Please, no 10 ideas in 10 days! Ideas aren’t the problem. Choosing one and running with it is what’s necessary. I’m gonna crawl into a sub-basement and put a moratorium on new ideas.
Thanks for the this, Fran. I agree that choosing an idea and running with it is the real challenge — and I'm hoping the "10 days" structure can be a way for me to take a real look at the ideas I have sitting around already. We'll see! Sometimes I like signing up for things just as a way of kicking my brain into gear 🥾🧠
As a long admirer of his work, I’m grateful he carved out the space. I only hope that he extended the same liberties to his spouse— that she, too, can crash-land on an island of her own intellectual preoccupations.
I became an artist in 60 days by committing to 30 days of doing nothing but art while my girls were in school. Yes, I was privileged to be able to do that having married a hippie who became a successful businessman. I didn't know what it meant to "do art" but I knew what wasn't it: shopping, cleaning, talking with friends, going out to lunch. I wrote up a contract with myself and signed it. Those 30 days were boring as hell, but at the end of it I got inspired and committed to another 30 days, with structure this time: 1/3 the time on writing, 1/3 on visual art/ 1/3 on rehearsing performance art. At the end of the 60 days I had a performance piece and a serial collage project, plus the writing to accompany it.
This post got me thinking about Becky Blades, an artist who has a book called Start More Than You Can Finish. Which is basically acts like a permission slip to try a bunch of different things, anything that sparks your fancy, that gets you excited and creating. The goal isn't to finish things, it is to finish things, but not to stay stuck on one particular idea or project, because if you get stuck, the odds of you actually ever finishing it, are even slimmer. So move on to the next thing, and maybe while doing that next thing, or the ten things after, you'll unlock something that allows you to finish that other thing you started. And I think this goes for ideas. I have lists of ideas for stories-- some of them are titles, some of them are only words, some of them make sense, and some of them I have no idea why I wrote them down. But anytime even an inkling of an idea comes to me, I write it down. Sometimes I revisit these, and sometimes, I do not. However I am currently using my Morning Pages, from Julia Cameron and The Artist's Way, to go through the list of these ideas, and spend those pages/time brainstorming on what story could come from the idea I wrote down. It's been a fun experiment, and some of the brainstorming sessions, have kernels of potentially good stories. So my next step, will be to type these up and then see which is most interesting to work on next.
This conversation sort of dovetails into David Epstein's recent interview with Austin Kleon, as well.
As for Ishiguro's speed drafting-- I think he's totally right. I don't necessarily lock myself away for thirty days to work on a new draft. But when I am working on a new project/story, I try just to write straight through from beginning to end, until I have the entire story arc worked out. It doesn't mean it's good, or even necessarily makes sense, or is even fleshed out. But what I do have, is the arc of a story, a beginning, a middle, an end, and a character I'm taking on this journey. Revision is where the actual story happens. But before I get to this stage, I do spend a lot of time reading and thinking in my head, so that when I am ready to get it out of my head, it all comes out fairly easily, and quickly.
So interesting this dynamic around finishing things / not finishing things! I know that I often don't fully understand a project unless I force myself to finish it — but then it can feel like a lot of pressure to have to finish everything you start. I will be thinking more on this... thank you!
I'm longing for a crash, too! I typed up a month schedule that starts with Worm Zoom for the first full week and then the alternate Worm Zoom for the remaining weeks. I don't have a spouse or the means to hire help so this is my strategy:
-Deep clean house on the first Sat of month
-Do laundry and change bed every other Sat
-Have groceries delivered
-Every Sat or Sun prepare a stew, soup, or salad for 5 days of lunches (did this when I had a full time job)
Oh, I love this monthly schedule — thank you for sharing, Catherine! I imagine this helps clear out mental space too. I know that I am continually thinking about when to next make time for laundry, housework, meals — I love the idea of having a schedule for all these things and otherwise not letting them into your head.
That's the strategy for household maintenance—I enter those items in my calendar. Here is the daily schedule that I think will work for me. Each person would need their own unique schedule.
Crash Schedule: How to set aside 4 weeks to work "non-stop" 6 am to 4 pm
I have always been a fan of the Ishiguro/Remains of the Day story--thanks for adding to what I knew and prompting me to think beyond drafting crashes to other kinds of crashes, like maybe newsletter crashes. (Would love to have a half-dozen posts done in advance.) I am coming off a novel revision crash at this very moment! I find revision, even more than early drafting, really benefits from long hours and minimal interactions, especially when it comes to solving structural problems. It is so important to hold a whole book in one's head at that stage and it is much easier if I'm not sharing living space or worrying too much about proper meals!
