If you’ve had a chance to look at the fantastic interviews from the
Willow Pattern authors, you may have noticed some differing opinions
about the end product. For Rjurik Davidson, participating allowed him to
explore new styles of writing, stripping away the literary frills and
letting the story speak for itself. For Krissy Kneen and Nick Earls, the
end product wasn’t necessarily such a positive.
Personally, I
think they’re being a bit harsh about their work, even if I’d be the
same. There’s a sense of bravery to the idea of the 24hr Book Project
that comes from the group’s willingness to write imperfectly. Nick
Earls, for example, is the sort of writer who makes it look effortless.
It’s easy to forget how much time, effort, and editing goes into making a
story that works so well. Seeing his less polished work in Willow
Pattern certainly doesn’t diminish his credibility as a writer. Instead,
it gives us a chance to look behind the curtain and remember that
writing takes work. It’s not just aspiring writers who write imperfect
drafts; our favourite stories don’t flow fully formed and perfect from
the mind of their writer.
I’m a bit precious about my writing. I
will edit it till one of us bleeds. Normally, I’d spend at least a day
staring down each of these blog posts, printing them out and attacking
them with red pen until I was happy to release them into the wild. I’ve
tried not to do that here, giving myself only an hour of editing per
post. I want to understand the sort of bravery that the writer’s showed,
and I can’t do that if I’m being precious. Having said that, knowing
others will read my work has slowed my normal writing process. I can
barely hit 300 words in a day like this, so I’m in awe that they managed
5,000 while also navigating social media feeds. So how did they do it?
Each interview touches on the idea that the project was treated
as a game or challenge, not as a professional writing piece.
Expectations were lowered, and everyone had to make peace with the idea
that this was not going to be perfect. The story became more important
than the details of the telling. Each writer had to play to their
strengths, and acknowledge their limitations, in order to reach their
goal. Progress, not perfection, became the focus of the challenge.
It
seems as though setting challenges outside of your comfort zone is a
good way to gag your inner perfectionist. Throw in some writer friends,
some coffee, and a promise that no one will post your work on Facebook,
and it could be a great way to spend a day or two over your Christmas
break. Even if you don’t live near other writers, there are enough
online challenges to keep you writing through the year, including
NaNoWriMo (www.nanowrimo.org), which is running now. I’m going to
challenge myself to write 2,000 words a day over my Christmas break. Is
anyone else thinking of setting themselves a writing challenge?
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