The Writing Process
“What’s your writing process?”
People sometimes ask the question as if each writer has one answer. It’s like asking, “how do you build a house? Make a cake? Write a symphony?”
In all these endeavors, you have to come up with a design, assemble the materials, create or use an existing framework, and then put it all together. These are gross similarities, but the differences are what makes each process unique, and individuates each artist. One novelist’s process may be similar to the process used by a building construction engineer; another may much more closely resemble what a choreographer does in designing a dance.
I’m following a composer, Hannah Lash who’s sharing her creative process as she composes a symphony. She talks about the inspiration behind this work, about the importance of the spaces between notes; rhythmic impulses and directionality. These are a few of the musician’s tools, just as the writer’s tools include word sequence, syntax, sentence structure and paragraphs, metaphors and similes, the story arc.
The more I think about my own creative process, the more complex I realize it is. And when I try to make parallels between what goes into writing versus painting, it gets even more convoluted.
I’m going to periodically post about some aspect of the creative process because thinking about it in small bites gives me time delve deeper and to consider where I’m going. It also spreads out the material and, I hope, makes it interesting enough to draw you back again. I’d really be interested in your thoughts and questions.
Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/70116615@N00/1065455268