Chip's Writing Lessons #83

Newsletter

In this issue:

• Writers Speak | Carolyn Mungo on being human

• Interview | 4 Questions with Line Vaaben

• Bookbag | The value of not writing

• Tip of the Week | Maintain a “rainbow” contact list

• Help Royal Hospitallers save lives in Ukraine

WRITERS SPEAK

“I am a human first. People have to see that journalists are not just a body behind a microphone. Even if you have five minutes, don’t rush, let them know you care.”

– Carolyn Mungo, VP, station manager at WFAA-TV Dallas

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INTERVIEW | 4 QUESTIONS WITH Line Vaaben

Line Vaaben is a prize-winning writer and editor for Politiken, the largest daily newspaper in Copenhagen. Her work has been published in several textbooks, and she teaches narrative and long-form journalism. She is also the author of a book about femicide in Denmark.

What’s the most important lesson that you’ve learned as a writer?

Working with structure. When I was young — and more arrogant I guess — I thought I didn’t have to do outlines. But I was so wrong! The past ten years or so, I have worked intensively with structure, and it has made my writing process faster, less painful and my stories so much better. I use a one-word theme and Post-Its to do my storyboards and it has made a huge difference.

I wrote a piece about it for Nieman Storyboard: https://niemanstoryboard.org/stories/sticking-a-story-together-and-nailing-the-structure/

What has been the biggest surprise of your writing life?
That I never seem to run out of stories to write. When I was new in journalism, I remember being worried about having enough ideas, or others writing the stories before I got around to them. I was much more in a hurry. But as time has passed I realize that life is so rich and full that writing about it in new ways is a neverending love affair between me and reality. No need to hurry. Stories are all around.


If you had to use a metaphor to describe yourself as a writer, what would it be?
A squirrel comes to mind. For one, I am a very energetic and fast-moving human being. But also, I often feel that I am gathering material like nuts when I am reporting: As many details, scenes and bits of dialogue as possible, which I stack for later use, so that I have a lot of good bits to choose from, when I reach the writing process. Like a squirrel, putting aside lots and lots of good nuts with important energy for a long, cold winter.

What’s the best piece of writing advice anyone ever gave you?
Paying attention to the ending! Not only because it is so important, what you save for last, as it is the reward to the reader, for hanging on. But also because it has forced me to think much harder on the whole structure of my piece before I write. If you want a great ending, you must build up to it. Which means asking yourself what you actually want to say and what central question is driving the story. I owe this revelation to Tom French BTW, who really opened my eyes to the importance of endings.

BOOKBAG | THE VALUE OF NOT WRITING

Mike Tinnion/unsplash

I want to make a sacrilegious argument. If you want to be a better writer, don’t write. At least, not for a while. 

How can that be? How can you improve if you’re not consistently practicing your craft, day in and day out?

If you’re like me, every day that passes without a word, a line, a paragraph written, seems like a day wasted. It brings to mind the French writer Simone de Beauvoir’s observation that “a day in which I don’t write leaves a taste of ashes.” My mentor, the late writing coach Don Murray, handed out laminated cards emblazoned with a Latin saying Nulla dies sine linea. Never a day without a line.

But there’s also something to be said, some writers argue, for letting the well of creativity fill up again after you’ve finished a story. 

Whether you’re writing full time or on the side, as many do, fallow periods may be just what you need, these writers say. Journalists and freelancers dependent on constant output may not have this option, of course, but they can take mini-breaks if they intelligently manage their time.

There’s an agricultural analogy that supports the argument of not writing. For a while at least. 

It’s not uncommon for farmers to plow their fields some seasons, but leave some unsown in order to restore their fertility.

The notion is reassuring because I’m suffering from an on-and-off spell of writer’s block. The days when I work productively on a fiction project are sadly outnumbered by those where I’ll do anything else. Incessant checking of my Twitter feed is a diverting substitute. Days have slipped by without my fingers touching the keyboard, except for producing my newsletters. The fog of self-doubt lifts some days, but even then my word count has amounted to just a few lines or scribbled phrases.

As writers, we agonize over writer’s block, that occupational curse that holds our words at bay. But in “Maybe the Secret to Writing is Not Writing,” a provocative essay for Lit Hub I stumbled upon recently, Kate Angus makes a persuasive case for taking a break. 

“These days I’ve come to believe that it’s natural for many of us to go through periods when we put words to the page and times when we can’t. Maybe we can accept that we aren’t blocked at all,” she writes, “and that resting might just be part of our process.”

That’s what Roy Peter Clark, the influential writing teacher and my former colleague at the Poynter Institute, has been saying for decades. He turns the notion of procrastination on its head by urging writers to eschew negative self-talk when the writing machine spins to a halt.

 “Turn your little quirks into something productive,” Clark says in “Writing Tools,” his best-selling guidebook. “Call it rehearsal or preparation or planning.” 

It’s a potent solution, one that removes the stigma of writer’s block, replacing it with something positive. 

