Writing with the door shut

Jay took this shot in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. I don't think he's writing but I like the shot. In his watershed writing memoir, On Writing, Stephen King discussed his process. Early on, when I'm getting the draft down, I write with the door shut.

I'm active in two very dynamic writers' groups and I regularly bring material for critiquing. But not the first time around. The door-shut time around. A novel is complicated and confusing enough with one writer trying to juggle everything. I can only have my head filled with so many voices at a time, and the first draft belongs to the fictional voices-my characters. This is where they take on a life of their own, but the magic only works if I shut the door and listen.

How do you write? Door open? Door shut?

Comments: 2

Mary McCartt Feb 16, 2008, 1:04pm EST

Door shut and phone off....hahaha. Once I get the ideas down on paper then I can handle the world intruding on me. Good post.

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Lisa K. Feb 17, 2008, 5:55pm EST

Door shut, definitely. I have several writer friends who love to read their works-in-progress, garnering feedback as they go along. For me, I find that opening the door on a first draft robs some of the creative energy from the project. So door shut, all the way.

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Writing with the door shut

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