Originally posted on danerickson.net

I’m a firm believer in the intentional act of writing.  I write almost daily.  I write in a variety of styles.  I write as a form of therapy, a way of purging negative emotions and dealing with deep hurts.  But too much of anything can lead to trouble.

It’s important for a writer to balance his or her writing with other activities.  This includes both responsibilities and relaxation.  Keeping our lives, our families, our careers in order is an essential part of the writer’s life.  If you shirk responsibilities in favor of writing, you might wind up writing about topics you’d rather avoid.  Taking a short break from intense writing is good practice.  Take a few days to spend more time outdoors: explore, exercise and enjoy life.  Continue to write, but it’s okay to post shorter pieces.  It’s also a challenge to be more concise. Our downtime is where we get energized and develop new material.  So, take a short break for balance.

I teach a feature writing class at Yakima Valley Community College.  I tell my students to keep it simple.  I’ve noted, both in my own writing and most students’ work, that as writers, we tend to use too many words.  Sometimes it’s needless modifiers that just jubiantly jumble up our writing.  You know, the descriptive words that squarely plant our profound prose in the ultimate, over-the-top camp.  Sometimes we use too many ifs, likes, buts, little bits, and actuallys.  We often repeat… repeat ourselves using different words, a variety of language, to say the exact same thing, twice, in a single sentence.  At other times, we hedge, we beat around the bush, we describe something or someone too carefully, because we don’t want to come right out and call them fat or ugly.  We don’t want to step on toes or hurt feelings.

It’s been my experience that most writers tend to use 10 to 30 percent more words than they need to get their point across.  When I edit my work, the first thing I do, is look for extra words, extra words that don’t add anything to the meaning of the written piece.  I worry about the technical stuff later.  Next time you write a poem, a letter, a journal entry, a book, a movie script, a memo, a play, a postcard, a facebook entry… oh, you get it, take time to check if you’re using too many words, more than you need to get your intended meaning across to your intended audience at the intended time and the intended place.  If you’re as critical as I am, I bet you’ll be able to eliminate a few words in nearly every other sentence while remaining true to both the message and beauty of the writing. Take this piece for instance.  I’m really, really reluctant to post it.

Over the past few days I worked through the process of self-publishing my first book, A Train Called Forgiveness, on CreateSpace.  CreateSpace is Amazon’s website community for those who choose to publish their own books rather than waiting for the slim possibility of finding a major-publishing deal.  And here’s the kicker: for their basic services, it’s free.  In this short article, I’ll review my experience using CreateSpace.

The first step is simple.  You go to http://www.createspace.com and start an account using your email address and a password.  The next step is to simply choose “start a new title” and complete some basic information about your book.

Next, you create your ISBN number.  You can just click one button and CreateSpace will assign one for you, free of charge.  Or you can choose other paid options.  I went with the freebie.

Next, you need to download a PDF file of the interior of your book.  You need to have your book thoroughly edited and in your desired format.  Once it’s in the system, you can’t change it, unless you start over.  You have to make sure your PDF file is in the desired trim size for your book.  Most word processing programs are set at 8.5 x 11, so you have to reset the size and reformat your document before saving it to PDF.  Most paperback books range from 5 x 8 to 6 x 9.  On my next project, I’ll just start out writing in a small-page format.  CreateSpace will help you fix any issues regarding trim and formatting problems.

Next, you create a cover.  CreateSpace has about 25 cover templates that make creating your cover a breeze.  There are also many files of cover photos to choose from, or you can use your own photo.  I found a stock photo that worked well for my title and went with it.

The final step is to submit.  After you submit, you will receive a message within 48 hours as to the status of your file.  CreateSpace will let you know if their are any problems.  In my case, it took 12 hours, and everything was okay.  I did a final proof, clicked, and my book was immediately available on CreateSpace.  It was also available on http://www.amazom.com within 24 hours.  Pretty cool.

Throughout the process it was easy to view my book, so I could see how it would look.  Also, when I had questions, my email was answered within 24 hours.  I was able to price my book at $14.00.  I can buy my own copies for under $4.00.  There are also many paid services provided by CreateSpace if you choose to use them.  Overall, I found the service and experience of using CreateSpace wonderful.  I would recommend their services to anyone interested in self-publishing.  Happy writing.

Last spring, I wrote my first book.  Officially, although barely, it’s over 40,000 words.  That makes it a novel.  I wrote the entire first draft in about six to eight weeks.  When I get involved in the writing process I tend to spend several hours per day tapping away at the keyboard.  I write pretty fast, about 1000 words per hour.

Most experts and advisors on writing will tell you to write first and edit later.  I break that rule.  I am constantly editing my work as part of the writing process.  I tend to write in short sections that range in length from a couple of paragraphs to a few pages.  After writing each section, I go back and check for errors and make changes.  The chapters in my first book consisted of about five to seven of these smaller sections.  Each time I completed a chapter, I read it, reread it, and edited.  This process works well for me.

