I'm just back from my annual writing retreat at Charney Manor with the Scattered Authors Society. Each year has been very special, but none more so than this. I didn't just enjoy gossip, seminars, the afternoon naps, writing, and the darting evening swifts, but I learned some important lessons, too.
What I found most inspiring was that other highly experienced, extremely talented authors with a wealth of publishing under their belt were happy to admit that they still didn't know it all. Not only that, but they were prepared to generously share their tips for improvement.
As authors we're constantly told to plan, plan, plan. Why has it taken me so long to take this on board? I can't begin to answer that question. Impatience? Arrogance? But finally - inspired by a session that included the magnificent storyteller Dianne Hofmeyr, I managed to recognise the importance of this part of the process.
In my other life of sewing, I took note from some early nasty mistakes and mastered the discipline to make a toile, tweak it, adjust the pattern, rip things back, take notes ... to spend hours and days on the make before ever cutting into the final fabric. The theory is that making the finished article should be the quickest part of sewing, and so it has proven.
The same can be said for writing. Plan, practise, look out for the problem areas, adjust your work to accommodate them, tweak and tweak again. Then, and only then, start writing. Sometimes we have to learn this the hard way, with novels that don't quite work, and sometimes we're lucky enough to encounter characters like Dianne and her words of infinite wisdom.
Take it from me. It's all about one stitch at a time. Carefully planned stitches sewn with care!
Thank you, SAS, and thank you, Dianne.
What lessons have you learned lately?
Karen I'm totally beguiled by your comments and walking high this morning. Don't we all need a boost! Just before I logged in, I tuned in to my inner self and just wrote a few pages of unplanned free thoughts as Celia suggested at Charney. And there it was... without planning a few thoughts about my ending crept in. So yes Charney was marvellous. I think we need that top up and that frisson of excitement that comes from being among other writers.
Love your blog with all the great photographs... tangerines and vinyls!
What a valuable post. I haven't been much of a planner up to now, but I'm really going to try with my next book. If you don't plan at all, you can end up rewriting so many times (weary sigh). I think some rewriting will always be necessary as new ideas or nuances emerge, and I don't want to stifle the fun of making things up as I go along, but I feel like I've wasted so much time in the past by starting writing much too early and not thinking and planning before I plunge in. Maybe there's a happy medium.