Ask the Author: Nancy Freund
Answered Questions (5)
Nancy Freund
Write. That's really it.
Actually, I'm about to write a blog post with my most important advice to aspiring writers, and when I do, I'll see if I can link it here. The answer can be as vast and far-reaching as you like -- aimed for all kinds of aspirations. Self-discovery, catharsis, creating or repairing relationship, gaining readership, publication, traditional publication, recognition, literary prizes... these are all related goals but they are not in fact THE aspiration of being a writer. For aspiring writers, what it boils down to, really, is the Nike slogan: Just Do It. Obviously (probably?) you want to do it well, and that means honing your craft. I've got ideas on how to do that. Workshops, study, groups, conferences, mentors, books... Many people tell you to read, read, read. Read everything you can. Or read everything you can within your genre. Others tell you work with coaches or editors or beta readers. Others tell you to write your own thing in solitary isolation and don't let other people influence what you're writing or how you're doing so. Some say tell no one what you're writing. Others say announce it proudly but don't show it to anyone. Again, plenty will say it's best to share your work as you go. On all of this, I've got opinions, and maybe I'll delve a bit in a longer piece... but if you want to be a writer, there is truly only ONE thing you must do. Write. Everything else is gravy.
One more thing -- keep what you write, so if you want to pick something up and work with it later, you can.
Actually, I'm about to write a blog post with my most important advice to aspiring writers, and when I do, I'll see if I can link it here. The answer can be as vast and far-reaching as you like -- aimed for all kinds of aspirations. Self-discovery, catharsis, creating or repairing relationship, gaining readership, publication, traditional publication, recognition, literary prizes... these are all related goals but they are not in fact THE aspiration of being a writer. For aspiring writers, what it boils down to, really, is the Nike slogan: Just Do It. Obviously (probably?) you want to do it well, and that means honing your craft. I've got ideas on how to do that. Workshops, study, groups, conferences, mentors, books... Many people tell you to read, read, read. Read everything you can. Or read everything you can within your genre. Others tell you work with coaches or editors or beta readers. Others tell you to write your own thing in solitary isolation and don't let other people influence what you're writing or how you're doing so. Some say tell no one what you're writing. Others say announce it proudly but don't show it to anyone. Again, plenty will say it's best to share your work as you go. On all of this, I've got opinions, and maybe I'll delve a bit in a longer piece... but if you want to be a writer, there is truly only ONE thing you must do. Write. Everything else is gravy.
One more thing -- keep what you write, so if you want to pick something up and work with it later, you can.
Nancy Freund
This is such a funny question. It implies that we must somehow trick ourselves into being inspired. I have a visual image of a muse flitting around a magical forest of Creative Writing while I chase her. That aint it. A writer is inspired to write ALL the time, and because we are so often NOT writing, that leads to angst, frustration, depression, malaise, bad writing, lots of editing, and sometimes success. But we always have a low-simmering inspiration, I think. We are not chasing it. What we ALSO have -- and what should really be the question here -- is what do you NEED to write? I write when I have a need, especially when coupled with an urgency. Sometimes I am deeply alone, feeling like my thoughts on a thing are isolated only to me. I need to write that to feel less alone or even to understand what exactly I'm thinking. Sometimes I am bothered or saddened or frustrated or disgusted by a thing -- oh my, American politics, European refugee crisis, the global tragedies of wounds to our environment -- and I need to write about those things. Inspiration isn't the right word at all. It's more like desperation. Publication is an entirely different thing. Luckily for the readers of the world, most of this writing will never see the light of day. But it's what drives my writing and my ongoing interest in writing forward. Then I suppose what makes it to publication is the inspired vetting of the many pages of writing that are produced out of need. So there's the correct use of the word "inspire." I guess the bottom line is it all comes from angst.
Nancy Freund
Loads. Here's the thing: I'm working on a novel that I first saw glimmering on my horizon in 2006, so you might say I've been working on that novel for ten years. But the fact is during those ten years, that novel has shifted its focus drastically about four times, and during those ten years I've attended 11 international writers conferences, I've written and published three other full length books, and I've been writing and submitting lots of short pieces and poetry -- most of which of course will never see publication's light of day. I think a writer who can answer "what are you currently working on" with a single project or a single title is a very lucky person indeed -- and an efficient one. But that aint me. I used to tell myself it could be, I just needed more FOCUS! You know that scene in Airplane where the one passenger is freaking out, and someone urges her to calm down... then calm down! Then CALM DOWN, DAMMIT, get ahold of yourself! Soon a bunch of other passengers are lining up with progressively more violent methods to shake some sense into her, brass knuckles, boxing gloves, scary weaponry. I used to think I could be that line of people for my own self, yelling at me to FOCUS DAMMIT, but as I've aged into some very welcome self-acceptance, I've realized that is simply not how I operate. If today a poem strikes my fancy, and tomorrow it's an essay on global warming, well, I better go with the flow. And if I'm lucky, the various works will find homes eventually. But even if they don't, the length of time it takes me to complete the one big project, the novel I'm working on currently, will be stretched out, and that's ok. All the work I do informs the other work, I think. That's why we're artists. We see the world at work in our our unique ways and we make of it what we will, in the ways we will. A little focus will help. But most of all, my answer will just be: loads.
Nancy Freund
My answer is cheating. This is both impossible to answer and the easiest thing in the world to answer. Neither and both. It is and it isn't. The best thing about being a writer is that every single day, anything can happen. On the page, you can go any direction you want. You can make two mild-mannered, timid people go nuts, rip off their clothes and leap around in a public fountain singing, if you feel like it. Obviously, that might not fit your story, but if you decide that very scene IS essential to your story, you can revise accordingly, until it fits. You have a modicum of control, on every page, and at the same time, you have a sense that we writers, we human beings, are NOT in control at all. Why would I want two timid people to leap around in a fountain, anyway? I don't know -- but suddenly, I just do. The universe is not mine to understand. I accept that.
That's the answer to the actual BEING a writer part. But living life in the big world as a writer is wonderful in the same way. I've only been a published writer for a few years, and I honestly can't count the number of amazing, fascinating conversations and experiences I've had with people I've encountered (new friends and old), as a direct result of my writing. Stuff that's seriously blown me away. I would love to be more articulate about this magic now, but I think when something's truly overwhelming, it remains elusive and un-pindownable. That's what I love most about being a writer... how it can (often!) be so awesome that I become terrible at it. Like a novice all over again, every day, with a whole bright, beautiful future ahead, if I'm lucky.
That's the answer to the actual BEING a writer part. But living life in the big world as a writer is wonderful in the same way. I've only been a published writer for a few years, and I honestly can't count the number of amazing, fascinating conversations and experiences I've had with people I've encountered (new friends and old), as a direct result of my writing. Stuff that's seriously blown me away. I would love to be more articulate about this magic now, but I think when something's truly overwhelming, it remains elusive and un-pindownable. That's what I love most about being a writer... how it can (often!) be so awesome that I become terrible at it. Like a novice all over again, every day, with a whole bright, beautiful future ahead, if I'm lucky.
Nancy Freund
Write through it. Write stuff and nonsense, repetitions, song lyrics, head-clearing records of the day's activities, conversations you've had, conversations as you wished you had them, all that stuff again, but for your protagonist. Tell yourself you are practicing your keyboarding skills or enjoying your new fountain pen. None of those exercises is a waste of time. Good stuff surfaces. Own some really big file cabinets.
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