" category.
C) Hack Writers: Then there's the area where most of the public actually resides. They call themselves writers but they don't really write. They talk about it a lot but they don't actually make time to do it on a regular basis. They're usually the ones complaining that someone stole their idea. I'm here to tell you your idea was most likely not original, that it was the one out of 1,000 people who actually executed the idea who got the credit- and they're professionals.
My focus right now is to at least move the people from the "C" category to the "B" category. You're talent and tenacity will bring you the rest of the way.
Very few writers starting out don’t have a day-job. I have a unique experience in that I had a little money saved up from my running days; writing is a great compliment to be a track athlete actually, time and energy-wise. Even after retiring from running I had a girlfriend who’s been doing quite well as an actress, so it allowed me to work on my own writing. I had to make the best use of my time.
But how do the best writers do it…?
Well, Hemingway got up at 6AM and walked across his little drawbridge and wrote in his private writing studio for 6 hours every day. And when noon came around he put his pen down and he went fishing… and then he drank.
"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools." – Hemingway
But that’s Hemingway. What does he know? The point is you need to create your own schedule to write.
Early in my writing "career" I failed to do that. I wrote when I felt inspired. Some people like to write at night, some early in the morning. It took me years to come up with my own routine. I wish I had started a decade ago, I would have been much prolific. But here’s what I came up with…
10 to 2: My goal is to get up every morning and I write from 10AM to 2PM.
More specifically, I get up at 9AM and I do my morning routine. Shower, eat, coffee, emails, any outstanding tasks, etc.
At 10AM I check out of life and into my writing world. Emails- off. Facebook- off. Phone… on, in case of emergency but I typically don’t answer it. If I do then I let them know I’m in my 10-2 zone (and I usually don’t explain what that is because its more fun that way), but once all that shit is out of the way, I write…
Even if you don't have a specific project to work on, you must keep writing. It doesn't matter if you're in the middle of your screenplay, or in treatment form, or if you're brainstorming ideas, or if you're blogging like I am right now... well, eventually it matters. If you want to be a screen-writer then you're going to have to write a screenplay or two. But if there is a particular day you're not feel "inspired" you should sit down anyway and just write.
Because lets be honest- we're being honest here, right...?
If you want to be a writer… you have to write! Painters paint. Sculptors sculpt. Economists economize. And Architects… architect things. The point is you gotta actually do it. You can’t just call yourself a writer and not be diligent about it.
I think one of the hardest crafts to upkeep is acting. At least that’s what we- actors- convince ourselves of to stop ourselves from continuing our craft. Ideally an actor is working and, thus, executing their craft. But we all know that even for the working actor those actual moments are few and far between. But we have auditions as well. That’s practicing the craft. And rehearsing for those auditions is working the craft. And ideally when you’re not auditioning you’re in a class and rehearsing scenes. There’s a disgusting attitude that permeates this town that a legitimate actor doesn’t take class- only struggling actors. But class shouldn’t be thought of in that way. It’s a forum to try out material. If you’re an actor and are pigeon-holed as a certain type of character then you can use class to broaden your circle.
But I digress (that’s what happens when you have A.D.D.- you digress). But this example directly translates to the writing world. You have to keep honing your writing craft if you want to truly call yourself a writer.
I have a whole set of ritualistic things I do when I write. Its personal to me and not required of every writer, but I do find that listening to music helps; ideally, something that doesn’t have a lot of words that my mind will want to sing. Recently I’ve been listening to Ratatat. I also tend to pick scores from films that are tonally pertinent to what I’m writing (I'll blog on that later)
I do my free-association warm-ups for about 15 minutes (again- future blog) and then I write continuously for 4 hours. Not bad. If you do that at least Monday-Friday you get a good solid 20 hours in a week; 80 hours in a month, and roughly 1000 hours in a year…
And you really haven’t missed any of your everyday life. You still have time to do your tasks: shopping, playing poker, throwing rocks at stop signs, petting lizards, whatever you like to do with your day. And the best part is I’m starting my day off doing a creative and intellectual activity that enriches my social interactions. And trust me, you can get a lot of shit done in 1000 hours.
So set a schedule and stick to it. Then live your life.
I know what you’re thinking: “Fuck off, Jess. Or Jesse- whatever you go by. I don’t have a girlfriend who’s able to support me while I try to get a writing career going.” To that I say… “Well put.” But the I urge you to be creative and find what works with your own personal situation.
Even if you’re stuck with long work hours, at least create some time that is sacred for you. Get up earlier or write when you get home. Try 10-midnight. No interruptions. You can always TiVo Glee and watch it whenever you want.
There’s a novelist I know personally named Patricia Nell Warren who used to be married in a very patriarchal, abusive relationship. Her husband would have never allowed her to write so she took it upon herself to write on her lunch breaks. Every day for an hour or so she would put her passion project to paper. And eventually she created The Front Runner. She got it published and her real career was about to begin. She heard that her abusive husband found out what she had done and barged in the front door to confront her- only to find a shotgun in his face. Patricia said very calmly “I’m leaving you” and she started her life over.
When there’s will, there’s always a way.
~ JW
