As some of you know, I’m finishing my book. For those of you who’ve been asking, “Is your book out yet?” (Nicole, I’m talkin’ to you), consider this blog a (lame) peace offering. I want to tell you a little bit about the process and (in my next blog) offer a sneak peak at the book. It’s a small way to thank Nicole and my other 4 fans for their patience and support.
- Writing is messy. Anne Lamott talks about ‘shitty first drafts’ in her book, Bird by Bird. Right on. My first, second, third, and fourth drafts of Live First, Work Second have vacillated between utter crap, academic drivel, and - in some cases - complete hogwash. I didn’t mean to write poorly; it just happened. If you’ve ever accidentally backed into another car in a parking lot, you know how this happens. By the time you realize, “I hit someone!” it’s too late. This has happened to me many times while writing. I’m on my 2,000th word for the day when I realize that it’s all leading nowhere. Writing is messy… sometimes, it’s a complete wreck.
- Writers need shrinks. I have an image of a writer. She lives in New York (isn’t that where all the good ones live?). She has a neurotic social calendar, a messy desk with a drying, half-eaten apple, and a weekly appointment with her therapist. Writers need therapists because writing is a mind-game. One day, you’re totally on. Words are flowing. You feel that you’re channeling a Much Smarter Entity. You re-read your wisdom, smirk and think, “I wrote that!” The next morning, you waltz up to your MacBook and wink at it. You’re nodding, as if to say, “Hey, baby. Remember last time? We made magic together didn’t we?” Your MacBook doesn’t even blink. A total blow-off. You sit down to tickle the keyboard. Nothing. Overnight, you’ve become a wordless, thoughtless nincompoop. Your writing sucks. You suck. That is the mind-game of writing. On-Off. Hot-Cold. That’s why writers need shrinks - to look us straight in the face and remind us that our book is not our life. And except for Nicole and my other 4 fans, no one really cares.
- A book is a team effort. There’s a reason why those acknowledgment pages go on and on at the beginning of books - writing is a team sport. I didn’t know this. I thought I was responsible for all of it. I had to write it, edit it, do the layout, persuade a publisher, the whole thing. Turns out not to be true. Most people don’t write alone. They have editors, publicists, and suck-ups to help them along. I have my friend Sandy Wight. Sandy’s a great writer. Here’s proof. Sandy shook me out of my I-gotta-do-it-all coma when she demanded that I send her my (wo)manuscript so she could edit it. Without Sandy, I’d still be stuck in the shitty first draft phase (Thanks, girlfriend).
- Lower your expectations. I’ve confided to a few friends the challenges I’ve had finishing this book. For example, I cannot stop editing it. I want it to be perfect. Luckily, I have sane friends. One pal, Jodi Cohen, told me simply to lower my expectations. And I have. In fact, I’ve lowered them so much that I don’t even care what others think anymore…
Which is why I will offer you a sneak peek at my book in my next blog.
But please, lower your expectations before you read it.
Ira Glass, the personality behind This American Life, offers sage advice on how to navigate the crappy phase.
