Hello! I hope that you are all safe and well during this time that we live in. I can say that My family, my boyfriend, and I are all safe, well and healthy. I now it’s been a while, since I have been on here but I’m currently adjusting to what is my new schedule for a while. Where I currently live, we are on ‘stay-at-home’ orders until May 8, which could change or who knows at this point. On that note, I want to get today’s topic.
Let me preface this conversation with this is not my first post that I have made today. My first attempt at a post today went totally into a rant session, which I do not want to do here right now. So I’m kindly switching gears to talk about trusting the craft.
Many of us see writing as a hobby, as a business, as an art form, as an escape from reality. Now matter how you see it, at the core of writing or even telling stories there is a craft. A craft that I will try to describe nicely in saying, that when it is done right, it’s like magic.
The reason why I turned to this topic for right now, is that I recently was watching Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. This series was both beautiful and for me worth the watch. Well, after I finished the last epsiode, I wanted the making of documentary, The Calling of the Crystal. Now normally, when you watch these specials they do not cover the writing process, for it’s usually over the casting, the special effects and other such elements that go into making a production like The Dark Crystal; however, with this special they did cover the subject of writing.
I’m going to say one big thing here and that as a writer I apprecaited it. You have no idea who much I apprecaited it.
Getting back to the subject, I loved a certain quote that came from special and that was from Simon Pegg, who is not only an actor but who is also a writer. He was a writer on one of the Star Trek films. He said that as writers we need to trust in the process. Granted, while he was speaking about film or television production.
This means that no matter how we tackle our writing, whether it is by means of plotting, or flying by the seat of our pants, traditionally publishing or self-publishing. No matter how we tackle our writing, we as a whole need to trust in our process. Once we trust in our processes, then we are able to focus on our writing.
The other key takeaway from what he said in the special is that, as writers we don’t need to think about designers, or builders, for you write as massive as you want. But in terms of writing books, this means not thinking about editors and book designers, all you have to think about is writing the story that you want to tell.
Focusing on that idea is one of the main reasons, why I love self-publishing. Sure I have an editor, and I have an idea of how I want the cover to look and feel but everything else relies on the craft of story telling. If it was not for that, then there wouldn’t be a book, which is the underlying goal at the end of the project.
Granted, every project in how it is handled is different. But the processes that we keep in mind at the end of the day is what makes us keep coming back to the table to tell/write the story that we want to write.
Now if you want someone to tell you and dictate what and how to write something, then by all means your writing process is controlled. Some like having it controlled while others don’t. I am one that feels that I should be able to tell the story the way that I have always done so. I have a process that works for me.
My process is different from others, and that’s fine. Not everyone has to have the same process when it comes to engaging their craft. It’s fine. But as long as you trust your craft, then your craft will see you through till the end of your project(s).
I hope that you have found this topic helpful. I hope that you stay safe and well! I hope that you have a great writing day!
