Back in the early 1980’s when I was a young stay at home mother, I embarked on my first writing “career,” a short lived attempt at penning children’s stories, informative articles, and essays about motherhood. I dutifully scoured Writer’s Digest for appropriate markets, sent work out in 9 X 13 manila envelopes with an SSAE included, kept a nifty little spreadsheet to tally what had been submitted and when. I actually sold the very first thing I sent out, and, as you might imagine, decided it was sign that I was destined for greatness.
Hah.
Within a year or so, I grew tired of the whole thing. The business of writing, of chasing down markets and tailoring my work to fit publications, of trying to get the edge on the competition and scour out what editors were currently looking for. It seemed impossible to make any kind of profit from writing, not only a monetary one, but even to have a profitable experience. I was no longer invested in my subject matter, because I was so busy trying to determine how to be successful in the market. About that time, opportunities in music began coming my way, and I transferred my creative energy into the musical arena. Before long, I stopped writing all together, and didn’t pick up a pen for nearly 20 years.
So when I started blogging in 2006, I meant to practice writing for my own edification, to increase my awareness of the world around me, to engage my mind and my senses in a new way, and to chronicle my passage through midlife. It was to be simply for pleasure, with no committment to time or space, no necessity for perfection, and no grandiose ideas about making a profit from it.
Natalie Goldberg talks about writing as “practice,” as a way to “penetrate your life and become sane.” Julia Cameron speaks of her writing practice as a “way to meditate on life and savor it.” As a musician, I’m well acquainted with the concept of practice as “repetition with the objective of improving.” And I practice writing in that sense, too. But writing is an activity I hold in high esteem, one I continue to work at with the intention of improving, yet not putting pressure on myself to be perfect. It’s more than just a pleasurable hobby, one I can take or leave as the mood strikes me, for I’ve committed myself to it, invested time and energy and thought in it.
I admit to occasional twinges of guilt over the vast amounts of time I spend playing with words, trying to express my ideas and experiences in some meaningful way, when I could be doing something more concretely profitable. But that’s something else I’ve learned through this writing practice – that reward is more than money or things. The profit from my writing comes not by getting checks in the mail, or even by seeing my name in the byline. It comes from a sense of accomplishment, a increase in self awareness, a keener observation of life, of people, and the world around me. It also comes from the connections I make with others, through this unique opportunity to share our words in blogging.
Okay, I’ll also admit those grandiose dreams creep in every once in a while, dreams of best selling novels and book tours, dreams of prize winning columns in the New York Times. Realistically, I know these dreams aren’t about to come true.
But perhaps the likelihood for great achievement increases when you have a dedicated emotional relationship to your creative practice.
So, how about you? What do the three P’s of writing…practice, pleasure, profit…mean in your writing life?
Rose Dewy Knickers
Jul 23, 2008 @ 12:15:51
Hello everyone, this is my first time here at this writing site. Thank you for the topic and essay, I wish you the best with your writing.
Rose
xo
http://dewyknickers.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/writing-as-a-vocation/
oh
Jul 23, 2008 @ 12:18:51
Good morning! Have enjoyed coffee and “practice” with this a.m.’s entry – there is danger in running with one’s first draft but if I get moving, I can be on time for work so find my rambling entry at http://www.westcobich.wordpress.com for response to this week’s excellent prompt from you, Becca!
Nik
Jul 23, 2008 @ 12:22:49
You can find my post this week here: http://keepthisonthedl.blogspot.com/2008/07/write-on-wednesday_23.html
Bobbi's Book Nook
Jul 23, 2008 @ 13:16:26
Practice – this is what I do on my blogs. I’ve become addicted to blogging this year and it has opened up a whole new world to me!
Pleasure – I write because I have to; if I didn’t, I think my head might explode. Writing is one of the major fabrics of my life; it is also my therapy.
Profit – I would certainly like to write for profit, but so far this hasn’t happened. I have several books in the works, but unless I want to self-publish, it’s hard to break out as a new author.
I love this site and and I love checking out the blogs of all the commenters. Keep up the good work!
Andi
Jul 23, 2008 @ 13:48:47
Here’s my post, Becca. Another set of good questions
http://www.andilit.com/?p=221
MizB
Jul 23, 2008 @ 15:52:15
This one was hard for me, as I don’t work at being a “writer” very often. But, my post is up, nonetheless:
http://mizwrites.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/wow-the-three-ps/
gautami tripathy
Jul 23, 2008 @ 16:54:18
Here is my response. I am still struggling to pen own my thoughts.
http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com/2008/07/practice-makes-pleasure-profitable.html
Kim L
Jul 24, 2008 @ 02:47:07
Have posted here. Thanks for a thought-provoking topic.
qugrainne
Jul 24, 2008 @ 14:11:16
Thanks for hosting again, Becca. I really appreciate the way your questions prompt me!!
