Writer, Writer, How Does Your Writing Go?
For anyone raised in the west in general, and in the U.S. or
Britain in particular, I'm sure that you are familiar with the very
popular age-old "Nursery Rhymes". For those of you who aren't familiar
with these "Nursery Rhymes", they are a collection of mostly short
rhyming verse which are entertaining as well as educational. Reading
these "Nursery Rhymes" to children from early on has been a
long-lasting tradition in many families. Mine is no exception.
One
that pops into my mind at this moment is that of the ordeal of Mary and
her garden. It begins: "Mary, Mary, Quite contrary, How does your
garden grow?"
The poem then continues, in matching rhyming
verse, with Mary answering in detail of not only the contents, but the
layout as well, of her garden. If my memory serves me right, it even
goes on to mention the produce of her garden.
Taking care of
our writing is not much different.
We need the basic knowledge to begin with, as well as the drive or passion to write. And then we need the idea of the subject-all of which are equally important parts of the seed. Then we need to develop the viewpoint or the manner in which to present the topic, as well as choosing our directed or desired audience. You could equate this with tilling the soil. And then we simply sit down and do the actual writing or dictation-which is the actual firm plantation of the seed.
After that comes the first editing-looking for typos or other major spelling mistakes, grammatical errors or wrong sentence structure. That is the initial watering and fertilization stage. Depending upon the quality of the work, we need to go through several more episodes of editing and review until we have a perfectly polished composition to present to a publisher.
This is simply the continuation of alternating watering, fertilization and sunning. Now we are ready to present our work to a publisher. This is the preening stage, when we check to see if the plant is producing its desired fruit; and if so, if it is ripe enough to be harvested. The actual harvest time is when our book is finally published, printed and distributed for sales to the public.
As writers, we need to push forward and begin with a new project once the previous one is done. Do not wait stagnant until you see the results of the previous harvest before you begin tilling the ground again. As soon as the plant (your work) has matured and you have harvested what it has produced (your finished composition presented/accepted by a publisher), till the ground new again, and start fresh planting your next garden (start on a new project).
If you remain stagnant for too long, the ground will
spoil and turn to worms (the proverbial writers' block can set in!).
Just as all farmers or garden growers use a variety of tools and methods, the same can be said for writers. Some like to sit at the computer or typewriter, tapping out their work right from the beginning, even their first draft. Others prefer the old-fashioned method of writing by hand, right through to the very completion. And there may also be many combinations of variations in-between.
And as for locale, some may go to a coffee shop or pub, while others go to a library or even a mall. Some may get out their notebook in the kitchen or in front of the T.V., while others go to the park. And yet there are also those who do their best work in a full-fledged office, sitting at a desk with all their papers, pencils or pens, and reference material spread out.
Yours truly here is a cocktail of nearly all the above-mentioned scenarios. I very rarely do a first draft on my computer. I have several leather-backed empty folders in which I always keep a good supply of empty lined school notebook paper. You know, the loose type with three holes on the one side-ever ready for binding in a notebook binder.
The only thing is, I don't bind my pages in a binder. I keep them loose-easier to write when I get to the last lines on a page. I can easily push the paper upwards, keeping my hand in the most comfortable position, rather than cramping it up to get my words in on those last lines. To prevent possible confusion, I number the sequence as I go along, front and back. As I said, I have several - one in my bedroom, another in my office and another hanging around somewhere in-between so that I have easy access to paper when I'm somewhere in the middle of the house.
Once I am basically satisfied that I have poured out all I desire on the topic for the time being, I then carefully type it into my computer. Seeing as how the quality of my hand writing has decreased considerably since I've learned the computer, this is a very pain-staking, eye-constraining job at the best of times. It is compounded by the fact that it only gets worse when I'm writing in haste trying to keep pace with the creative juices once they get flowing. And unless prompted on by an outside editor, I will usually do a minimum of one and maximum of two editing reviews.
I have found that if I do more or attempt more editing before sending it off to a publisher, that I eventually become disgusted or discouraged and ditch it. Then I'm lost-no work to show for my time and effort and nothing published. The plant wilts before any possible harvest.
As for my venue for writing (or, the fields of the plantation), it usually varies depending upon the circumstances of my life at the moment. While at home in our home town (main base), I usually like to work in my office. Thanks to the generosity of my loving husband, I have a beautiful and quite spacious office/library. It is well equipped with a very spacious and luxurious desk, swivel chair, computer center (pc with extra large screen, printer/copier/scanner, DSL internet connection), an extensive library of both English and Arabic books (many reference books I use in researching topics or to help with editing), as well as a luxurious thick rug, couches, coffee tables, and even a T.V. and satellite receiver.
There is even a kitchenette off to the side, equipped with a stove and fridge for cooling water. And the view-my, the view! My desk is right next to the window. On the third floor and overlooking the garden below, and from above the tree tops, it provides a beautiful view with the sensation of flying with the birds. It is only in the case that we are travelling that I resort to using my writing tablets without the convenience and efficiency of the desk, and then I use my laptop for completing the writing process and internet connections. Either way, I seem to have all bases covered.
So, my dear readers, let's call this a wrap. How does YOUR garden grow? How does your writing go? Are you a computer type from the very first stages, or do you prefer a pencil and paper? Do you work best at the baseball park or the coffee shop, or do you like the quiet of the public library? Or maybe you have your own office-or perhaps a little cottage in the woods, or even down by the stream or at the ocean front?
Let us know what makes you tick, how you do your craft!
'Writer, Writer, How Does Your Writing Go?' was posted on June 25, 2008 by Balqees Mohammed under Writer's Tips , and tagged with writing tips
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Balqees,
I LOVE your simile - we writers really are like gardeners, aren't we? It's put a whole new perspective on my passion for writing. Jazaakillaahu khairaa.
~ Umm J.