Work in Progress
A weekly reflection on writing, discipline, and becoming.
I’m new to this whole newsletter thing, but it’s been on my mind to start one for a long time and I’m finally taking the plunge. So, yeah, today you’ll get to see a work in progress in action.
"The scariest moment is always just before you start." —Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
I find this is true of almost everything in life: starting a new novel, signing up for a race, doing anything that challenges you and makes you doubt yourself. This is a good thing. Doing hard things is good. But it does make you feel like you’re constantly a work in progress. Or at least, it makes me feel that way.
The Novel I’m STILL Working On
I received a Canada Council grant in 2020 to write this novel. And I did write it, several times—but it’s only now, in this final (final?) draft, where I feel like it has finally become what it’s been trying to be all along.
Couldn’t I have just figured that out in the first place? Was this due to a lack of planning? (No.) A lack of experience? (Also no.) What I’m coming to realize is that a novel (or anything) takes the time it takes, and none of it has been wasted. I couldn’t have come to the conclusions and realizations I have now about the material and my characters back in 2020. I had to write all those drafts to allow the material to change and grow and become what it needed to be.
That feels like the definition of a work in progress. It’s all about becoming. You can’t rush it. I mean, you can, but you might risk never finding out what its true potential is.
An editing client once asking me what the point was of revising a novel over and over to raise it to the next level. What would they learn by doing that? Wouldn’t it be better to just start something new? I would argue that is precisely where and how you do learn to write a novel. By figuring out what isn’t working and learning how to fix it. Sometimes this means throwing out a lot of material, and that’s hard, but I know the novel I have now would never have gotten to this point if I hadn’t been willing to throw significant sections into the trash.
“By the time I am nearing the end of a story, the first part will have been reread and altered and corrected at least one hundred and fifty times. I am suspicious of both facility and speed. Good writing is essentially rewriting. I am positive of this.” — Roald Dahl
This is a photo from my most recent long run (34km + a 2km cool-down walk). The BMO marathon in Vancouver is two weeks away. I have lots to say about how the training has gone, but for now I’ll leave you with this beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean where my running partner and I usually stop to eat salt and vinegar chips.
Thank you for being here and embarking on this experiment with me! I’d love to hear from you if you have a work in progress you’d like to share.
Definitely any artistic venture worth sharing (or pursuing in the first place!) involves multiple iterations. How else does one get closer to a good final (or not so final) result.
My major takeaway from grad school: Writing is Rewriting. I surrender! It's a process. The creative life cannot be forced or constrained, but it does (eventually) thrive with consistent effort and faith. I share Roald Dahl's suspicion of writing that is speedy and efficient. For me, it's messy and murky, but also, somehow, full of joy and promise.