Learning the Process

This post ought to be a celebration of all I’m learning about writing, but I’m finding I keep spinning my wheels, doing the same things with each piece I write. Maybe I need concrete goals and objectives. I wanted to learn to be more patient, taking time over my words, revising and editing, but it isn’t happening. I’m writing these stories using the same process I did with my ed tech blog. I grab an hour as soon as I get the chance, and cram as much writing in as I can. I don’t take time to proofread, revise and edit as I should.

The thing that bothers me most, is my urge to click that ‘publish’ button and release my words. I know this comes from years of sharing all my thoughts online, and I haven’t decided whether it’s even something that can be judged as positive or negative. One side of me feels we’re in a different place now with writing, and there’s nothing wrong with releasing first drafts. Another part of me feels I’m cheating readers, or at least mucking with writing conventions, breaking rules, offending tradition.

Yesterday I was asked why I release the work with CC licensing. My initial thought is that I really don’t know any better. This is how I’ve been writing, and I don’t know anything other than sharing. In my mind, these words are just like any of my instructional pieces or presentations. They are just my organization of words, not encapsulated in my own paragraphs, but part of the middle of something bigger. My stories have no beginning and end. There are threads I will never complete. I have no intention of detailing the physical descriptions of the characters. I hope these things are in your mind.

I write things I like to read. When I’m reading a book that goes into a detailed description of a person, I get stuck trying to imagine as the author intended. With my writing, I hope the characters can live in your imagination. With that, I suppose I also hope someone out there has other pieces of the stories. Maybe they will be a spark for others to write the details, or to rewrite using a local setting, or more familiar challenge. I see my writing as more of a framework for a daydream.

Because I haven’t studied writing, I also don’t know about where my stories belong. I don’t know if there’s a genre for this, or who the reading audience may be. Yesterday someone referenced Stream of Consciousness. I was unfamiliar with the term, but now plan to learn more about it and see if it is something that will help inform my future writing. I’ve been working in a field where I have become used to learning with colleagues and downplaying the role of the ‘expert’ in the learning process. I’ve attempted to replicate that learning in the field of writing, but haven’t found the online opportunities as engaging as those in educational technology. So I wonder, how much am I going to learn and improve on my own? Will I need to consult experts or seek further formal education?

For now, I’m writing to please myself. The joy I get from playing with words has a balancing effect on the rest of my life. I’m fortunate that I don’t have to do this for a living, because I don’t know if I would enjoy it as much. I am still doing contract work in higher education, and haven’t really thought of building a career around creative writing. In fact, though I can certainly picture myself writing a full-length novel, I can’t imagine keeping it to myself until publication! If you’ve read this far, thank you for sticking with me. I do appreciate all the feedback I get from readers, many of whom are experts in the field. Thank you for following my adventure!