The Crash of . . . Symbols

I came across these quotes the other day and really liked them. It's Ernest Hemingway on symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea:

"There isn't any symbolism. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The shark are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is sh*t. What goes beyond is what you see beyond when you know."

And:

"No good book has ever been written that has in it symbols arrived at beforehand and stuck in. ... I tried to make a real old man, a real boy, a real sea and a real fish and real sharks. But if I made them good and true enough they would mean many things."

The lesson for you, and me? Don't get caught up trying to cram symbolism into your novel and don't think you can't write a great novel because you aren't able to cram it with symbolism.

Here's Little Willie on that:




Just keep writing.

'Only the Spoons'

Fortunately, writers -- and all other humans -- can be "tricked" into doing something they don't want to do. Often, writers don't want to write.

Oh, yes, you want to be a writer and you want to have written today's word count and you want to be a novelist but . . . write right now?

Oh, man . . .

If it's any consolation, the same is true with other kinds of writing. I like being a columnist but there are times when, right now, I don't want to write a column. And, at that moment, I have to write a column. (Yes, one gets paid for writing newspaper and magazine columns but they come with deadlines. Start missing those and, very soon, one is no longer a newspaper or magazine columnist.)

The trick? I suppose I could call this"Only the Spoons." When our kids were little and one of them had to wash the dishes (no automatic dishwasher here) there was the usual amount of whining and moaning ("whoaning"?) and pointing out that life wasn't fair and whoever was the last one to wash dishes didn't have as many dishes to wash and why did . . . ?

And so on.

I would tell that child to wash only the spoons. Oh. That was doable. Then only the glasses. Just the glasses. You get the idea. Soon more was washed than unwashed. And then there was a race to the finish.

It's the starting that's hard. (I'm reminded of a how-to writing book by Anne Lamott titled Bird by Bird.)

If 500 words seems overwhelming, sit down and write only 50. That isn't so bad. Doesn't take long. Then, most likely, you'll just keep going and complete the day's count. Or . . .

Sometimes, with a 600-word column, I'll tell myself I'll write only 300. And then I take a little break, realize I'm halfway there and know I'll feel better getting the whole thing done. So I go back and finish it.

Ah!

Finish it.

Your daily word count. Your novel.

Your novel.

Just keep writing.

Your Daily Resolution

Now that New Year's is long gone (it seems that way, doesn't it?) and some of those resolutions of four days ago have slipped away, consider making a daily resolution.

Every day.

"Today, I'll write my daily word count."

(Okay, take one day off each week, if you like.)

Those daily counts quickly add up to lovely weekly counts, amazing monthly counts, and a book!

Your book.

Just keep writing.

Ooh, I Made That Teacher Mad

"Mr. Dodds, make it complicated!
My students are very bright."

 



A few years back I was speaking on writing at a private school that went from kindergarten through eighth grade. The big kids were my last classroom visits and, as always, I said pretty much what I had said to the younger kids.

The teens paid attention and seemed to enjoy themselves. I know I did.

Later, I found out at least one of the teachers for that older group complained that what I had been saying was just too simple. Somehow, it was "beneath" their level. The school threatened to not pay my fee and the publisher had to step in and sort things out. (I think he just paid me out of his own pocket. He was a good guy.)

My point here is the basics are the basics are the basics. Whether I'm talking to third-graders or adults, I tell them pretty much the same thing when it comes to writing.

If you stick with the basics, you'll do fine.

You'll finish your novel.

Just keep writing.

Spare Your Readers the Sermonizing!



I remember a sitcom from some 20 years ago that I liked watching until one of the main characters would launch into a long monologue on some topic that, obviously, was near and dear to the producers' hearts.

It ruined the program for me.

If several characters had talked about the issue as part of the plot, and in character, it would have been okay. But this was a lecture. A sermon. A finger-wagging scolding to all who dared to disagree with the producers' point of view. (I don't blame the writer. A TV or movie writer does what he or she is told or has the rewriting done by others higher on the food chain.)

That kind of heavy-handedness can hobble a novel, too.

If you want to write lectures or essays or op-ed pieces or sermons, do it.

But don't drop them into the middle of your novel, or worse yet string several together and call that a "novel."

Tell. A. Story. And . . .

Just keep writing.

Why write?



This morning I was pleased to see Nine Week Novel is in a number one spot and Great-grandfather has a one and a two on a couple of Top 100 Amazon lists.

Those little bits of affirmation, like a "nice job" from someone who reads part of your manuscript, are always pleasant but can be few and far between. Or at least seem that way.  It can be tougher to keep writing every day if you're writing for them.

Write for you.

Write because you're a writer.

And if you write today, you are.

(And let's be even more honest here, those Amazon rankings this morning are in very obscure categories. But still . . . On the other hand, Atheist is at 5898. In the Top 10,000.)

Just keep writing.

Delayed Gratification

Wait for it!

This is an older video of writer Elmore Leonard but I really like what he says in the first minute about getting up early to write and delaying his first cup of coffee until he's written for a while.
I don't have that kind of willpower. I can, however, not get a second cup until I've cranked out some stuff.
On the other hand, I don't have a problem with using a verb besides "said" to say that someone . . . said something.

Here's Elmore:


Just keep writing.