Keep the Faucet on: Slow and Steady Fills the Ocean
By Katrina Kittle | November 7, 2014 |
By Steve Johnson (Flickr CC)
Louis L’Amour has a quote I love: “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” I use this quote often in my classes. I even have this quote posted on the bulletin board in my office.
Why, then, why why why do I need to re-learn this at least once a year?
This fall has been an overwhelming, but exciting time for me. I combined households with the love of my life, not only moving but putting my old house up for sale and the relentless cross-one-thing-off-the-list-then-add-three-more insanity of that process, all while also starting a new venture in teaching online fiction courses…and attempting to finish the draft of my new novel.
What does this have to do with turning the faucet on, you might ask? Well, I do this thing, when life gets too frenetic, where I begin thinking things like, “Let me just go finish spackling and then I’ll come back to write,” or “I’ll be able to focus on the writing better if I just go ahead and unpack my office boxes,” and “I have to get everything ready for class tonight before I sink into the writing.”
Blah blah blah. I’ve been here before. I know better! But I fell into the trap again. Please tell me that some of you do the same thing and I’m not alone in this? And here’s what happens: with each passing day, it gets easier not to write. After a week, self-doubt creeps in and you begin to wonder if the project is even worth your time anyway. Two weeks out and you lose sight of what you were trying to do with the story at all. You begin to believe your stupid lie: “I’ll write again when I figure out where the book is going.”
What shamed me out of it was the “Inspiration & Motivation” class I was teaching. In that class, we spent half the time on prompts and exercises to help writers start (or finally finish) a project, and the other half on some aspect of the writing life…such as creating and defending a writing schedule (see where this is going?).
I caught myself rushing from my old house—paint still in my hair, grout under my nails—to get in front of the camera to tell my class how writers must carve out a writing schedule and keep it sacred, how we must defend it ruthlessly, how it’s unrealistic to always expect large chunks of time. I told the story of being on faculty with Andres DuBus III at the Antioch Writers’ Workshop in July and hearing his amazing keynote speech in which he told us he wrote the entire first draft of the gorgeous, award-winning The House of Sand and Fog in twenty minute intervals. In his car. Parked in a cemetery. Writing longhand in a legal pad propped against the steering wheel after a full day of teaching before he went home to his wife and little ones.
[pullquote]Louis L’Amour has a quote I love: “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” I use this quote often in my classes. I even have this quote posted on the bulletin board in my office.[/pullquote]
And during class I thought to myself, “You haven’t written in weeks. You are such a hypocrite.” And, before I could filter that thought (filter? What’s a filter?) I blurted my admission to the class. That confession caused some wonderful things to happen. It started a conversation about how keeping a schedule is often the hardest part of this very difficult thing we do, even if you are many times published. We talked about how writing forces you to be a beginner over and over again, in so many different ways. The class members were appreciative of my honesty. I told them what was happening with my life—how I felt my mind, focus, and discipline had become as scattered as every other possession of mine (are they at the old house? The new house? What box are they in?)—and I vowed to take my own advice. Which included:
Create the Schedule that Works for You
The schedule doesn’t have to be the same every single week. You can adjust as need be. Look to the week ahead and block out time. Put those time slots on the calendar the way you would any other appointment or commitment.
Make the Schedule Challenging but Doable
If you set yourself up with a schedule that’s impossible to keep (“I’m going to write five hours every single day!” or in my case “I’m going to keep the same writing schedule even though my life is now turned upside down.”), then as soon as you fail, you get discouraged and give up, like someone on a diet who eats one cookie and then decides “What the hell, I’ve blown the diet, I may as well eat the whole box” (Note: there is nothing inherently wrong with eating an entire box of cookies. Especially if those cookies happen to be Girl Scout Thin Mints. I just needed an example).
You see, people commit to absolutely grueling schedules during big pushes like NaNoWriMo or when your book-under-contract is almost due, but you can sacrifice a lot in those temporary rushes that you could never sustain in regular life. You want to find the schedule that keeps you mentally healthy and prevents you from being the crazy cat lady hermit (not that there’s anything inherently wrong with having cats. Or liking to stay home. Cough. I just needed an example).
It may sound pathetic and paltry, but during the move and house prep time, I told myself I would write one hour each morning.
