Ever wonder how a master novelist like Alice McDermott approaches her writing? She explained her process in Bethesda Maryland as she shared her novel-writing tips with me and a group of local writers.
Alice McDermott treats fiction writing like a full time job — because it is one. (Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy what you’re doing.)
Alice writes four days a week and treats writing like a real job on those four days. She’s never been exclusively a full-time fiction writer. She teaches, does workshops, and fills her time with other activities as well. Few writers actually write full time … or rather, few of them make it an exclusive job.
“As literary fiction writers, we’re trying to get to something true of us all. So write about common humanity, communal experience, not about a place, plot. Show universal truth to the reader in an interesting way.”
That sounds like a full-time job to me.
Do you treat your writing like a job or a hobby?
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Eric D. Goodman, Books Correspondent
Eric’s column, Lit Bit, is published every Wednesday to Gather Essentials: Books. Featuring bits on writing, writers, books, and literature, Lit Bit will fulfill your literary longings.
Eric is a full-time, professional, published writer and editor. His work has appeared in local, national, and international publications, including stories in the current issues of The Baltimore Review, Coloquio,and To Be Read Aloud.
Listen to Eric read an excerpt from his fiction on National Public Radio on the WYPR website.
You can find all of Eric’s Lit Bit articles at www.gather.com/litbit. Keep up with Eric’s other postings and Gather activity by joining his Gather network -- just visit www.edgewriter.gather.com and select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.
You’ll find Eric and other Book Correspondents, plus celebrity author content and plenty of other bibliophiles at Books.gather.com.
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Comments: 21
I've found that "they" are generally the ones who are plugging their latest how-to book to writers. There is a mentality among struggling writers to think there is some magic formula, and often people feed off of that to make a buck. I've gone months without writing. Other times I've been unable to control my writing bug. It's less about discipline than it is about whether or not you feel you have something to say.
But there is something to be said for looking at writing as a professional. It's not enough to just jot words down on paper. You have to be willing to be honest with yourself and go back and cut, edit, add, and otherwise disembowel the original draft to make it better. For me, the only way to do that is to walk away from a project for a couple of weeks and then come back to it with fresh eyes. So I fill that "down time" with other productive activities important to my writing: reading, researching, etc.
By the way, I got the journal. Thanks!
observation of human nature, or some truth. Though, it may not involve actual
writing. What we write today or tomorrow, may come from something
we thought of many years ago. rpw
That said, it's the greatest job I ever had and the only one I ever want! :)
I love to write but only when it's fun or energizing. When I reach a rough spot like a note that says "insert here a list of funny job titles" or "use more senses to describe this place," and my brain stalls, I just move on to something else I'm writing.
OK, it's not following the rules of "The One-Minute Manager" but I have a lot more fun this way. Eventually all those rough spots get filled in painlessly.
Of course, this is why I have about 50 articles, 42 stories and 3 screenplays in progress at any given time.
Maybe I have Attention Deficit, but I don't consider it a Disorder.