writing in flow is not cheating

One of the joys of moving to Calgary is reconnecting with friends in person. For example, Susan (the accidental poet/housewife), who has no end of writerly/creative connections in this city, and who suddenly on Thursday invited me to an author reading in a lovely old downtown home. Kevin had something else to do, so I gladly went along.

The author, Roberta Rees, was reading from and speaking about her fictional book Long After Fathers. I had neither read nor heard of Roberta and her book before, but now I want to read it.

Roberta said she is very interested in personal memory and social memory, how the mind works—how it works through time and space whereas the body can only work through space, and the responsibility we have for memory.

Initially Roberta thought she would write a novel about the book’s first character, but it was too intense and emotionally she could not stay there. She attended a Sage Hill Writing Experience in Saskatchewan, where Robert Kroetsch read her work and could tell where she had pulled back, told her the writing was flat in some places, yet in others it just flowed. In the places where the language was flowing Kroetsch asked, “Do you feel like you’re cheating when you do that?” She admitted yes.

Writing is work, yes, but when it’s right there’s a flow, and that’s not cheating, it’s good and beautiful.

At the end of the evening, our host Barbara asked Roberta to share some tips for emerging writers. I share them with you.

1. The writing isn’t about you. It’s about things in the world moving through you and being present to write them. See Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat Pray Love. Susan says she watches this Elizabeth Gilbert video every day.
2. Find ways to get out of your own way without arguing them down. For example, we get in our own way when we doubt our own work. Roberta gets out of her own way through physical exercise and reading. Some people do dishes or canning. Margaret Atwood does laundry.
3. Writing is a bout community, not just the self. Foster friendships with people who know what to say when you’re struggling.
4. Ursula Le Guin’s book Steering the Craft makes a great 10 week course to share. She says the first draft is leaping and crowding. Let it be messy, thick, detailed, imperfect.
5. Perfect the shrug, like Roberta’s friend Marie. You can’t write to please. For example, Mom is a good audience, but write for synergy, not accolades.
6. Just be bold. If you have a style or language that’s different, just put it down.
7. Be wary of any authority who wants to tell you how to write. It’s one thing to edit [and advise], but if anyone is trying to change your voice, be careful.

Thank you, Susan, for taking me along.