Don’t Turn Your Nose Up at Small Chunks of Time
An hour felt small too me, compared to my usual writing schedule. But it’s astonishing how much you can accomplish in a small, consistent amount of time. One hour a day was enough for me to keep momentum going forward, to keep my finger on the pulse of my novel, to prevent that crippling doubt from setting in. Once I truly committed to it, the one hour never felt like enough…and it’s a wonderful feeling to stop writing when you want to keep going, when you find yourself hungry to get back to work the next day.
Remember Andre DuBus in his car in the cemetery. Twenty minutes. The House of Sand and Fog. Just sayin’…
Pay Yourself First
Just like the financial advice about saving money—pay yourself the writing time first. You will find the time to grade the papers, to do the laundry, to mow the lawn, to paint the front door, to go to the paying job because you have to. But I guarantee you, if you do those other tasks first, believing you will write when they are done, you will run out of time. You will feel too tired, too depleted. And you will fall, as I did, into the trap of thinking that it’s best to put off the writing until tomorrow. And, again, tomorrow. Rinse and repeat. Paying myself first in writing time, even during the move, made me happier and saner. Not only was I honoring my writing, I was not a crazy person. Bonus.
I told the truth to my class. We “checked in” with each other at the start of each week, like we were in AA or Weight Watchers together. And I was happy to report that once I made myself accountable to them—because I didn’t want to be giving advice I didn’t follow myself—I fell back into the writing.
Which brings us back to the quote: “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on..” L’Amour knew what he was talking about. And I add a silent “every day” after that “start writing,” as in Keep writing, no matter what. One hour a day may seem like a silly drop in the bucket, but it was better than four weeks of not writing at all.
My new writing office is now unpacked. There is a sale pending on the old house. And the draft of my novel is rising toward the final chapters…because I finally left the faucet on, dripping steadily, through it all.
How do you keep the faucet flowing?
Katrina Kittle is the author of four novels for adults—Traveling Light, Two Truths and a Lie, The Kindness of Strangers, and The Blessings of the Animals— and one novel for tweens, Reasons to Be Happy. The Kindness of Strangers was the winner of the 2006 Great Lakes Book Award for Fiction. Katrina has an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University in Louisville and teaches creative writing workshops from the third grade to universities to retirement communities. She also teaches creative writing regularly for Word’s Worth Writing Connections (https://www.wordsworthdayton.com/ ) in the Dayton-Cincinnati area and to students across the country through OnLiten (https://onliten.com/workshops.htm#KKchar) Through Write Sisters Consulting (https://www.writesistersconsulting.com/, she offers manuscript consultations. Katrina has always loved the telling of stories in any medium, and because of her extensive background in dance and theatre, she is a firm believer in both honoring an apprenticeship and caring about craft. She lives in Dayton, OH with her odd cat Joey (he has anxiety issues, sucks on blankets, and is in love with a spatula) and her out-of-control garden; has a thing for goats, gardening, and going barefoot; and is totally addicted to coffee, dark chocolate, pedicures, and movies. If you’re on Facebook, she’d love for you to “like” her author page (https://www.facebook.com/KatrinaKittleAuthor). Learn more at www.katrinakittle.com
Katrina,
“…creating and defending a writing schedule.” God, do I relate. My hard-won writing time has been shot to smithereens by life events. In fact, I snuck up here to read the WU post before driving my 87 yr old mother to her new home 3 states away. I have been in ‘moving mode’ with her for months, inundated with the physical and emotional madness of closing up a family house. I’ve adopted a kind of guerilla work ethic during all this, sometimes snatching 15 minutes…or five, to write a snatch of dialogue or a note about character. The Guerilla Manifesto dictates that I take a moment early in the day to get quiet with the chapter I’m working on, or to immerse myself in the story narrative. Then I ask the ‘Boys in the Basement’ to go on the meter while I pack china or do my mother’s laundry. They usually clock in at some point with a nugget. I try to always have paper and pen handy, but table napkins work. I even once ripped a flap off a cardboard box to write down the brilliant solution to a knotty plot problem that came to me as I was packing. Giving myself permission to shut the world out in bytes is also an important skill (although the better you get at this, the more it can effect your personal relationships).
Knowing that the disruption is temporary helps a great deal. After this weekend I will get my life back. I’m hungry to write in long quiet stretches. Ravenous, even. I like this feeling. And I’m nourished and heartened by your post today.Thank you!
