Nora Pages
In July, RWR published an interview with Nora Roberts. In this interview, the inevitable question is asked of her, how do you write so much?
Nora, in her never-failing poise, answered "hard work."
Now, how basic is that? If a surgeon wants to perform surgery, he goes to the hospital, dons gown, picks up scapel and works. If a actor wants to act, he goes to the movie set and works. If programmer wants to create a software program, he sits in front of the compter and works.
So, if a writer wants to writer, he picks up pen (or whatever instrument) and writes!
As for the "muse", Nora ignores her muse. She said something to the effect that you should lasso the muse to chair and make her write. It doesn't matter what you write or how good or bad it is, what matters is that you are writing. You can always fix bad writing, but you can't fix no writing. There is nothing to edit on an empty page.
Well, that interveiw had a profound effect on some writer friends of mine. We have coined the term "Nora Pages".
Nora Pages are what you write when you're tired and don't want to write. They are a guaranteed POS (piece of sh!t) when they are being written. You will rub your eyes and grit your teeth while writing them. You will hate them. You will call them a waste of time because you could be mopping the floor instead. You will spend an hour staring, cursing, and writing, while your butt gets sore from sitting in the chair.
By the end of the week, you'll have written more than you had at the beginning. You might have something you can use. You might have a germ of an idea. You might have some dialog, you might have a descriptive passage. And might only have a POS that all needs to be stricken from your manuscript.
But you will definitely have the stretched your brain and have had some productive writing that week.
If you want to be a writer, everyday you have to write something. If it's not the greatest work you've ever done, then it better be Nora Pages.
Nora is a great inspiration to all writers. Her books are award-winning and they sell like crazy. Writers should emulate her work ethic and just "write." Go do your Nora Pages.
Nora, in her never-failing poise, answered "hard work."
Now, how basic is that? If a surgeon wants to perform surgery, he goes to the hospital, dons gown, picks up scapel and works. If a actor wants to act, he goes to the movie set and works. If programmer wants to create a software program, he sits in front of the compter and works.
So, if a writer wants to writer, he picks up pen (or whatever instrument) and writes!
As for the "muse", Nora ignores her muse. She said something to the effect that you should lasso the muse to chair and make her write. It doesn't matter what you write or how good or bad it is, what matters is that you are writing. You can always fix bad writing, but you can't fix no writing. There is nothing to edit on an empty page.
Well, that interveiw had a profound effect on some writer friends of mine. We have coined the term "Nora Pages".
Nora Pages are what you write when you're tired and don't want to write. They are a guaranteed POS (piece of sh!t) when they are being written. You will rub your eyes and grit your teeth while writing them. You will hate them. You will call them a waste of time because you could be mopping the floor instead. You will spend an hour staring, cursing, and writing, while your butt gets sore from sitting in the chair.
By the end of the week, you'll have written more than you had at the beginning. You might have something you can use. You might have a germ of an idea. You might have some dialog, you might have a descriptive passage. And might only have a POS that all needs to be stricken from your manuscript.
But you will definitely have the stretched your brain and have had some productive writing that week.
If you want to be a writer, everyday you have to write something. If it's not the greatest work you've ever done, then it better be Nora Pages.
Nora is a great inspiration to all writers. Her books are award-winning and they sell like crazy. Writers should emulate her work ethic and just "write." Go do your Nora Pages.
posted by ~~Olivia | 11:35 PM
2 Comments:
I admire Nora's hard work and I think she really has writing in perspective. Of course, she doesn't have to worry about getting the housework done, the kids off to school or going to a day job she hates. I'm not knocking her, but she has the luxury of making writing her day job.
At one time, though, she did. When she started writing, she had two small children--boys, I think. I think she must be very disciplined and organized...but then, I envision her with a spotless house and two perfect little kids while she's writing...probably not accurate!
It does help me to realize that you can't edit what you haven't written. I read somewhere else that lots of times, when you read back over your ms, you can't tell the passges where you were inspired from the ones where the writing was like pulling teeth. I've found that to be true, too.
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