First Mondays with Aubrey Hirsch: Process, Process, Process

by Aubrey Hirsch

I was recently asked this question: What’s the most important thing for a beginning writer to know? My answer: Everything they can about their own process.

We all know that 90% of writing a page, a story, a book, is getting in the room. Knowing about your own process can help you get in the room more often and make your time in the room more productive.

To that end, finish the following sentences to see what you can learn about your process and, hopefully, you’ll be able to put that knowledge to good use!

I write best when…
I cannot write when…
I would write more if…
My story ideas usually come from…
The main thing that keeps me from meeting my writing goals is…
I would describe my first drafts as…
I usually write ____ drafts before I feel like a story is done.
I know a story is done when…
Most of my revision work is dedicated to…
When I feel very inspired, I might write _____ words in one sitting.
A good goal for me is _____ words a day/week/month.

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Aubrey Hirsch is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. You can find her work in journals like American Short Fiction, Third Coast, Hobart, SmokeLong Quarterly, The Los Angeles Review, PANK and Annalemma. Her first book, Why We Never Talk About Sugar, a collection of short stories, will be published in the spring of 2012. Her posts appear regularly in this spot the first Monday of every month.

3 Responses to “ First Mondays with Aubrey Hirsch: Process, Process, Process ”

Gay Degani says:

March 5, 2012 at 7:31 am

I’m a process kind of gal so this hits me just right. Thanks Aubrey for getting us thinking about HOW we write as well as WHAT we write.

John C. Mannone says:

March 6, 2012 at 9:35 am

Thanks Aubrey. Though general, this is still useful. I would only challenge (in a constructive way) the last two items dealing with word count because I have seen it backfire. Writing to a word count goal can be legalistic and might return a guilt trip when it isn’t met. I’d recommend replacing the word count with a tangible unit, like scene, chapter, etc., regardless of word count.

However, in defense of a word count goal like the one suggested by nanowrite (?) in their frenzied 50,000-words-in-a-month writing campaign, just getting something down on paper–anything, regardless of quality–might give some sense of accomplishment and provide the writer with the momentum to revise and bring the process to fruition.

Looking forward to your next posting.

John

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