Oh, Susan, I’m so glad the post nourished you. You made my day. And there are times life interferes and times we just LET it. Sounds like you’re dealing with a true interference, but I’m so glad it’s temporary. Here’s wishing you those long, quiet stretches you’re hungry for!
I loved how being honest with your class set you back on the right path. I’ve found that I write better when I’m teaching/mentoring … because I cannot sustain a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do attitude.
Life is calm and peaceful and I can have the faucet flowing, but three years ago, when we were packing up and moving across the country, buying and selling a house, getting kids settled … I found that scribbling in my notebook saved my sanity. I didn’t pay myself first, as you suggest, but always there’d be a lull in the afternoon or evening when I could sit with a cup of tea at a picnic bench or a hotel lobby, and at desperate moments in the bathroom.
I have three favorite places to write: on my back porch, in my office, and at Adoration. Yesterday, I got to do all three. Thanks for the reminder to keep the faucet on even when life gets overwhelming.
Absolutely, Vijaya–I always do better with my own writing, too, when I am teaching/mentoring. And yes, the writing is the key to my sanity, too! Yesterday sounded like a perfect writing day for you. :-)
Get up.
Thank God for another day, beautiful in its own way.
Swallow the meds which may give me control of a portion of my mind to write with. In a while.
Allow one small check – comments on my writing (the occasional surprise of a reader).
Block the internet with Freedom. Record that I blocked it, and the number of minutes I’m granting myself, maybe.
Open ANY of the files – Resistance, Journal, Enthusiasm,… – put in the date with Scrivener’s SHFT-CMD-OPT-D automatic command.
I’ve now started writing.
Continue writing SOMETHING. ANYTHING. This (cheating a little here).
Hope the brain comes online soon. When it does, will it find me here, ready? Hope the world and the shoulds don’t reach in today and yank me out too soon.
Going to do just that.
Have a good day.
Yes! Yes! Be there, ready. Stay in “shape” so we can catch them when the words come. All best!
Come back after the writing time ends.
2150+ words – and only a few of them snippets of dialogue and thoughts that will end up in the actual story. (I think outside the brain; inside is too crowded.)
Three chapters devoured in a new writing book I needed to read NOW.
And not a minute of it wasted.
My head hurts. So what? That’s the joy.
Thanks, Katrina.
Last year after NaNo I realized that what motivated me was the word count tracking (I’m nerdy that way). So I set up a spreadsheet for myself for December.
After a successful December putting in 1,000 words a day, I decided to challenge myself to do that EVERY day in 2014, and the 365K Challenge was born.
I told my critique partner. She wanted in. We set up a shared spreadsheet online. She’s already reached her 365K for 2014 and I’m not far behind.
My critique partner has a Facebook group called the 10 Minute Novelists, who number in their hundreds. She decided to get her group to do the 365K Challenge in 2015. Hundreds signed up.
The moral of the story? Do what works, but find some way to make yourself accountable. I’m trying to decide whether once I reach 365K (by the end of this month) I should take December off to establish an editing habit, but I’m finding it hard to envisage a day that doesn’t include writing. It’s become as ingrained as drinking coffee. And all from one decision on December 1, 2013.
This is fantastic, Jane! I love it. And amen to “Do what works, but find some way to make yourself accountable.”
Thanks for this! I need to hear this message about once every month or two, specifically the “Don’t Turn Your Nose Up at Small Chunks of Time” part. This is why I appreciate NaNoWriMo because it lets me sprint ahead instead of going at the slow plodding rest-of-the-year speed. You are not alone. ;)
Thanks, Katrina (lovely name, by the way). Thanks for the reassurance. It always amazes me when I rediscover how much I can get done in little bits.
My whole writing life has been like this, from writing in a noisy waiting area while the kids were in music lessons, to writing while being my 94 year old mother in law’s caregiver and taking my Dad in after a heart attack, to now helping my daughter with our baby grandson. The faucet does open when you’re in a crunch especially since for me, the writing percolates while I’m changing that next diaper, while on hold making yet another appointment or whatever’s happening at the time. Then when everyone else sleeps I’ll write in the wee hours of the morning until 2am or so. After all: How badly do I want it? and What am I willing to sacrifice to get it? Not my family, but sleep, sure! Thanks for sharing; now you know, you’re not alone!