http://qugrainne.com/2008/07/24/write-on-wednesday-thursday-as-usual/
Jeanie
Jul 24, 2008 @ 14:42:54
Very thoughtful and fun to both write and think about. Here are my thoughts:
http://themarmeladegypsy.blogspot.com/2008/07/write-on-wednesday-three-ps.html
I’m going to be off-blog till August 4, so fellow writers, if I don’t stop by your blogs, thanks for coming to mine and I will catch up when I return! Who knows, maybe I’ll end up with wifi so I can check after all!
seachanges
Jul 24, 2008 @ 22:37:55
I feel abysmal because I haven’t responded properly and I do think about my writing and want to contribute to this dialogue, this week has just been more or less impossible: I ‘ll try and do better next week, I promise, and post something. I definitely get practice and pleasure out of blogging but would have liked to contribute a more substantial post on this. I cannot this week: work is simply swallowing me up: started onto the road to Wales on Monday and now, on Thursday, find myself in Warwickshire (another hotel) and not back to Norfolk (i.e. home) until late tomorrow – so much for writing! I’m lucky to keep up (vaguely) with my reading!
Redness
Jul 25, 2008 @ 05:23:23
Thanks Becca, good one, very thought provoking …
http://over-it.blogspot.com/2008/07/write-on-wednesday-three-ps-or-pma-opm.html
Michele
Jul 26, 2008 @ 18:49:22
Lovely thoughts, Becca – as always! Writing does reap amazing rewards for me. And the feedback that comes in the comments and e-mail is the icing on the cake!
I’ve loved reading your words since I found your blog when it was on Blogger. So much time has passed already, but your writing only seems fresher, more beautiful, and is more inspiring each time I visit! You’re doing an awesome job, Becca, of sharing your journey!
*smiles*
Michele
anno
Jul 26, 2008 @ 23:45:31
It took me a while, as always, but I’m finally up!
http://annos-place.blogspot.com/2008/07/write-on-wednesday-saturday-edition.html
Linz
Jul 29, 2008 @ 09:18:37
I had a similar experience with writing a few years back. I belonged to an online writing workshop, and everyone said the path to getting a novel published was to build a name for yourself through getting short stories published. Unfortunately, when I picked up the major short story magazines in my genre, I had a hard time even finishing any of the stories they chose to publish. I just wasn’t interested in their takes on the genre (I prefer simple action adventure stories with fun characters to anything avante garde). For a while, I tried to change my style to suit their needs, but eventually I figured out that I was losing my unique voice in doing so (and I had a hard time finishing a story I didn’t really love).
Today, I’m fortunate enough to be able to make a living from my writing (albeit non-fiction), and because I own my own sites and blogs, I don’t have to change my writing for anyone. I *love* that.
One day, I’m going to get back to those stories, and take what I’ve learned about internet marketing to find an audience for my fiction too. 🙂
shoreacres
Jul 29, 2008 @ 13:09:39
Good morning, Becca,
I said I would be back, and here I am! Whether I’ll get my essay finished before midnight is “iffy”, but I have been thinking, and have a least a few comments as a way to introduce myself to all of you.
Two pieces already published on my blog informed my response to your prompt. One is entitled, “Purity of Prose is to Write One Thing”.
It’s my own revision of a famous Kierkegaard quotation, and one of my most important writing lessons.
Struggling for two months to complete a piece, I suddenly discovered it was traveling two sets of tracks. When I eliminated one, things really started to roll, and I was finished within two days.
I see the same thing here. Pleasure, profit and practice divide for me into two entries, not one. The reason I say “two” is because both pleasure and profit are represented for me by people: the readers I have come to love and depend on not only for critique but also for inspiration and the joy of knowing they appreciate my words.
The second entry, “practice” is the one I’ve been thinking about all week. In another blog, entitled “Reading, Writing and Thinking”, I focus a bit on the role of thinking for the writer. There are times when I have to do more thinking than anything else in order to get words to paper – answering the question, “What DO I think about this?” is not always so easy.
So. The essay will be about practice, leaving pleasure and profit for another time. I do have the title – “Arpeggios, Scales and the Performances of Life”. And, I have a direction.
I don’t exactly practice writing, in the sense of doing something privately that is hidden from public eyes. What I write, I post, for good or for ill. The practice that is most important for me as a writer is not practice in paragraphs, sentences and structure. It is practice in the human qualities that will allow me to continue a quite new journey as a writer.
I see so clearly that as a writer as well as a human being, I’m called to practice discipline, integrity, perseverance, perspective, confidence and response-ability. Those are the qualities that are developed in the hiddenness of the practice booth that will allow the performance to shine.
I’m thrilled to have found this place, and am so grateful for the wonderful prompt. This time, I guess you get the first draft!
But who knows – I might make the deadline. If not, I’ll just try again next week!
Linda
Becca
Jul 30, 2008 @ 02:30:51
Linz: I think you were wise to retain the integrity of your voice in your writing practice. If you can’t be true to yourself in your writing, it won’t speak the truth to anyone. Great comment – thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Shoreacres: I’m so intrigued by the notion of practicing the “human qualities that will allow you to grow in your writer’s journey.” I can’t wait to read more about this!