How Amnesia Helps Me Write Books
I’ve heard that women develop a type of amnesia after they go through pregnancy. Apparently without this loss of memory the human population would not continue to grow at such a steady space. After all, very few women would be willing to repeat the pain if they really remembered what it was like. I don’t know how true this is, but it does make a lot of sense. I experience the same thing when writing books. If I clearly remembered the suffering involved in the process I would be less enthusiastic about repeating it.
http://modernsmile.com/products/modernsmile-mist-white/ Writing a Book is Really Hard
Writing a book is hard work. I suspect this is why most people never get past the ‘talking about it’ stage. Coming up with great ideas is the easy part. The real work is putting your arse in a chair. You then have to tap on a keyboard for hundreds of hours to produce something readable – or at least I do. I don’t think it is lack of talent that prevents aspiring writers from actually creating something – it is the stark reality of the task. I’ve been through the process eight times (only two attempts actually ended up being published). Each of these manuscripts required a herculean effort. I’m not claiming that it was as tough as pregnancy, but it is the nearest I’m going to get to that experience.
I am now in the middle of writing a new book. The first draft is complete and so begins the real work of turning it into something readable. I would probably die of embarrassment if somebody actually read one of my first drafts; the writing is just so ugly and disjointed. I know that over the next few months I can turn it into something a bit more beautiful. It is daunting to think of how much more work there is still to do. The thing that spurs me on is the knowledge that all the time and effort will be worth it. I know that there will be such a great sense of joy and relief when the manuscript is completed; then comes the amnesia, and the desire to repeat the process.
how do you remember if you have amnesia?
i forget
what were you talking about?
Hi Tom, my wife is very good at pointing out my tendency for amnesia 🙂
Hi Paul, I understand your feeling very well. I think it doesn’t only apply to writing books, but more to creative / intellectual processes as a whole. I used to develop electronic products and software, and from what I remember 🙂 each time at certain stages in the process I wondered what trouble I got myself into again. There was hardly any time for real relaxation. I went more or less to bed with it and woke up with it. And this could go on for months and in a few cases for years. After completion I always felt myself drained, living in a kind of vacuum for a certain period, depending on how much energy it had cost me.
I wonder if you had the same feeling after you had finally sent your previous books to your publisher..
I think you are right I-nomad. It is the length of the project that causes the most stress. It just seems so enormous to begin with. I would imagine that people in other types of profession will feel similar emotions when they are dealing with big projects. I don’t think that I’ve been in involved in any other type of work where one task would last more than a day. By the end of writing a book I do feel totally exhausted; like I could not write even one more word.
Hi Paul.
I can only imagine what writing a full length book must be like. I’ve written a small amount of academic articles before. The re-drafting process can be brutal, particularly because language needs to align so accurately with ideas and concepts.
When I was younger, I was filled with energy to write. Now that I am almost 40, I rarely have the energy or time to write. In my evenings after work I try and squeeze in an hour or 90 minutes of writing a night, and then several hours on the weekends. Still, its not enough to make me as productive as I would like.
I’m currently in the end stages of an article I have been working on since the spring. I cannot wait to get this done.
Anyway, best of luck. I enjoy your podcasts.
Hi Tan, maybe when you get past 40 you will get your second wind 🙂
I often wonder what things would have been life if I’d managed to get my act together in my twenties.
I probably would have had a lot more energy then.
Still, better late than never.