Speaking of Josh, I’ve also learned that writing can be a lot like swimming. It helps to have a buddy.
We hear a lot about how writing is a solitary pursuit, the romantic image of a lone writer slumped over his typewriter. While it’s possible to write that way–I’ve done it–it’s not all that much fun.
Instead, my friend Josh and I raced through the month of November. If he hit 25,934 for the day, I had to make it to 25,935 before I could go to bed with my ego intact. It was an exciting race, with me opening up a 6,000 word lead only to get blocked and watch Josh erase my lead and open up a 3,000 word lead of his own at one point. We kept battling, kept encouraging each other to press on.
Because that’s where the idea of the solo writer falls short. Motivation. When you’re writing alone, it’s too easy to quit. It’s too easy to say “I can take today off, who’s gonna know?” And then one day off turns into a week and before you know it, you haven’t written in a month and don’t know your characters anymore.
I should point out having a writing buddy to compete with and otherwise spur you on doesn’t mean exchanging drafts and critiquing, at least not yet. As King says, you have to be free to write your first draft with the door closed, secure that you’re the only one that will ever see it, that all the awkward transitions and stilted dialogue are for your eyes alone. Josh and I have copied little snippets at each other over instant messaging, but never more than a couple hundred words we were really proud of. We talk about our books, and the horrible things we’re doing to our characters, but we know now isn’t the time for reading.
It’s time for writing. With encouragement.
P.S.: For those of you who are interested, Josh beat me this year. We stayed neck and neck throughout the month, and it came down to the last day. When Josh signed off to go to bed on the 29th, he was only a thousand words away from finishing, and I knew he’d be up early the next morning–sixish–to finish it. I’m a night owl myself, and I could have stayed up and written the 2,300 word I needed to cross the 50k finish line before him, but I did the grown-up thing. I got a good night’s sleep, woke up the next morning and made it to 50k. The important thing is we both finished, and it was my own fault I let myself fall behind by thirteen hundred words going into the final turn.
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