I cannot count all the times I just kept at it –even when cleaning the bathroom sounded like an appealing alternative (and I HATE cleaning) — and surprised myself by getting something down on the page. Sometimes it was pretty good, too.

Other times, it may not have been my best prose, but it was something to work with, somewhere to go, and reinforced for me the value of writing through blocks.

Yet, I also believe that time away from the keyboard/notebook is valuable too, and that most writers are always “working” — turning ideas over in our minds, manipulating our characters and gathering steam for our pieces even when we are doing laundry, say.

Sometimes I “write” while doing a dozen other things, and that’s another part of the process. But once I sit down to get it on the page, staying in that chair counts.

I would emphasize another great point that Carlson makes. Let me start by saying that I always envied writers (such as Carlson) who say things like, “I just started writing, and the character took over the story.” I would hear things like that and say to myself, “No wonder Carlson is such a great writer. His characters work their butts off. My characters are lazy mofos who just sit there–I have to tell them everything!”

What Carlson helped me to see was how he writes the “outer story,” the stuff that happens, with credibility. That credibility allows the “inner story,” the characters’ emotions and motivations and reactions, to emerge.

Looking at one’s writing from that perspective, the idea that the characters take over the story and do what they will, with the writer becoming an instrument of discovery, makes a lot of sense. I intend to apply it to my next first draft. Should be interesting.

Thanks for posting about this valuable book. Everyone who wants to write should read this.

I liked your post so much that I’m going to copy it and hand it out in the writing class that I teach.

I also added the book to my Christmas wish list-

Armand