Dani Shapiro, in her book gives a deep insight into her process of writing and what it takes and gives back to her. Rather than reviewing the book, for which I don’t find myself qualified, I will be looking into how I connected with and what I learned from the book.
About
ISBN-13: 978-0-8021-2140-0
eBook ISBN: 978-0-8021-9343-8
Atlantic Monthly Press
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
Category: Memoir. Biography. Self-Help
Why I Read It?
I have been writing occasionally but I haven’t published much. Along the way I have had some good ideas on plot summaries, characters and dialogues. But when I actually wrote them, I didn’t like them as much. And what I don’t like I don’t publish. After writing many a pages of unpublished work, I started wondering how the big guys do it. What are their processes, rituals and rhythms. Do they practice and if they do, how? Do they always like what they write? Do they have a magic wand that changes garbage to gold? Do they, too, have a huge amount of unpublished work?
I picked up ‘Still writing’ because it had the potential of providing me that insight.
First Impressions
The first impression that I got after reading the book is that writing is hard. It requires discipline to form strong habits around your process of writing. One-off inspirations can be good for short term but are never a reliable long term strategy.
I also learned that the writer has to search deep inside himself and try to bring whatever he is able to on paper. Some of these things might not be pleasant, for the reader, the people mentioned in the book or even the writer himself. Irrespective of the fact, the writer has to continue with his process of writing.
Structure of the book
The book is divided into three sections the beginnings, the middles and the ends, co-relating with life itself. Each section has many small chapters of 2-3 pages. Depending upon the need, one can always come back and re-read a chapter or two.
What I didn’t connect with & Why
For me it is never about the quality of the writer or his work. It is always about how I, as a reader, connect with the book in my hand. Dani has connected her writing with her life and the philosophy of life, as she understands it. She seems to be most connected with the Buddhist, Hindu and Yogi philosophies and has referred to them quite often. I never found myself connecting with any of these philosophies before, or while reading the book, as they are too cloudy and open to any sort of interpretation. So such parts of the book were least appealing to me and sometimes surprising as the writer seemed to be struggling with some basic questions for which half of the world already knows the answers of.
What I did connect with and how
Still Writing had a lot of fascinating things that I immediately understood and connected with. The overall reading experience was very good. The writing was nice, easy and fluent and the writer was able to put her points across. I took some notes on things that I was amused with and things that I want to implement in my writing as well.
- Everything you need to know about life can be learned from a genuine and ongoing attempt to write. Although ‘Everything’ is a superlative which I don’t believe in pursuing through my writing, but the words that struck me the most were genuine and ongoing. If I have to write anything appealing, the effort that I make should be full of sincerity and discipline.
- One word. One image. One detail. Go ahead. Then see what happens next. I often tried to start writing once the full story or a plot was in front of me, which rarely happened, and when it did happen and I wrote it out, I felt that the story sounded much better in my brain than on paper. The author tips us to focus on that one scene, one feeling, one smile. Just take care of that one small piece and then see what comes next.
- So much can be accomplished in one focused hour, especially when that hour is part of a routine, a sacred rhythm that becomes part of your daily life. One of the best advice that I got from James Clear’s Atomic Habits, is to embrace an identity and form a habit. Make it regular. Don’t stop. Here Dani re-enforces the same message.
- There is no difference between practice and art. The practice is the art. Simply beautiful. Totally connected with it and plan to implement it.
- Write for an audience of one. Doesn’t have to be alive or on the planet. Do not think about the judges on the Pulitzer Panel, or your wife or children. Write for that one imaginary person and forget about the rest.
- Read the words aloud and see how they sound.
- Engage the five senses of the reader.
- Excitement —whether the happy kind or not—will make the work all but impossible. Too many times I have become too excited with what I was writing. I was seeing Pulitzers, bookers and film contracts (which I politely decline). Excitement always came in my way of some good writing. I found that my best work has always been when I was able to put all kinds of emotions and excitement aside.
Two other things that stood out for me in the book, were
Impeccable set of instructions by the poet Jane Kenyon.
- Protect your time.
- Feed your inner life.
- Avoid too much noise.
- Read good books, have good sentences in your ears.
- Be by yourself as often as you can.
- Walk .
- Take the phone off the hook.
- Work regular hours.
And a fascinating fact about author Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope each time when he finished a novel. He drew a line across the page beneath his final sentence—and then he started a new one. No time to think. No time to mull over all the reasons why not. He just simply . . . kept going.
Conclusion
I have learned some exciting things from the book. Who knows if I would ever be able to find the discipline of writing a novel. But I definitely plan to use many of the above tips in writing short stories, blogs or even emails! If you want to have an insight into the process of writing, then I would definitely recommend this book, along-with ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King.