The Clueless—Ruleless Creativity is Back

Life is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule. Nevertheless one had better know the rules, for they sometimes guide in doubtful cases, though not often. ~Paracelsus

Did you chuckle a little when you read the above quote? I did. Because it described me when I decided to write my first book. Mind you, I'd never written anything beyond a postcard or occasional letter - not counting ordinary school assignments. Clueless, ruleless, along with blind instinct described my writing process in the beginning. And I'm so thankful it did. Let me tell you why.

Not knowing the rules was a blessing

In the beginning, I didn't know that 'real writers' were professional people who had degrees in literature and writing. That it wasn't possible to just wake up one morning determined to put on paper one of the many stories circling in the back of my mind. The point being, I didn't know squelch!

As I pursued my desire to capture the story before it faded from my mind, the negative attitudes and opinions of many around me gave me cause for self-doubt. So I learned to just get on with the task and ceased to discuss it with others. Thankfully, my husband was supportive. I think he thought I couldn't possibly hurt myself sitting at home writing and if it made me happy why not.

"Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer."~ Barbara Kingsolver

I didn't know where to start, how to continue or when to quit - I just wrote. The first 1000 words were like suffering 30 hours of hard labor while birthing a baby, very painful. Why so, because I wrote those first 1000 words at least fifty times.

Nothing seemed right. What was so easily visualized in my mind would not transfer to words on paper with the same feeling. The rhythm was wrong, word choices lacked impact, plotting went everywhere but in the right direction, and unnecessary characters flooded the stage.

Of course, there are formats, procedures, and lots of rules that can benefit writers, if they know them. Thankfully, I didn't. That allowed me to be unencumbered by the thoughts of others as to how I should write my book.

Write from the heart without expectations

Once I got the first 1000 words down, the next thousand were easier, and the next, and the next. Since I had no rules, I didn’t focus on anything but the story itself. The story was everything. It flowed from my imagination and heart. I fell in love with my characters, adored the setting.

I was ecstatic. I had just written the world's next bestseller!

Waking up from the fantasy of being a writer to the reality of writing

I printed my manuscript and set it next to my computer. That was a period of great self-admiration. I knew I needed to do some research on how to polish my work so editors would fight over the chance to publish my story, so I began to do this with passion.

Passion soon turned to disbelief. How could there be so many requirements for submitting a physical or digital manuscript?

1. Paper’s weight and size
2. Font style and size
3. Formatting — line spacing, paragraph indention, author heading information, proper title case, and spacing
4. Margins, headers, footers
5. Page numbering

Those few items were just the tip of the iceberg. There were so many more steps to come, not the least of which, was the revision and editing process.

You’ve finally reached ‘the end’ and then realize you’re only halfway through

Another milestone in my book-writing saga arrived. I’d completed the formatting and editing of my manuscript. It was ready to submit for publication.

STOP — fast-forward two years. (I have to admit, I may have been a slow learner. :)

Yep! That’s how long it took me to research, learn, and follow through with the thirty-six different submissions I made. After thirty-five rejection letters, I received my first publishing contract from a small press specializing in my genre, which was contemporary romance. In total, over the next five years, I wrote six more books, four of which were accepted and published.

Course changes and why they may be good

I would love to say that I ended up on a prestigious bestseller list but that didn’t happen. I did, however, enjoy some moderate sales and book signing events.

After working with my publisher and six different editors over the next eight years, I came to the point where the task was more work than fun. That’s when I ended my publishing contract and started writing again for myself.

The clueless, ruleless creativity is back. I write what I want to write.

I wish you all the same joy of writing…

“So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.”― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own