I’ve mentioned here before that early on as a writer I was stymied by those “pros” who insisted that unless you write every day–every single day of your life–you couldn’t consider yourself a serious writer. It depressed me for a long time until I came to the conclusion that the only the real thing that mattered was getting words–the best words possible–on paper. Twenty-eight books and two hundred or so published articles and stories later, I ignore their advice.
Instead I have developed a system I call “immersive writing.” Someone else probably invented it and named it something sexier, but that’s what I call it. Here’s what it is in a nutshell.
- Come up with an idea. Develop it into an outline. Keep developing it until your outline breaks into chapters, and each chapter becomes scenes, or at least ideas for scenes. When you start seeing the scenes in your head, especially the first ones, start writing.
- Put away everything else–your favorite TV shows, your books, your daily life–temporarily, and just focus entirely on your story. Wrap yourself in its embrace. Dream it. Daydream it. Think about it while you’re driving, while you’re eating. In other words, stop living in Real Life and start living in your book. How long? Well, how fast can you write?
- Write like the wind. Don’t worry about getting it perfect the first time. Just get something–the essential idea–down on paper. Editing comes later. And that’s when your sanity and your daily life returns to you.
This type of writing works for me. I will have to admit that it drives my wife crazy, but I just can’t work on a book for 30 minutes or an hour and then walk away. I am obsessive. So here are the pros and the cons of this approach:
Pros:
- I write fast, very fast. I tell my colleagues and students that if I have a clear view of my story in my head–which is the essential requirement for this approach–I can crank out a novel in weeks. Most of time, realistically, it is a few months, because you can’t totally turn real life off. But is it much faster for me. Then comes the editing.
- For those who can’t commit to a daily time to write, this works. At least it works for me. And it helps me get closer to my story.
Now the Cons:
- It can be annoying to your spouse, your kids, and your pets. You basically become a zombie to everyone stuck in the RL. Want to watch a movie? Sorry, I am already watching one in my head. Want to go to the park? Sure, my body will go, but my mind is writing the next chapter.
- If you are stuck in a situation where you can’t turn off real life, it’s a challenge to use this technique. That’s where I am currently. I am teaching; I have two people in my home with the TV on all the time; and really the only time to write is when I am in my office at work on early morning. But if you are obsessed about your story, you will find time to write.
Immersive writing doesn’t work for everyone. But you might want to give it a try.
The Great Adventure 