P.S. Nice to see a photo of KI's wife, who made his most famous crash possible.
I like the idea of a Revision Crash! I know what you mean about needing to hold the whole book in your head at this stage. And the Newsletter Crash is an intriguing possibility for sure!
That is very inspiring! Last year I took three months off to finish my memoir. I ended up getting distracted with 500 side projects and never did finish that book... 😅
I want a crash too! This has inspired me to try to create a crash in my own life as much as I can to really commit to making progress on my book. I can see how the research part ahead of time would be key. I really like this post. Maybe I will integrate with next month's Worm Zoom.
It's interesting (even voyeuristic) to hear about other writers' process. I tried to vomit draft in 2023 - a memoir draft in 3 months - but it left me with the worst creative burnout. Maybe it was the memoir form? Maybe fiction would have been different?
Has anyone mentioned NaNoWriMo yet? It's a brilliant way to get that first vomit draft onto the page. It also taught me that I have a lot more time than I think I do. Amazing how much can get written during the in-between times if you're intentional about it.
I am vibrating just thinking about that espresso-Coke concoction.
a while ago I called it a room and I think I still agree: "A novelist without a novel is superfluous. This seems to me the best explanation behind the mysterious depression that so frequently settles in once the work is done. For months or years at a time, a novel is where a novelist shows up for work. Then, one day, there’s nowhere to go. This points to the novel, or really the work or act of the novel, as a place — as the room" https://patricknathan.substack.com/p/rebuilding-the-room
When I started the book I’m on, I scheduled 90 minutes at 7:00 AM on weekdays, and used a Pomodoro Technique app for focus. Worked pretty well until I let myself get unmoored…
Please, no 10 ideas in 10 days! Ideas aren’t the problem. Choosing one and running with it is what’s necessary. I’m gonna crawl into a sub-basement and put a moratorium on new ideas.
Thanks for the this, Fran. I agree that choosing an idea and running with it is the real challenge — and I'm hoping the "10 days" structure can be a way for me to take a real look at the ideas I have sitting around already. We'll see! Sometimes I like signing up for things just as a way of kicking my brain into gear 🥾🧠
As a long admirer of his work, I’m grateful he carved out the space. I only hope that he extended the same liberties to his spouse— that she, too, can crash-land on an island of her own intellectual preoccupations.
Yes, same!
I became an artist in 60 days by committing to 30 days of doing nothing but art while my girls were in school. Yes, I was privileged to be able to do that having married a hippie who became a successful businessman. I didn't know what it meant to "do art" but I knew what wasn't it: shopping, cleaning, talking with friends, going out to lunch. I wrote up a contract with myself and signed it. Those 30 days were boring as hell, but at the end of it I got inspired and committed to another 30 days, with structure this time: 1/3 the time on writing, 1/3 on visual art/ 1/3 on rehearsing performance art. At the end of the 60 days I had a performance piece and a serial collage project, plus the writing to accompany it.
Love all this — thank you for sharing — but especially love that you wrote a contract with yourself and signed it!
Man, discipline is so sexy
This post got me thinking about Becky Blades, an artist who has a book called Start More Than You Can Finish. Which is basically acts like a permission slip to try a bunch of different things, anything that sparks your fancy, that gets you excited and creating. The goal isn't to finish things, it is to finish things, but not to stay stuck on one particular idea or project, because if you get stuck, the odds of you actually ever finishing it, are even slimmer. So move on to the next thing, and maybe while doing that next thing, or the ten things after, you'll unlock something that allows you to finish that other thing you started. And I think this goes for ideas. I have lists of ideas for stories-- some of them are titles, some of them are only words, some of them make sense, and some of them I have no idea why I wrote them down. But anytime even an inkling of an idea comes to me, I write it down. Sometimes I revisit these, and sometimes, I do not. However I am currently using my Morning Pages, from Julia Cameron and The Artist's Way, to go through the list of these ideas, and spend those pages/time brainstorming on what story could come from the idea I wrote down. It's been a fun experiment, and some of the brainstorming sessions, have kernels of potentially good stories. So my next step, will be to type these up and then see which is most interesting to work on next.
This conversation sort of dovetails into David Epstein's recent interview with Austin Kleon, as well.
