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books, creativity, emotion, fantasy, kinaesthetic, literature, memory, music, passion, psychology, reading, writing
What I’m about to say might seem like a no-brainer to writers, but I’ve got a hunch that for some readers it’s going to be fresh news:
Writers can’t create in a vacuum.
Time and tools are not enough to create good fiction. Writers need input if they are to create meaningful output, and let me give you a personal example. The other day I went to an orchestral concert. I could have been writing. I’m currently ‘in the zone’ and story is falling out of me, so it was a wrench to pull myself away from that and be out among people, but now that I’m living in regional Queensland orchestral concerts are few and far between – it’s go now or wait a month.
So I deliberately got there late to miss the milling around at the beginning, but I still had to suffer intermission, and that was jarring. When you’ve dragged yourself away from a fantasy world, a roomful of ‘normal’ people feels like being in an aviary of chattering lorikeets, and none of the conversation you overhear seems pertinent. I’ve got an entire empire hanging by a thread and the people next to me in the coffee line are complaining about the price of fuel. My fault, not theirs. So I try to focus on being an observer (always a good fallback for writers who are still half in their own world) and resume my seat as soon as I can, because I know it’s worth it to hear the music.
For those who don’t attend concerts, let me assure you there’s something magical about being in a auditorium of live music where you can actually feel the swell and grumble of it vibrating through your chest. You experience it kinaesthetically as well as aurally, and I love that. Then there’s the emotional reaction. The Bundaberg Symphony Orchestra played Louis Armstrong’s “It’s a Wonderful World” and I welled up. I love that song, but hearing it played through me triggered tears, and there’s more than a momentary emotional reaction happening here. When I close my eyes and let the music swirl around me and through me I can feel the creative tank I draw from filling up. Exactly the same thing happens, to a more limited degree, every afternoon when I walk along the esplanade and hear the waves crashing onto volcanic rocks and smell the salt spray. It fills me up somehow.
Jennifer Cruisie calls it “feeding the girls in the basement”. Anything that creates an emotional reaction fills that tank, and not just happy things. Some of my strongest emotional moments have come from pain, the tragic death of a parent or holding your friend’s hand while they cry. It’s all emotion, and writers need that input, they need to fill the tank because if they don’t they’ve only got dust to draw on when they’re trying to animate their characters. I’m completely convinced that when writers get impossible deadlines and they have to put their lives on hold to concentrate solely on output, their work suffers. In fact, I wish I had a dollar for every time I’d heard a reader complaining that an author they loved is just “churning books out” and the quality is suffering. There will always be exceptions to every rule: writers like Nora Roberts are prolific, satisfy readers and seem to do nothing but write! The rest of us, however, need to take time to ensure our creative tanks are full. Unfortunately when authors do that, they’re sometimes the brunt of reader dissatisfaction for taking too long to deliver.
Guy Gavriel Kay discusses this in his 2009 article: Restless Readers go Bonkers where he relates fantasy author George R.R. Martin’s problem of readers not wanting him to have a life: George R. R. Martin is the hugely successful purveyor of an ongoing, seven-volume fantasy series called A Song of Ice and Fire. Four books are done. The first three came quickly, then there was a five-year wait for the fourth. The first indicated publication date for the fifth installment, fiercely awaited, was 2006. That has rather obviously been missed: Martin is still writing it. The natives are restless… Seems some of his loyal and devoted readers are savagely attacking him for taking holidays, for watching football in the fall, for attending conventions, doing workshops, editing a volume of short stories, even for being “sixty years old and fat” … the implication being he might drop dead before fulfilling his obligation to do nothing else but finish the damned series.
That fifth novel was recently delivered and readers are more than happy with it, but how long will the satisfaction last if it takes another couple of years to deliver book six? Will readers again complain the moment George walks away from the desk? Unfortunately, the days when writers could lead anonymous lives is over. Publishers push authors to be active across social networking platforms, but even writers who guard their privacy aren’t safe from cyber stalking. Readers can now search across blogs, tweets and Facebook updates for an author’s name to monitor their movements as reported by others, which is downright scary. The upside of social media is that writers are more accessible to readers, the downside is that they’re being made accountable.
How will writers manage that in the future, particularly when eBooks can be processed in a matter of months, as opposed to the 12-18 months it takes to release a print novel? No idea. But one thing I do know, despite reader expectation: Input is vital for most writers to produce quality.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. As a reader, do you get frustrated waiting for authors to deliver books? As a writer, how to do ‘fill the tank’?
Fabulous post, Lou 🙂 I luv the way you describe how the music fills you up and the emotion that it evokes and how the walks by the ocean inspire you. You articulate my experience with both of those things so well…
It’s also interesting about some readers expectation of writers. Social media definitely has it’s up and downside that’s for sure…
As a reader before I was a writer – many moons ago…I did get a little frustrated with my favourite author not churning the stories out fast enough and BTW he was an extremely prolific writer back then – how impatient was I? LOL.
