Writing As Improv

When I coach writers, I’m often asked if I have a system for writing. Do I have a tried-and-true winning formula for books or articles? While I don’t have a system, there are specific patterns to my life as a writer.

Looking back over the past 30 years, I have found 40 ways to write books and countless ways to compose articles. The process is decidedly improvisational.

Sometimes, everyday conversations shape the beginning or conclusion of a project. Sometimes, there is a linear path from research to writing, and other times, research weaves throughout. I’ve done interview-based work, narrative-heavy and narrative-light work, as well as purely fictional or experimental work.

I’ve been monogamous and polyamorous in work on books, faithful to one at a time and courting two or more at a time. The advantage of simultaneous projects is that when I come to a resting point in one, I can work on another. Each has its own rhythm of ebb and flow.

I don’t set goals. Most writing happens in 20-30-minute blocks of found time. This is a norm, not a rule. I write with the time I have, which can mean 1-2 books annually and 3-4 articles monthly. Some years I’ve done 3 books and some months I’ve done 8 articles. Some books take me a year of research and writing; a few have taken a week or less. The quality of the product is always more of a priority over arbitrary schedule deadlines.

I’ve done monastic writing retreats in remote cabins, written on flights and trains, in busy coffee shops, and recorded voice on road trips.

Writing itself is improvisational in nature. Writing reveals what I think more than thinking reveals what I write. After fine-tuning my best work in books, I’ve edited out up to a third of the book in favor of better work. Nothing is a final word until it is. The final version is always unpredictable in time and form.

This is to say I’m not trying to get anything “right” until it gets right. To think that something looks or sounds right simply means that’s one way to approach it. I like the principles of different leads to improve, and I'm always curious if there is better language, transitions, or placement of elements in a piece. The process reminds me of watching installation artists tinkering their way into their next show-stopping piece.

Everything comes from our subconscious mind anyway. All we can consciously do is keep writing and noticing how our writing inspires new research, conversations, and questions that inform more writing.

If you’re an aspiring, beginning, or practiced writer, hopefully this provides encouragement to just relax and write.