As for Ishiguro's speed drafting-- I think he's totally right. I don't necessarily lock myself away for thirty days to work on a new draft. But when I am working on a new project/story, I try just to write straight through from beginning to end, until I have the entire story arc worked out. It doesn't mean it's good, or even necessarily makes sense, or is even fleshed out. But what I do have, is the arc of a story, a beginning, a middle, an end, and a character I'm taking on this journey. Revision is where the actual story happens. But before I get to this stage, I do spend a lot of time reading and thinking in my head, so that when I am ready to get it out of my head, it all comes out fairly easily, and quickly.
So interesting this dynamic around finishing things / not finishing things! I know that I often don't fully understand a project unless I force myself to finish it — but then it can feel like a lot of pressure to have to finish everything you start. I will be thinking more on this... thank you!
I'm longing for a crash, too! I typed up a month schedule that starts with Worm Zoom for the first full week and then the alternate Worm Zoom for the remaining weeks. I don't have a spouse or the means to hire help so this is my strategy:
-Deep clean house on the first Sat of month
-Do laundry and change bed every other Sat
-Have groceries delivered
-Every Sat or Sun prepare a stew, soup, or salad for 5 days of lunches (did this when I had a full time job)
Thanks for this inspiring post, Mason.
Oh, I love this monthly schedule — thank you for sharing, Catherine! I imagine this helps clear out mental space too. I know that I am continually thinking about when to next make time for laundry, housework, meals — I love the idea of having a schedule for all these things and otherwise not letting them into your head.
That's the strategy for household maintenance—I enter those items in my calendar. Here is the daily schedule that I think will work for me. Each person would need their own unique schedule.
Crash Schedule: How to set aside 4 weeks to work "non-stop" 6 am to 4 pm
(10 hrs - 2 hrs meals = 8 hrs)
5:30 am shower & coffee
6-8 Worm Zoom
8-9 yoga & breakfast
9-12 write
12-1 lunch
1-4 write or paint
4-4:30 recumbent bike
4:30-5 meditate
5-6 supper
6-8 free
8:30 bed
Total working time 8 hrs
I have always been a fan of the Ishiguro/Remains of the Day story--thanks for adding to what I knew and prompting me to think beyond drafting crashes to other kinds of crashes, like maybe newsletter crashes. (Would love to have a half-dozen posts done in advance.) I am coming off a novel revision crash at this very moment! I find revision, even more than early drafting, really benefits from long hours and minimal interactions, especially when it comes to solving structural problems. It is so important to hold a whole book in one's head at that stage and it is much easier if I'm not sharing living space or worrying too much about proper meals!
P.S. Nice to see a photo of KI's wife, who made his most famous crash possible.
I like the idea of a Revision Crash! I know what you mean about needing to hold the whole book in your head at this stage. And the Newsletter Crash is an intriguing possibility for sure!
That is very inspiring! Last year I took three months off to finish my memoir. I ended up getting distracted with 500 side projects and never did finish that book... 😅
Eep! I know that feeling...
I want a crash too! This has inspired me to try to create a crash in my own life as much as I can to really commit to making progress on my book. I can see how the research part ahead of time would be key. I really like this post. Maybe I will integrate with next month's Worm Zoom.
It's interesting (even voyeuristic) to hear about other writers' process. I tried to vomit draft in 2023 - a memoir draft in 3 months - but it left me with the worst creative burnout. Maybe it was the memoir form? Maybe fiction would have been different?
Has anyone mentioned NaNoWriMo yet? It's a brilliant way to get that first vomit draft onto the page. It also taught me that I have a lot more time than I think I do. Amazing how much can get written during the in-between times if you're intentional about it.
I am vibrating just thinking about that espresso-Coke concoction.
Gosh gimme a crash put me in it, goodbyeeeee worlddddd
a while ago I called it a room and I think I still agree: "A novelist without a novel is superfluous. This seems to me the best explanation behind the mysterious depression that so frequently settles in once the work is done. For months or years at a time, a novel is where a novelist shows up for work. Then, one day, there’s nowhere to go. This points to the novel, or really the work or act of the novel, as a place — as the room" https://patricknathan.substack.com/p/rebuilding-the-room
When I started the book I’m on, I scheduled 90 minutes at 7:00 AM on weekdays, and used a Pomodoro Technique app for focus. Worked pretty well until I let myself get unmoored…
Gabriel Garcia Marquez did the same Crash method, depending on an open tab from the butcher and his wife's management of the home.
Oh, I did not know this! Need to read more — thanks.
That coffee-Coca-Cola combo sounds insane. I do a 5-hour training session once a year...2026 is over but there's always next year!