In the latest Glimmer Train bulletin, Susan Jackson Rogers has written a brief essay on the writing life: “Closing the Gap: Moving from Notebook to Story.” She discusses how stories get their beginnings and gain traction:
Each time, I have to remember: Start small. Why doesn’t “starting small” feel like real writing? Really, there isn’t any other way to start. … It’s embarrassing to admit how long it’s taken me to realize that the whole trick is this: close the gap between notes and draft. At the beginning of a writing session, if I don’t know where to start, I go to the notes, and transfer the useful ones to the proper place in the draft I’m working on. … I used to think, “but this isn’t real writing” (by which I meant that euphoric seven-longhand-pages-in-one-sitting kind of writing). Now I wonder what that could possibly mean. I am writing. That’s as real as writing gets.
Read the entire essay over at Glimmer Train.
Also in the latest Glimmer Train bulletin:
- Acting on Faith by Aria Beth Sloss
- Your Sanctuary by Steve Adams
- Apocalypse Not by Christopher Marnach
Jane Friedman has spent nearly 25 years working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2023. Her latest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.
[…] Susan Jackson Rogers on writing: “It’s embarrassing to admit how long it’s taken me to realize that the whole trick is this: close the gap between notes and draft.” (via Jane Friedman) […]
I don’t close the gap because I didn’t know there was one. As long as we’re writing does it matter if the words are notes, drafts, memos or edits?
[…] Start Small: Moving From Notebook to Story | Jane Friedman […]