Thanks, Hanna. And you’re so right: how badly do we want this? No one is MAKING us do this, after all. If we’re not hungry enough for it, maybe we should reconsider, right? Who needs sleep? :-)
Great post! Shorter writing increments are highly underrated–they also keep you from getting too far ahead of yourself, plot-wise, which probably saves a lot of revision time downstream. I wrote the bulk of my latest novella (“Public Loneliness”) on the train. And not a cool secluded calm Amtrak-y train, either–I’m writer-in-residence on the CTA’s Purple Line.
Like you, I am learning not to waste chunks of time. Sometimes it’s all overwhelming. I also work as a substitute teacher outside of writing, so I am getting up earlier and earlier to start the faucet. It’s worth it.
I used to teach full time, Tina, so I know that struggle. Good for you. I moved apartments to live 4 minutes from my school so that I could write each morning from 5-7 and still be at school at 8 AM. I was a better, more patient teacher for paying myself first each day.
Thank you so much for reminding me that my story isn’t going to tell itself. I need to show up every day and be ready to put the time in. At the moment I’m in between projects, having just finished polishing a manuscript and sending it off to a CP for a final read through before I submit to the editor who requested it. I know I absolutely need to start on the next story, especially since the editor expressed an interest in it too. Instead of starting the next, I’ve been procrastinating by thinking I need to wait until my CP gives me back the completed story.
Reading your article made me realize that’s just an excuse for not writing and a poor one at that.
Thank you and I will get busy writing as soon as I finish this. I promise!
Yay! You go, Carol! We all need nudges (I know I sure do). Happy to have provided one to you. All best!
I’ve been struggling to keep the faucet flowing lately. I have a lot on my plate and seem to be unable to give any of it up, but I also keep taking on more work. I’m walking a fine line here until it all collapses around me.
All best to you Brianna, and hang in there. Sometimes life interferes and sometimes we just let it. Sounds like maybe you’ve got major interference going on, so be good to yourself. Even a little bit of writing can help you keep some momentum and sanity going. Sending vibes!
Thanks, Trina. I really needed those words this morning. And now I have a chapter revision half done–one I’ve been putting off because of all those other calls on my time.
Thanks, Judy! So good to see you the other night at Jo’s reading.
Great post, Katrina!
Thanks, Catherine! :-)
This post is so me! (And I’m sure everyone else out there, too, at one point or another.) Not that I’m glad you have the same battles, but it’s nice feeling like you’ve got some company when you’re procrastinating to no end and feeling all that doubt creep in. Wonderful advice and a fun, easy read. Kudos! :)
Thanks so much, Lindsey! Glad to know I’m not alone. :-)
Hi Katrina,
I have carved out 10-12 PM. I realized I wasn’t sleeping then anyway, but instead, lying awake frustrated that I hadn’t found writing time during the day. This works because: it isn’t working hours, so I don’t feel guilty, my husband is asleep, my son doesn’t call me because it’s after 10 PM, and friend KNOW NOT TO CALL.
I’ve written 55,000 words on a novel since March. I’m not fast, but I am steady, and that’s all I ask of myself.
Best,
Skye
Skye, that is awesome! Keep it up!
Hi, Katrina,
I’ve seldom in my life ever had the luxury of unlimited time in which to write. Instead I write as I have always written, in cracks of time. For the last 15 years the cracks have widened, but they are still cracks. Yet with that discipline, I’ve written and traditionally published 3 nonfiction books on subjects pertaining historical horticulture and self-published 3 novels. Among the 6 books are a Washington State Book Award Top Ten finalist, a Spur Award and a runner-up for another Spur. (I’m in good company with the Spur. Louis L’Amour won one, too, for Lonesome Dove.) I’m now working on the 4th novel.
We can write in any amount of time if we must.
You are absolutely right, Carol: “We can write in any amount of time if we must.” Congratulations on all your successes!
Thank you, Katrina, for…
‘The [writing] schedule doesn’t have to be the same every single week. You can adjust as need be. Look to the week ahead and block out time.’
I know I’m going to return to that piece of advice, often.
I find that in order to keep the faucet on I have to be engaged in my life. I have to take to live and enjoy my life — it feeds my muse.
Thanks, Leanne, so glad you found it helpful. And yep, we must be engaged in our lives…otherwise we have nothing to write about! You are so right to call that your muse.
These are some great tips on an excellent top, Katrina. I especially relate to the one about using the small chunks of time. Those are key!
