Is there a right way to write?

The Maui Writer's Conference, now the world's largest writer's conference, attracts great writers from around the world, some not even speakers. Published authors as well as aspiring writers attend, because it's fascinating to hear how other people write and compare their work habits to yours. I speak as one who has written two unpublished novels. I get to look down my nose at people who think they have a novel in them but can't finish one, while bowing my head in shame in the presence of people who, having written a novel, actually keep mailing it to publishers until one deigns to publish it. Some writers dislike writing on deadline so much that they fritter away time replying to letters and scribbling magazine articles. Larry King once asked William F. Buckley if he liked to write. "What I like," Buckley replied, "is to have written." As a 38-year veteran broadcast news writer, I don't have any problem writing on deadline. For me, it is more challenging to write something good enough for a less ephemeral use than reading it once or twice on the air. I eventually found a way to deal with this. My method was to begin each day's work on a novel by rewriting what I wrote the day before. I would go back to the very start of the previous day's work, intending to edit it, and basically improve the whole thing. By the time I got to the end, I always knew how to proceed and would segue into new material. On the rare occasion when I got stuck, I would go for a walk, making no effort to think consciously about the novel. By the time I returned, I always knew what to do. The only thing I can figure is that my subconscious solved the problem while I was walking.  The Maui Writer's Conference is unaccountably on Oahu this year. For more information: http://www.mauiwriters.com.

Comments

[Mike Nale]

Howard

Great blog post. I do not consider myself a writer at all. I have read William Zinser "On Writing Well" and my writing still seems lame. I can relate to you on editing it over and over again though. Oh the pain!

Mike Nale

[The Stink]

There is no right way to write.

Ideally, you put your ass in the chair, strap yourself in, and write until it's done. After that the writing becomes rewriting.

Then the questions become:

When do you stop rewriting?

Is there a right way to get published?