Writing Tips from The Blunt Quills

Face the Wall and Go for It

It’s frustrating to have one or two or ten stories in your head and not have them all down on paper. (If not actual paper, metaphorical paper, that lives in your computer.)

To you I say, just sit down and write. To which you say, “But Katie, the family, the kids, the soccer practice, the job.”

To which I say, I know. All those, plus general living today, create heart and brain drain. By the time you finally sit down at night to unplug, the last thing you want to do is fire up the laptop and commit to ten chapters. So, don’t.  Instead find quiet moments in your day to write short pieces of a larger story, and before you know it, you’ll go from having one page to one-hundred pages. Type it in the notes’ application on your phone; or carry around a pen and small notepad, you know, like detectives used to on cop shows.

“Why did you title this, ‘Face the wall and go for it?”

Well, I’m glad you asked. Stephen King, when starting out, would face his tiny desk to the back of his laundry room, which was more like a doorless closet, and write on an old typewriter. Many successful authors do not face windows, or out into the room; they choose to face the wall. It’s free of distraction and they can immerse themselves in the world they are building.

(Ugh, can you imagine? A typewriter? He might as well of had to chisel it in stone.)

And I know what you’re saying now, “yes, but that’s Stephen King.” Stephen King wasn’t always world-known, critically-revered, best-selling-author Stephen King. Before he was published, he was just a guy who was teaching during the day and writing a book in his laundry room at night.

I too face the wall. I have a wonderful office with a large window overlooking the yard, but I face the wall and keep the blinds closed. There’s nothing out there that lives in my fictional worlds, and all it does is distract.  Why is this important? Because you’ll find you write better and for more time free of distraction.

Also, you don’t need a fancy set-up with an over-sized desk and an executive chair. You just need a quiet space, where you can concentrate.  Turn off the TV, podcasts, radio, or whatever talks to you. I recommend noise-cancelling headphones and a white noise app.

At least I need quiet. Who can write with the TV or Podcast on anyways? Seriously, are you super-human? How can you hear words and let your brain create them at the same time? Please just tell us when the other androids are gathering a war party and about to attack.

I digress. The short of it is – the next time you’re in the car waiting for your kids’ soccer practice to be over, put your phone on do not disturb, turn off the radio, and let your mind tell your pen and paper the story you’ve been carrying around for years waiting to write. You and your story will both thank you.