✳️ Once you have, I'd love to hear about your own experience of choosing a big challenge—creative or otherwise—to commit to. In a world with infinite options, how do *you* discern which undertaking is right for you?
My judgment is as freelance/content/journalistic writers, we're so good at adopting other peoples' voice that we often forget to hone our own. So I'd encourage the advice seeker to go back to the first moment they wanted to be a writer. Who are their role models and why? What is their first memory of creativity? Beyond writing, what are the other forms of creative expression they gravitate towards?
Love the idea of alignment, which I've found to be generally true with any creative activity I've pursued (voice lessons, ballet) and apply to my own writing practice. You can't force the ideas to flow, but you can show up every day to warm up and be prepared for inspiration to strike.
"As freelance/content/journalistic writers, we're so good at adopting other peoples' voices that we often forget to hone our own." This is *so* insightful—and a perspective I never would've been able to offer myself!
I completely agree that we should all step back into earlier, more idealistic versions of our creative selves once in awhile. (I was reminded of this recently while sifting through a box of essays I'd written in high school.) The nudge to explore seemingly unrelated modes of creative expression is fabulous, too. There's more overlap than we think!
Thanks so much, Holly! The "dating your ideas" advice is something I need to remind myself of laughably often. Like, what if I could just...try this on and see if it fits? 🤯
I have a draft that is staying at 3000 words since June. It starts as I saw a dad with his baby in the trolley.
It is currently stuck in two directions. Either focus on the rom-com between the single dad and a lady or focus on the coming-of-age story of the toddler. He has become 18 at this point and has his superpower. Or I can combine both?🤓
Ooh, that sounds like a classic Sliding Doors moment for your novel—so tough. What story are you being *called* to write? I'd be so curious to hear how you're thinking about that question!
Oh, this might sound harsh, but (and forgive me here) you don't "become" an author, you either are or aren't. No really! I didn't mean that to sound mean! Hear me out: I call writing "The Curse", because you can't not write. (Sure, there are times when you aren't physically writing, but the story/stories never stop twirling in your head.) The problem usually is *which* story to write, because so many are clamboring to get out and onto the page. Of course, fiction writing uses a different muscle than journalism, so maybe the issue here is training the brain to write differently, and shifting the thought process of story selection. Maybe that's where the struggle comes from. (You don't have to pitch it to an editor/think about an audience yet. Please don't. That makes for terrible limitations.) Writing is so hard. Having a sustainable career as a writer is near impossible (every author I know who has a book deal with a major publisher also has a side hustle...or two). And you are going to fall in and out of love with your stories while you are writing them (at some point, you will actually hate every word you've written...then, you will fall madly in love with it all, all over again). The question is: What story do you *have* to tell? Not which one should you tell. If nothing is inspiring you to that degree, maybe ask yourself why do you want to be an author? Is it what other people are expecting you to be? Is it something you *think* you should be? And why plan on spending years on a story? Unless there's a lot of research involved (so maybe I presumed fiction; sorry), just barf out the first draft. Get it all out and onto the page. Who cares if it's good or not? (First drafts aren't supposed to be.) Writing is really just rewriting, anyway. (BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott is helpful in getting that into perspective.) But don't force yourself to be an author if it isn't coming naturally. There are so many other, wonderful things to be. Things that actually pay and bring satisfaction, that are void of endless uphill battles (with yourself, with publishers, with promotion...). The writing will always be there if it's already in you. It can be done in the evenings and on weekends. And, when it starts to take over, that's the time to think about leaving your day job, or just using vacation time to polish that first draft. (Though, the less time you have to write, the more concentrated the writing becomes. Too much time to write means too much time to think and overthink and procrastinate. Or at least I've experienced that a time or two.) Maybe this is a matter of putting on too much pressure to find the perfect subject and write the perfect book and have the biggest bestseller instead of just having fun with it. You really need to enjoy what you're writing, or an already difficult thing will become miserable. And your advice on detaching from the outcome is gold, Maddie. Authors have to write for themselves. That sounds really selfish and gross, but if the author isn't deeply in love with what they are writing, it will show. It has to be something we are proud of, no matter if anyone else ever reads it, or it's out there for the whole world to see. Because, once it's out there, people are going to call your baby ugly. If you don't love your book and know you did your best, those reviews are going to be painful (and the good ones won't help if you didn't have fun along the way). xo
Okay, folks, you heard it here first: Sandra coming in hot with must-read writerly advice! 🔥
So many gems in here: "The question is: What story do you *have* to tell? Not which one should you tell." And: "The less time you have to write, the more concentrated the writing becomes." Both, in my own experience, absolutely 100% true.
Not to mention: "If the author isn't deeply in love with what they are writing, it will show." Recently, I read this by Terryn (of Terryngrams on Substack) about photography: "If you are getting your picture taken or you are taking pictures, YOU BETTER BE IN LOVE. The film doesn't lie. However the photographer feels about the subject will seep into the frame, and the photo will tell on itself." Both of these quotes serve as necessary reminders: good art is inextricably intertwined with love.
Maddie, loved the ‘daily implications’ point of your post.....so true but a fact we seldom think about. No one wants a 24/7 slog to get to their end creative goals, and that’s a great framework for thinking things through. Thanks for the insight!
I'm so glad to hear this, Sue! Thank you. It's taken me many years to elevate daily-implication considerations to the same level as big-picture thinking about my own goals. (More years than I'd like to admit!)
✳️ If you haven't introduced yourself here, what are you waiting for? 🤗 https://maddieburton.substack.com/p/welcome-to-the-community-lets-get/comments
✳️ Once you have, I'd love to hear about your own experience of choosing a big challenge—creative or otherwise—to commit to. In a world with infinite options, how do *you* discern which undertaking is right for you?