I used to write every day. I did this for two years and while it was great to learn the discipline, I finished with a polished, “beautifully written so-what” (credit to Lisa Cron for that great phrase). I was too close and poured too much frantic energy into my work.
I’m trying something different this time. I only write on weekends. I spend Monday to Friday working and although I may make a note or two, I strictly avoid my manuscript altogether. If an idea is really good, then it will be worth remembering. If not, then I will have time to reflect and come back to my manuscript with better ideas by the next weekend. For example, this week’s post by Donald Maass really got me thinking about my story. Oh, how I wanted to jump in and revise. But I held off and today I’ve added some new perspectives which will helps when its my writing time.
I suppose two years of disciined everyday writing has taught me something useful, though, and I doubt I’d be able to do what I do now with keeping weekends for writing: if I really want to write, then I will write. There is always always always a way to connect to the story. Sometimes it just takes that extra five minutes of thought or maybe the trip from one coffee shop to another. When weekends come I don’t set unreasonable goals either. I simply tell myself that throughoit the day, my mind belongs to my story and I write when and where I can – all while enjoying time with family, friends, and while relaxing from the exhausting work I do during the week. Writing, though the thing I want to do one day for a living, is as enjoyable for me as breathing, or chocolate. It’s hard work, but it is joyful. Creating structure to make it as fulfilling as possible is a worthwhile endeavour.
Great discipline, John. And I love how even though your schedule is so disciplined, you still have that joy with the writing. “As enjoyable for me as breathing or chocolate.” Amen!
Katrina, oh did this resonate! Yes to all of it, especially how terribly true it is that not writing gets easier as the days add up… I liken it to watching a boat drift away and the longer I wait the longer the swim to reach it.
I recently heard Julianna Baggott speak and she also suggested using your best time for yourself, not other people’s work or answering emails or the dishes, ha.
An hour can be super productive esp if you do it regularly. Sometimes I bring my computer to school pick up and the other day I wrote in the cr while my young son napped. You got to take it when you can.
Love love this post. My faucet is on!
-Dana
So happy your faucet is on, Dana. And I love your image of the boat drifting away. So true.
Ok, this is the second blogpost on this topic I have read today. Yes, I understand completely. I am tired, I am hungry, I am busy, blah blah blah. I just don’t want to practice self care, and self care include writing. Every practice I have, running, yoga, meditation etc, must be part of my schedule, part of a rigid routine that almost becomes addictive. And writing, after a change on my work schedule, has fallen to the wayside. So I am vowing to write a short blog post today, to at least commit to five minutes of writing. It does become easier after that, and I will feel so much better.
Good luck, Laura! And oh, my gosh, yes: writing is definitely self care for me.
Katrina, I have been in a fog of irresolution and ill-will toward my fiction writing, so that for two full months, not a word made it to the page. As you suggest, that momentum builds on itself, so though I scolded myself about it, I couldn’t hector myself to the keyboard.
Finally, a week ago, I saw a writing contest with a “Unearth Your Underworld” theme—zap! Instantly, I had a story idea flood into my head, full plot and resolution, based on some madness from my past.
So, this past week, I’ve been writing again. Not a torrent, but a steady flow. I’ll make that contest deadline, and I hope to work on another story idea that occurred to me right on top of this one. The faucet is back on. Thanks for your insights.
Great post Katrina thank you. I do morning pages longhand and find that helps to open the faucet.
I often resist this warm up exercise thinking it robs me of writing time. But in fact it helps me slow down and go deeper to that place where I’m ready to write…
Right now I’m facing revisions and finding it hard to dive in and just write the new scenes
Yes, yes and yes! I was foolish enough to think that once I started writing again, I wouldn’t stop! Silly me. Completely ignored the signal that I had actually stopped for 12 years. I was busy with other things and now its happening again. Completely agree that small chunks of time work and I usually then write for longer anyway. Thanks and hope your new office inspires you.
I have to admit, when my 24-year old daughter came home this past September, I felt like I had reason to turn the faucet off. Yes, it’s been good to have some quality time with her, but the truth was, I needed a break from a story that was slowly torturing me with its meandering plot.
It took me a few weeks to reaffirm my goals, and since being a successful author is at the top of the list, I needed to get back to my writing, and pronto. I’m not getting any younger. I put butt in chair and turned the faucet on. It’s dripping, but a small puddle is better than a dry mirage.
Thanks for your article, Katrina!
Well put, Suzanne! :)