However, I don’t disregard the advice of experts.  After I completed my first draft, I set it aside for about three months.  That gave me time to disconnect myself from the emotional excitement that comes with the writing process.  It’s also when the real work begins.  When I pulled my manuscript out of the drawer, I spent several weeks reading, rereading, and editing.  It’s hard labor.  I much prefer the original writing process and have to twist my own arm to get through this first editing phase.

After I completed my editing, I was fortunate enough to have a friend and colleague, with a background in journalism, who was willing to edit the manuscript.  It came back to me with many suggestions for further changes.  Over the past week I did a final edit.  The final edit was actually much easier and more enjoyable than the initial edit.

In the end, I’m certain that I’ve spent more time in the editing mode than in the writing mode.  I’m also certain that my writing is stronger and more concise because I put the effort into editing.  As with most creative individuals, I’m still my own toughest critic, and after editing the manuscript three to five times, I’m not 100 percent convinced my work is the best it could be.  But at some point you have to say, “It is finished,” and move on to the next project.

Writing is a journey.  As we practice writing, we become better writers.  We learn how to choose words more carefully, perhaps at times, too carefully.  We learn how to construct sentences more concisely.  We learn how to organize paragraphs more sensibly.  We learn the rules.  We learn how to break the rules.  We learn tricks.  We learn to be clever.  We become like children again.  Words and ideas become our building blocks and we spend countless hours designing a variety of structures.  It is a learning process, this art of writing, but the journey goes far beyond the technical aspects of the written word.

As a writer, I learn more about myself and the world around me each time I turn a phrase.  Writing helps me to understand my own ideals and values.  It helps me to understand life.  Writing is a teacher.  Guy Clark, a great songwriter, wrote a song that says, “Some days I write the song, and some days the song writes me.”  I think he nailed it with that line.  Writing is a two-way street.  As writers, we may feel we have ultimate control of what lands on our pages.  Do we really?  I don’t think so.  Yes, we can choose our words, organize our thoughts, and pen a plethora of poetry and prose.  We can be creative, clever, and witty.  Where does it come from?  We were given this ability to write.  It came from somewhere outside of ourselves: parents, teachers, books, God?

Writing is a journey.  It is reflective of our lives.  As writers, we can flesh out our own thoughts about the world around us, our attitudes, values, and beliefs.  We can come to terms with our past, our pain, and our problems.  Writing is not just a technical act of putting words down on paper.  It is a living, learning process, revealing truths about ourselves and the world in which we live.  The practice of writing teaches us to be better writers, but more importantly, it teaches us to be better human beings on this journey through life.

Writing comes in many forms.  In the past, I’ve practiced writing, song, poem, essay, commentary, non-fiction, and auto-biography.  About a year ago, I started to write a story about my own childhood experiences.  To protect the innocent, and the guilty, I needed to change names of people, names of places, and timelines.  In the process, I discovered something wonderful.

Writing fictional works based on reality is a sure way to create believable stories.  My first book, A Train Called Forgiveness, is more reality than fiction.  However, I took creative license and used metaphor, analogy, and other rhetorical devices to give the story more energy.  The end result is a book I would categorize as fiction, but is really as much or more an auto-biography.  My second book, The Man Who Died Twice, stems from reality, but leads to places less certain.  I have to “make up” more of the story.  Yet as I write, I still find myself mirroring my own life experiences.  For example, in life, I’m a single father with a young daughter and a dog.  The main character of the story The Man Who Died Twice is also a single father with a dog.

It goes back to some wise old advice for writers: “write what you know.”  Sure, you can create fictional, scenes, characters, and events, but when you add little pieces of your own experiences into the mix, something magical happens.  The story gains a sense of reality that lends honesty to your writing.  So add pieces of yourself into your fictional work.  I think you’ll be happy with the results.

I find myself in the unique position of being a speech teacher who loves to write.  My passion for writing roots back to my childhood, and started in song.  Although songwriting isn’t a category at yakimawriters.org, putting words to music has taught me plenty about writing.

A song in its purest form, is a story.  A great song can tell a more elaborate and convincing story in a few hundred words, than an entire novel might communicate in 50,000 words.  A songwriter, as a poet, must learn to choose words wisely.  Each word must move the story, support the theme, and contribute to the plot.

In my years of songwriting I’ve come to respect great songwriters like Townes Van Zandt, Steve Goodman, John Prine, and Guy Clark.  Townes Van Zandt can put poets to shame, weaving images and melodies into perfect short stories in rhyme.  I’ve roughly, and only half-successfully, attempted to mimic the American masters of folksong.  In my plight, I’ve come to except that I will always lag a step behind, perhaps, creating a few second-rate gems along the way.  Yet, studying and practicing the art of song has revealed profits greater than the illusive Billboard hit.  It’s taught me brevity.

As I continue my journey in writing, pivoting into the world of prose, I repeatedly return to the lessons of song, and more recently, spoken word.  We don’t speak in long paragraphs and complex sentences.  We speak in short sentences, often only fragments.  I try to write as much, or more, for the ear, than the page.  And although I’m no master, I’ve discovered, that by thinking and writing like a speaker, I’ve become more direct and concise.  So there is a lesson in song, which is simply spoken word set to a tune.  Tell the story, and no more.