Okay, so I've completely slacked off on these postings, for complex reasons that -- surprisingly -- did not involve being lazy or running out of books. However, now is as good a time as any to review this book, as it is the antithesis of NNWM. The full title of the book is:
The Clockwork Muse: a practical guide to writing theses, dissertations, and books. This book is inspiring and radical in a way that will become obvious when I share a little bit from the first chapter.
"Unfortunately, writing is an activity that tends to evoke a considerable amount of anxiety, often resulting in the paralytic condition commonly known as "writer's block".
...
The book builds on the fundamental premise that, unless we learn how to overcome problems having to do with how we write, we may never be able to focus on what we actually want to write about. As such, it dwells specifically on the "procedural" aspects of the process of producing a manuscript. Hence its particular concern with our need to develop better work habits (and, consequently, to also regard "writer's block" and procrastination as technical rather than strictly psychological problems)."
(Zerubavel, The Clockwork Muse, p.1-2; emphasis mine)
Yes, there it is. A proposed solution to writer's block and writer's resistance that does not involve intoxicants, self-flagellation, or expensive psychotherapy. Surprisingly, I have found his assessment to be quite correct. Of course, that means that one can apply paralytic anxiety to the organizational process itself, thereby thwarting one's progress once more, but I think it is easier to numb the nattering mind monkeys with regard to making colour-coded charts and graphs than it is when facing word one of 100,000.
Further endearing himself and his book to me, Zerubavel is not in the least an organization fetishist. His approach to scheduling is simple and works for anyone, with a nod going to those in the author's position of parent and spouse. Priorities first, progress second. It is possible to write successfully without imploding one's family or career or grade-point average. Zerubavel provides references from his own life in which his priority-based scheduling allowed him to balance work, commuting, parenting, supporting his spouse's goals, and producing a book. This gives him a certain amount of believability that knocked my inner skeptic back into the corner. I'll quote one of the pieces of advice on scheduling that was most useful to me:
"Paradoxical as it may sound, the best way to begin the process is actually by crossing off your regular daily as well as weekly schedule all the time slots in which you definitely cannot write on a regular basis and which should therefore not even be considered possible writing times!"
(Zerubavel, The Clockwork Muse, p.24)
Seriously, that's pure genius. I'm one of those people whose time spent not writing is infused with guilt over not writing. By refusing to see "all time when I am breathing" as "time I could be writing, if only...", I found that a lot of pressure came off of me. Humans are poor multitaskers. By disengaging my mind from writing as much as possible, I become better able to make progress on knitting, sewing, cooking, housework, and parenting. I'm sure that this would extend to schoolwork and any job I might have, were I physically capable.
From here, Zerubavel goes on to tackle the process of writing a specific novel or book or any long piece of work with the same generous pragmatism. Zerubavel is an academic who personally knows the trials of being a post-graduate or graduate student, and whose work has given him an opportunity to observe hundreds of students attempting to achieve that holy grail: the completed thesis. Everything that is applicable to this process is also applicable to writing a novel, from conception through the editing process. As Zerubavel has also written books, and this book on writing documents his process through developing one of his books, the jump from academic writing to fiction writing is tiny. There are hundreds of books on how to plot a novel, and very few books on how to survive one.
The Clockwork Muse is the latter.
At a very modest 98 pages + notes/index, with a conversational narrative voice,
The Clockwork Muse is an easy read delivering some big ideas. Even if one doesn't stop and take notes, or implement each suggestion, simply reading the book will help most writers re-imagine the writing process so that they are less bogged down in their internalized mythology about why they write when they write and why they don't when they don't. If one is looking for a practical way to complete novels in a timely manner while maintaining one's obligations outside the writing room, this is definitely worth reading.
The Clockwork Muse by Eviatar Zerubavel is published by Harvard University Press (http://hup.harvard.edu) and cost me $15.75Cdn at my local bookstore.
0 (0.0%)