As a writer – that expectation has gone even though as a keen reader I still wait in anticipation for the next novel but the writer in me understands the process and would prefer quality of the story than quantity.
How do I fill my tank? Exactly the same as you. Daily walks by the sea – I live by beautiful Moreton Bay and LIVE gigs when I can get to them and of course there’s always a CD playing somewhere – in the car, in the living room, bedroom or study 🙂
And taking photos – luv being behind a lens and capturing light and colour or not in a still frame. A still shot can tell you as much as a moving picture (both mediums of which I adore).
Michele
One of my favourite Australian authors, Isobelle Carmody published the first book of the Legendsong trilogy in 1997. The second in 2002. The release date of the third book has gone from 2009, to 2011, to the vague “forthcoming” since I’ve been stalking her wiki page. In the interim, Carmody has published 11 books, with two more due out shortly. I’m torn between wanting to read the final damn book already and wanting her to take her time and make sure it’s right, rather than wrap up this epic tale in an unsatisfying manner. Slightly different situation to Martin, in that he hasn’t been publishing anything else.
Interesting point. It would be a challenge for a writer who’s doing more than one series to keep readers satisfied. But Isobelle is such a craftswoman! I’m sure it’s worth the wait.
Fabulous post Louise. And I love Jenny Cruise’s quote that Marion Lennox explained so eloquently at the recent Romance Writers of Australia’s conference in Melbourne.
I think filling the tank and feeding those basement girls is vital for a writer. I do it every day – from 3pm I head outside and spend a couple of hours with my horses – feeding and strapping and just enjoying each of their unique personalities. It’s a great tank filler 🙂 I know other writers who read, watch movies, walk the dog or simply take an afternoon siesta.
Interesting post.
You’ve hit the nail on the head, Louise. Writers need external stimulation in order to create. It goes without saying that they cannot or rather should not be made to write to deadlines and or schedules. When I worked as an editor for a major publisher, I often told my authors to ignore the scheduled deadline for a manuscript. It got me in trouble with the production team and with the publisher but I knew that some authors will not do their best work when they are locked up in a room, writing night and day to meet an unrealistic schedule. They need to go out, meet people, see a film, walk in a garden. Anything that will stimulate the senses and transfer itself to the page. In the end the publisher and therefore the reader benefits because the author has given them their best work, not churned out something because they have to. I’m currently unemployed and have plenty of time to dedicate to my new novel. Days go by when I don’t see anyone but my partner and my dogs. But I am finding that a part of me misses that three days’ contact with colleagues. Of course, some people work best under pressure too and love it when you say okay this manuscript has to be in tomorrow morning or I will sell your organs to the highest bidder.
Ah Dmetri, I wish you’d been my editor!
I think being attacked for having a life is a good thing, as opposed to indifference. No one is demanding more of my time to be devoted to writing. There are no lynch mobs brandishing books like torches around my “castle” demanding that the next installment be written.
In all things, balance is in order, and who is to say how much”life” one must drink before the creative juices are replenished? I get a little cranky when a new Stephen King novel isn’t introduced every six months, and yet as a writer it took many years to get my first novel published, albeit self published.
But in this result oriented culture, it’s hard to take someone seriously eating ice cream on a park bench as “writing” even though it actually is this type of behavior that is like a draught of wine to someone feeling a bit “tapped out.” And while we may sometimes languish at the banality of normal conversation, we glean the rhythms and cadence of conversation and can wield it as a sword in our writing.
Good times and good post.
I love the idea of ‘drinking life’ to refill the tank, and you’re quite right, no author wants to be treated indifferently. We’re not putting our work out there to be ignored! And I suppose if readers are so passionate about our writing that it makes them cranky to wait, then that has to be a huge compliment. Happy thoughts to dwell on…
F A N T A S T I C Article Lou. 🙂 LOVE your pic and slogan btw.
i totally agree 100%, creative people need time out, I know I do, otherwise I get VERY cranky!
We are the ultimate amoeba of our environment, its like we bump into a great story while out buying groceries, having a coffee, listening to someone whinge etc.
Although I write non-fiction, I totally relate to your post.
Thanks for the comments guys, I love the fact that even talking about creativity sets creative connections in motion. Michele’s comment on taking photos and Helen’s afternoon siesta are already making me think, “Yes, must do that.” It’s amazing how reviving and clarifying a nap can be. And I was thinking of you while I was out buying groceries yesterday Lisa, listening to conversations and how people move and talk, filtering ideas. There’s gold in everything!
This is probably the biggest thing I’ve learned this year. Enjoying your life has to come first, with the work running a very, very close second. Otherwise you, those close to you, and the work all suffer.