3 Useful Tips for Writing During the Time of COVID-19
(For parts 1 and 2, click here and here)
The reporter, staff writer and non-fiction author Deneen L Brown has an invaluable piece of advice for writers. She says “The hardest thing about the beginning is the blank screen. Writing is like scraping off a piece of yourself, people can see beneath your skin.”
I love that image. After all, when we write we unveil that which has hitherto lain hidden. The magic of writing happens in the process of revealing this part of ourselves. After all, there’s nothing more terrifying and at the same time enticing than the empty screen and its cruel provocation: “C’mon, crack on, will you! How are you going to fill me up this time? What’s it gonna be?”
Writing, thus, turns on its head the old reading=receptive skills, writing=productive skills formula. We demand that the reader become as active as the writer themselves. After all, we, writers are asked to summon up a voice (not just any voice, but one that lies deep inside us) that tells the reader to sit down and pay attention.
That’s why the beginning is so important. How you hook the reader will play an important role in how your story will be perceived and retained. The relationship we establish with our reader at the start will make them feel special.
Secondly, define the topic early on. What’s your piece about? Love, friendship, COVID-19 or self-isolation? This needn’t be explicitly or bombastically stated. One of my favourite openings in recent years was a column by the (sadly) late Australian broadcaster and critic, Clive James. In his regular slot “Reports of My Death”, he writes: “My copy of the 2012 Ben Affleck movie Argo lay around unwatched for a long time. A few nights ago, I fought my way in through the shrink-wrap and took a look. It revealed Affleck to be a terrific director as well as a fine actor.” Of course what follows is a deconstruction of Affleck as an actor and director (plus a comparison to Robert Redford), but what I really loved was that detail about fighting his way through the shrink-wrap. So personal, so intimate and so magical.
When it comes to screen-filling, there’s a third element that should not be ignored: self-consciousness. Imagine that your only reader is yourself. No, I’m not trying to confuse you. Nor am I suggesting that your reader is like you, with your same personality, likes and dislikes, or that no one else will read your piece except yourself. What I am trying to convey is the message that self-consciousness is that unwelcome companion that makes us shy away from our true nature as writers.
We all carry an inner-editor that censors a large part of our output under aesthetic guidelines. It follows, then, that when we write we tend to read what we have written through this editor’s eyes, which are no else’s but ours. But what if we sacked the editor? What if we gave them their marching orders, ask them to take a sabbatical, or even better furlough them (as per current UK government measures, that would be with an entitlement to an 80% of their wage)?
Imagine writing as if you were telling your story to your children, or your mates, or your partner, or your parents. In fact, that’s how we start on our story-telling journey, for each of us is a natural-born story-teller. Imagine, if you will, giving self-consciousness (and your inner-editor) the heave-ho.
Sometimes when I write I close my eyes. I can just about touch-type, a skill I picked up at the travel agency where I worked for many years. When you are on the phone to clients and the reps on destinations want immediate answers by e-mail, touch-typing is a nice, little buddy to have by your side. Nowadays, when I close my eyes I just let go. No permission is asked and no barrier is too high or too difficult to surmount. What I am doing is letting the natural flow of my story run its course. Punctuation is normally brushed aside momentarily using my now well worn-out excuse: James Joyce’s Ulysses last chapter, Molly Bloom’s soliloquy has not punctuation at all. So, what are you criticising me for?
This is how we build our story. Each brick is the foundation for the next one above it and the next one, and the next one. This is also the time for us to zoom in and out of our characters, setting and plot.
And when we’re done and we are either metaphorically or literally sweating from our efforts, we should take a step back. Walk away from the now filled-up page for the next step is perhaps the more painful for a writer: editing.
Oh, yes, you didn’t think that editor was going to be furloughed forever and ever, did you?
© 2020
