Letter 20: May 19, 2008
When you don't know what to write, they say, just write anyway. Keep your pen moving. And words come out of the end of it - inevitably. Even if all you write is "I don't know what to write today. I don't know what to write today. I don't..." until your brain gets bored enough to produce something else.
I was raised by Presbyterians, and I don't like to write "morning pages" because I have trouble doing anything that feels unproductive. But y'know, this activity may be more productive than it feels.
Quite frequently I've begun these letters by saying I don't have enough time, energy, paper or whatever to write you a full letter this week. And then I write about what I wanted to write to you about. Every time I've done that, by the time the letter's finished it's a real letter and I can go back and delete the apology.
Well, today let's do it differently. Let's talk about that process.
Ready?
It will be a short and simple letter this week, (I begin) because I've left myself short of time. In recent weeks including this weekend, I've completed two substantial writing projects. By this time next week I'm committed to completing an even more substantial one. And then, I think, I have a few weeks to rewrite at leisure.
And also, it's been an unseasonally hot weekend around Los Angeles. One day it was just too nice to stay in and type, so I didn't. Another day I'd promised to be active outdoors at midday, before we knew about the weather, so I was not energetic later. So being responsible in my other commitments, including my writing commitments, endangered the writing of the letter. My choice, my responsibility, my hope that you weren't inconvenienced.
And in the end here is a letter, mailed to you on its cover date.
One of those projects of mine is research into an aspect of the screenwriting life. As background to that I looked at Jim Vines's recent book "The Working Screenwriter." The book is based on interviews with sixteen writers - one of whom I think I've actually heard of - taken apart and organized by subject, so that you end up with a book of questions, and with sixteen answers to each.
I'll read every word some day at the beach. Meanwhile, I started work by looking at the question "Writer's block: is it real... or all in your head?" The writers were divided. I won't give you an exact tally, because some people didn't give an either-or answer. But they were divided. What's interesting is that quite a number of writers answered "both."
And that's rather like my own view of it. I don't believe it exists, and I once lived with it for twenty years. I wish I'd been there to coach myself, the way I now do for others and I have someone else do for me (it has to be someone else). I know a hundred ways to fight the beast we call "writer's block."
And one of my favorite weapons is what I said at the beginning. Always write. Even if it's wrong. The instruction "don't get it write - get it writ" is attributed to many editors and directors (and can be variously spelled, too). They got it right.
Something you can try today: Maybe it doesn't matter what you write. Maybe if you just start releasing those poor words from within you, they will start arranging themselves in interesting ways.
David
David Jung McGarva
+1 (818) 707 1871
Write me: david at todayiwrite dot com
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