New (necessary) Habits for Writing a Novel

Thursday, January 2nd, 2014

In the past week or so, I’ve written about the novel from several perspectives, including styles, fiction vs. non-fiction, behaviors to abandon, the story of two Kents, etc.  The habits I write about here are the roles of others in our writing lives.  Since I enjoy writing alone in my private world, I initially resisted the time necessary to involve myself in the thoughts of other writers.

Ah, but writing is not a singular life. Instead of losing time in the presence of others—those conversations projected my writing into new realms, new ideas, a process of jump frogging ahead. So when you return to your own manuscript, doors yawn open revealing new images.

I learned this long ago from Ernest Hemingway through his claims in A Moveable Feast. He would end his writing in the late morning when his creativity was in full flow and wouldn’t allow himself to think about it again until the next morning. The afternoon and evenings were spent with his son Bumby, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein….

Find your Hemingway, Pound, Stein, Joyce in a writing coach, a writing group, a writing conference or class, an insightful editor, or a critical friend.  Staring in the mirror can be inspiring, yet staring into the eyes of others can provoke a new way of imagining the world.

Tags: Hemingway, Joyce, novel, Paris, Pound, Stein
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