My judgment is as freelance/content/journalistic writers, we're so good at adopting other peoples' voice that we often forget to hone our own. So I'd encourage the advice seeker to go back to the first moment they wanted to be a writer. Who are their role models and why? What is their first memory of creativity? Beyond writing, what are the other forms of creative expression they gravitate towards?
Love the idea of alignment, which I've found to be generally true with any creative activity I've pursued (voice lessons, ballet) and apply to my own writing practice. You can't force the ideas to flow, but you can show up every day to warm up and be prepared for inspiration to strike.
"As freelance/content/journalistic writers, we're so good at adopting other peoples' voices that we often forget to hone our own." This is *so* insightful—and a perspective I never would've been able to offer myself!
I completely agree that we should all step back into earlier, more idealistic versions of our creative selves once in awhile. (I was reminded of this recently while sifting through a box of essays I'd written in high school.) The nudge to explore seemingly unrelated modes of creative expression is fabulous, too. There's more overlap than we think!
Wise advice. I love the notion of thinking of daily experiences as the tiles your life’s mosaic. That and dating your ideas ;)
Thanks so much, Holly! The "dating your ideas" advice is something I need to remind myself of laughably often. Like, what if I could just...try this on and see if it fits? 🤯
I have a draft that is staying at 3000 words since June. It starts as I saw a dad with his baby in the trolley.
It is currently stuck in two directions. Either focus on the rom-com between the single dad and a lady or focus on the coming-of-age story of the toddler. He has become 18 at this point and has his superpower. Or I can combine both?🤓
Ooh, that sounds like a classic Sliding Doors moment for your novel—so tough. What story are you being *called* to write? I'd be so curious to hear how you're thinking about that question!
I am leaning more towards writing about the toddler and his story but that would lead to spy and crime.
A story I’d love to read! 👀
Oh, this might sound harsh, but (and forgive me here) you don't "become" an author, you either are or aren't. No really! I didn't mean that to sound mean! Hear me out: I call writing "The Curse", because you can't not write. (Sure, there are times when you aren't physically writing, but the story/stories never stop twirling in your head.) The problem usually is *which* story to write, because so many are clamboring to get out and onto the page. Of course, fiction writing uses a different muscle than journalism, so maybe the issue here is training the brain to write differently, and shifting the thought process of story selection. Maybe that's where the struggle comes from. (You don't have to pitch it to an editor/think about an audience yet. Please don't. That makes for terrible limitations.) Writing is so hard. Having a sustainable career as a writer is near impossible (every author I know who has a book deal with a major publisher also has a side hustle...or two). And you are going to fall in and out of love with your stories while you are writing them (at some point, you will actually hate every word you've written...then, you will fall madly in love with it all, all over again). The question is: What story do you *have* to tell? Not which one should you tell. If nothing is inspiring you to that degree, maybe ask yourself why do you want to be an author? Is it what other people are expecting you to be? Is it something you *think* you should be? And why plan on spending years on a story? Unless there's a lot of research involved (so maybe I presumed fiction; sorry), just barf out the first draft. Get it all out and onto the page. Who cares if it's good or not? (First drafts aren't supposed to be.) Writing is really just rewriting, anyway. (BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott is helpful in getting that into perspective.) But don't force yourself to be an author if it isn't coming naturally. There are so many other, wonderful things to be. Things that actually pay and bring satisfaction, that are void of endless uphill battles (with yourself, with publishers, with promotion...). The writing will always be there if it's already in you. It can be done in the evenings and on weekends. And, when it starts to take over, that's the time to think about leaving your day job, or just using vacation time to polish that first draft. (Though, the less time you have to write, the more concentrated the writing becomes. Too much time to write means too much time to think and overthink and procrastinate. Or at least I've experienced that a time or two.) Maybe this is a matter of putting on too much pressure to find the perfect subject and write the perfect book and have the biggest bestseller instead of just having fun with it. You really need to enjoy what you're writing, or an already difficult thing will become miserable. And your advice on detaching from the outcome is gold, Maddie. Authors have to write for themselves. That sounds really selfish and gross, but if the author isn't deeply in love with what they are writing, it will show. It has to be something we are proud of, no matter if anyone else ever reads it, or it's out there for the whole world to see. Because, once it's out there, people are going to call your baby ugly. If you don't love your book and know you did your best, those reviews are going to be painful (and the good ones won't help if you didn't have fun along the way). xo
Okay, folks, you heard it here first: Sandra coming in hot with must-read writerly advice! 🔥
So many gems in here: "The question is: What story do you *have* to tell? Not which one should you tell." And: "The less time you have to write, the more concentrated the writing becomes." Both, in my own experience, absolutely 100% true.
Not to mention: "If the author isn't deeply in love with what they are writing, it will show." Recently, I read this by Terryn (of Terryngrams on Substack) about photography: "If you are getting your picture taken or you are taking pictures, YOU BETTER BE IN LOVE. The film doesn't lie. However the photographer feels about the subject will seep into the frame, and the photo will tell on itself." Both of these quotes serve as necessary reminders: good art is inextricably intertwined with love.
😘 xo
Maddie, loved the ‘daily implications’ point of your post.....so true but a fact we seldom think about. No one wants a 24/7 slog to get to their end creative goals, and that’s a great framework for thinking things through. Thanks for the insight!
I'm so glad to hear this, Sue! Thank you. It's taken me many years to elevate daily-implication considerations to the same level as big-picture thinking about my own goals. (More years than I'd like to admit!)
Excellent as always!
Why thank you, my friend! 🤗