Discipline – the dreaded ‘D’ word for…

Discipline – the dreaded ‘D’ word for writers by Fiona Smith

9 months ago

Over the last month, Robin and Alice have posted various articles about the art of self-editing, so today, I thought I’d take a look at the actual discipline of writing.

 ‘I had no way to stop. I did not write Fahrenheit 451. It wrote me. There was a cycling of energy off the page and into my eyeballs, and around my nervous system and out through my hands. The typewriter and I were Siamese twins joined at the fingertips.’ Ray Bradbury.

For many authors, writing may seem like an involuntary act. It is an instinctive process, one which, I believe, starts from childhood. I literally grew up in my local library, starting in the children’s book section, with its mini tables and chairs, graduated on to young teen and then finally moved on to adult fiction. Just by being in that library, I got the urge to tell my own stories, to write my own books, as if by the process of osmosis. The more I read, the more I wanted to create. Words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs and finally chapters would flow through my head. I was possessed with the need to write.

My first attempts were… upsetting. I was welded to paper by the mighty pen, and yet my stories were not like those of Bradbury, or Wilde, or Joyce. I had passion, I had ideas, and I thought they were being transferred from head to paper…but something was getting lost in the translation. It wasn’t until years later that I understood what was missing.

‘I am a little world made cunningly of elements and angelic sprites.’ John Donne

For me, this quote from John Donne sums up exactly what writing is all about. It’s wonderful to have a great idea, to be struck by something so original and so magical that you simply MUST write it down. But this is only the beginning. This is only part of the little world you’re trying to create. In order to be a great writer, you need more than the clichéd thunderbolt idea - you need discipline and dedication, you need to add the elements to your world. Without discipline and an educated palate for literature, all that is left is imagination and no way to express it.

 All stories should have a first draft, a second draft, a third draft and sometimes, as with my own writing, a 259^th draft… Whenever an idea is first expressed, there is always room for improvement. The second draft should be a general tidy up of the piece, where any mistakes, superfluous sentences or typos are fixed. The third draft should then be a deep-tissue examination of the piece, when, as a reader, you ask yourself some tough questions;

Does the introduction work, or is it self-indulgent?

Is my main character likeable?

Should I delete the whole third page?

Is it really necessary to use 42 words to express happiness or should I just use the word happy?’

It’s easy to scribble down an idea, add a title and call it a story, but to take time polishing, re-reading, re-writing, re-examining, is hard work. However it is this, ‘hard work’, which makes these stories worthy of an audience, and worthy of publication.

So go forth my Shortbreaders, take all that raw material and sculpt it into perfection. And please don’t be afraid of the D-word. After all, it is where greatness lies…

 P.S. You think this article just rolled off my pen? No, the 4^th draft was edited by someone else before it went up on site. It’s just the way it is…