Katie's Writing Notes

If you write a lot about a nonfiction topic – for your blog posts or articles or books – you might come across a frustrating situation: every attempt at writing on a certain turns out awful.

Let us say that you want to write an article.  It covers a topic you are familiar with and that you have written about in the past.  You have a good idea of your content for this particular article’s approach or focus; you might have even jotted down the main points you want to cover.

You make your first attempt at writing the article.  As you read over your first draft, you realize that it is not right.  It might cover the points, but the draft does not do it for you.

Realize that all drafts are awful, so I am not talking about the issue of lousy first drafts.  I am talking about how the ideas are expressed or organized.  I am talking about how sometimes the writing just gets away from you.

So you set that first attempt aside and try again later, starting from scratch again.  You might do this for a few times, until you realize that now is simply not the time to write about that particular topic.  Hopefully, you have the choice to put it aside until you are ready.

With the idea of waiting for your writer’s mind to be ready, I am not talking about waiting for the muse to stroke your brow with an illuminating vision of the final product.  I am talking about tripping over a topic you thought you could write about but that does not come out right when you try.  As you pick yourself up from the floor, you might mumble, “Huh, I guess I’m not ready to write that yet.”

Writing is a matter of trial and error with topics.  Despite your best intentions, you may not be ready to write about some topics, even if you know quite a bit about the topic, which might be the problem.

A CASE HISTORY

I normally write two posts a day (weekdays) for my blog.  They range from about 400 to well over 1000 words.  And most days, I choose two topics to write about, I draft them, and the next day I revise and publish them.  (I did a post recently called “My Blog Writing Process,” which describes this process.)

But one day a few weeks ago, I set out to describe the three publishing options available for writers these days.  It is a simple enough topic: briefly describe traditional publishing, vanity or subsidy publishing, and self-publishing.  I have had experience with two of the three (I never wanted to waste the money on vanity publishing).  I even created a 7-hour workshop to help writers make an informed decision.

So when I started to draft my article — my first attempt — the writing took off, and I realized I had lost control of it.  So I stopped.  I let the idea simmer for a while and did something else.

I tried again.  And again, I was frustrated with the result.  Stop.  Simmer. Try again.

With the third attempt (that is, starting from scratch), I thought I had it nailed.  I would describe three advantages and disadvantages though all three had many more than three of each.  Once again, I was frustrated by the result.

I finally gave up.  If I cannot write the article with three completely new attempts, then now is not the time to write the article.  You have to be willing to give up and try again later if that is the action required.

I told my sister that I was trying to cram a 7-hour workshop into 500 words, which cannot be done.

MY POINT

My point here is that sometimes you will find that you are simply not ready to write something.  After a few valiant attempts, you might as well accept defeat and move on to another topic, one that you can write.

Keep your notes and drafts of those attempts that were so unsatisfying, put them in a folder, and keep them handy, for you never know when you will be ready to write the article.  You might get a flash of an idea one day and know how to tackle the topic to make it right.

Until then, the notes are in the folder and they are not going anywhere.

Luckily for me, this frustrating episode does not happen often, but it does happen.  As a writer, you learn to work through the rough spots and move on.