Becoming A Writer, Chapter Eight

Finally we come to the last item on the check-list, the #5 thing Brande recommends a writer do with all these pages that her agenda generates. And I’m not entirely sure how one is to accomplish it, not unless one naturally displays a tendency toward journaling. Maybe in Brande’s time, more people kept diaries? Maybe she foresaw the age of the blog? In any case, her final suggestion in “The Critic At Work On Himself” is to….

5. Critique your writing lifestyle

Looking over the output of the past few weeks or months, Brande asks us to notice when the writing was at its best, and to make the connection between those sessions and the circumstances under which they occurred.

Can you tell whether or not the good writing came after you had spent an active day, or after a quiet one? Did you write more easily after going to bed early, or after a short sleep? Is there any observable connection between seeing certain friends and the vividness or dullness of the next morning’s work? How did you write on the morning after you had been to a theater, or to an exhibition of pictures, or to a dance?

—p. 95

Then she goes on to address the “daily regime”–diet, exercise, routines, emotional state, etc. Every aspect of the would-be writer’s life must be examined in terms of whether it helps or hinders the writing. The goal? “[A] good, steady, satisfying flow, rising occasionally to an extraordinary level of performance, but seldom falling below what you have discovered is your own normal output.” She recommends taking this inventory every two or three months or, at the very least, semiannually.

Hence the relevance of journaling. It’s not so easy to make these connections if one’s recent writing doesn’t include at least a little bit of status report: “Sunday morning. Woke at 8 after staying up until 4 AM. Went out to the club last night and danced like a crazy person. Throat sore from ambient cigarette smoke and shouting to be heard over the music. Came home deliriously happy. Now I have a headache. Still, gotta write….”

Sometimes I find I have to write stuff like that just to get started, especially if there’s a lot of stress in my life. A brief stint of journaling exorcises any obsessive thoughts, getting them out of the head and onto the paper, freeing my brain up for storytelling.

But back to the inventory. Brande’s suggestion sounds a little Draconian, as though we writers should mercilessly cut activities, pleasures, and friends from our lives if our experiences with them do not benefit our writing selves. But look at it another way: If a certain pass-time or a particular person’s company isn’t enjoyable, drains your energy and leaves you unpleasantly exhausted, why spend more time in those situations than necessary? They’re not just hindering your writing (although this they will do, no fear); they’re hindering your enjoyment of life itself. Brande’s suggestion here is not so much to prune your life back to that of the penitent hermit scribe, but to prune out those things that oppress your spirit and waste your vitality.

After each of these sessions you will see that you emerge with a clearer idea of yourself, your abilities, and your weaknesses… you will have learned how to keep a friendly, critical eye on your own progress, and what steps to take to bring yourself nearer your goal…. When you feel that you would benefit by an inventory, set an hour for it, have it thoroughly, take the suggestions you have made; then come out and live without introspection till the next occasion for an overhauling arises.