Brick Walls

Since then, Writers Digest ranked Writers' Exchange in the top 50 writing websites. Also, the entire set of over 70 articles published in Writers' Exchange in 2001 has now been published as an ebook, with my Brick Walls essay appearing first. This book won the Sime-Gen Reviewer's Choice Award for Non-Fiction and Writing Resources in the ebook category. Though my essay pokes fun at the writing life, the vast majority of this compilation is composed of very useful advice to both novice and professional writers. If you are a novice or a published writer looking to improve your craft, it's worth serious consideration.

If you like this essay, please let me know.

Brick Walls

This simple statement pretty much sums up the writing process. As a part-time novelist, I have plenty of challenges. Luckily, there is no shortage of brick walls.

The first challenge is finding time to write. Whether it's mowing the lawn or changing the baby's diaper, there always seems to be something more urgent than writing. Most of the walls in our house aren't brick, but I've found the concrete patio works nicely. I've become rather good at repairing drywall because of the times I couldn't quite make it out there fast enough.

Another challenge is thinking up things to write about. No, that's not quite it. The problem is thinking up things to write about that other people want to read about. Some people call this Writer's Block. My Writer's Block is actually the cinder block I keep by my desk to bang my head on at times like this. It's showing signs of wear.

Once I've decided what to write, the characters become the challenge. They argue with me. I can hardly blame them. How would you like it if someone started telling you everything you had to do and say? I'd probably rebel too. Still, that's my job, and they'll just have to accept it. I must admit though, when the dust clears after another bout with the brick wall, I usually find that they're right, and I end up writing it the way they want.

As I move from the first draft into editing and rewriting, the challenge becomes motivation. This is a two-headed beast. The left head says "You've already poured your soul into this - there's no sense in agonizing over it again." The right head says "This is garbage - quit kidding yourself." My strategy is simple. I get both heads really worked up, and then introduce them to my old friend the brick wall. Unfortunately, by then it's usually time to cook dinner, or maybe do something really important like change a light bulb.

When I finally finish a manuscript (whee!) I get to face the publishing challenge. Personally, I've never yet had a novel rejected. Of course, that's only because I've never yet submitted a novel-length manuscript to a publisher. I have submitted a lot of shorter work. I have also received a lot of short rejections. I like to tape them on the brick wall and run at them as fast as I can. The patterns I get are really interesting. In preparation for the rejections I get for my novel, I'm considering the purchase of a springboard. That should add some excitement.

All in all, writing is a rather painful process. But it's also a very rewarding process. That's what keeps me going while I'm trying to knock words out of my head with a brick.