Clark’s got a point. Your mind doesn’t shut off when you’re not writing. You’re still observing, an actor rehearsing a role, watching people and soaking up insights into the human condition — the subject matter of all great literature. Your mind still teems with story ideas, echoes with dialogue and creates possible characters. Like police officers, the writer is never really off-duty.

Angus quotes poet t’ai freedom ford, who says there are “large swaths when I’m not actually writing, but I am doing lots of things to stimulate my muses and so I count it as writing. In that way, I don’t really believe in writer’s block, because when I consider the elements of my process, I’m most always writing (even if it’s only in my head).”

There are some who take the merits of not writing even further.

Ada Limón

Poet Ada Limón feels ‘like there should be a permission slip for writers. Something you can sign for someone that says, ‘You don’t always have to write,’ ” she says in the essay. “You have permission to just be in the world and grieve and laugh and live and do your damn laundry. Writing comes when it comes, and it’s not the most important thing. You and all the little nuisances and nuances of life are what matter most. Don’t miss this gorgeous mess by always trying to make sense of it all.”

Taking a break isn’t without its risks. Ceasing regular writing may make it difficult to restart the habit. 

Part of my problem is that I put aside my project while I finished a long short story besides my regular compendia of writing advice. I found it hard to regain my momentum, especially in the times of trouble we’re all living through.

To deal with the fact that I’m writing less than I want or should, I’m reading more. 

I’ve savored the acclaimed “Collected Short Stories of John Cheever,” 61 stories by the 20th century master stylist called the “Chekhov of the suburbs.” Rarely did a page go by when I wasn’t copying out phrases, sentences or whole paragraphs to cherish, learn from and try to imitate. Reading generates writing. It amounts to a slow re-entry. I highly recommend it. 

I may not generate hundreds of words at a stretch right now, but on walks with my dog, Leo, or by myself, I’ve been trying out scenes and staging imaginary plot points. They circulate in the back of my mind, where I hope they will grow into something potent. 

After reading Angus’ essay, I’ve been trying not to beat myself up if I deviate from my writing schedule, even though I still fear I’ll lose velocity and, heaven forbid, give up. 

In the meantime, I’m learning to trust my subconscious. And I think it’s paying off. In recent days, I have found myself writing again, feeling excitement and energy rather than inertia and despair. The other morning I woke and couldn’t wait to start writing. And for the first time in a long time, I liked what I saw. Even a short break had topped off the tank of my creativity. 

I think Angus and Limón make a valid point. Eventually, that farmer who lets his field go fallow for a season or more will plant again. With the soil replenished by time and the cattle and horses who graze upon it, the crop will be greater, richer. Who’s to say that won’t be the case if you set aside your writing, to soak in the “gorgeous mess” of life? You’ll have a wealth of material to draw on when you return to your desk and the chance for a harvest far greater than what came before.

TIP OF THE WEEK | MAINTAIN A “RAINBOW” CONTACT LIST

To ensure diversity in the stories you write, build a source list that encompasses the breadths of identities and experiences in society and your community. Don’t always turn to the same trusted few talking heads, i.e., white males, but expand your outreach to reflect a range of viewpoints, experience, controversial and noncontroversial sources. Enable your audience to consider opposing angles and insights.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

HELP UKRAINIAN PARAMEDICS SAVE LIVES

Royal Hospitallers, Ukrainian's brave volunteer paramedic battalion, save lives every day. Please support them here!

BEFORE YOU GO

If there’s one person — a journalist, writer, student, teacher or coach — you think would benefit from the interviews, craft lessons, writing tips, and more that appear every two weeks in this free newsletter, please suggest they subscribe @chipscanlan.substack.com

If you’d like to tangibly support Chip’s Writing Lessons and my work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber for $5 a month or $50 a year or for $150 a year to become a founding member. Once a week, these members receive an Extras package featuring fresh interviews with leading writers and editors, excerpts from my books of writing advice, excerpts from my African memoir in progress, more inspirational quotes, glimpses into the world of publishing, coaching tips and more recommended readings and listening options.

NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AND EBOOK

33 Ways Not To Screw Up Your Journalism

“Excellent for journalists of all ages and experience.” - Dan Rather

Writers on Writing: Inside the lives of 55 distinguished writers and editors 

“By asking four questions to 55 of our finest writers and editors, Chip Scanlan has hosted one of the greatest writing conferences you will ever attend." - Roy Peter Clark, The Poynter Institute, “Writing Tools” 

"A marvelous book for writers, people who have a passion for writing, or simply, who want to become writers. Yet what strikes me about this book is that it is not just for writers only." - The Blogging Owl

AND

Writers on Writing: The Journal

Available on Amazon or online through Tombolo Books, a local independently-owned bookstore @ writersonwritingbooks.com

chipscan@gmail.com | +1-727-366-8119. Feel free to call. Always happy to give a free 30-minute consultation.

Thanks for reading. See you in two weeks.

May your writing go well.

Chip

Chip’s Writing Lessons is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber for $5 a month, $50 a year or $150 year to become a Founding Member.

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Chip’s Writing Lessons is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Chip’s Writing Lessons is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.