The Writer's Workshop One of the best things about writing for a daily newspaper is that it either permanently cures you of writer’s block, or it convinces you to pursue another profession.
When I worked on the Ellensburg Daily-Record, a small daily in eastern Washington State, I had to cover a wide variety of topics, not all of them especially captivating–the Ellensburg Rodeo, the Kittitas County Weed Board, country and western concerts, and an eccentric old lady who won the Halloween Contest by dressing up in a dog food bag.
After dutifully taking notes, I’d return to the newspaper office and knock out a story, whether I felt inspired or not, whether I’d just come down with a cold or was having a bad day. I arrived at the office at 7:30 a.m. and turned in my story by 11:30 a.m.–12 at the latest. There were no exceptions.
If it looked as if I might miss my deadline, the editor, Bill Lipsky, would pace around my desk. Lipsky, or “the Lipper,” as we called him, was thin and wiry with a long pointed face like a wire-haired terrier. He ripped sheets of paper off the A.P. wire machine and carried them around the newsroom in his mouth. As he approached my desk, he’d growl if he didn’t think I was working fast enough. I learned to get the story in on time.
It frustrated me if I didn’t have time to perfect my story, but the discipline of getting the damn thing done was invaluable. There simply wasn’t time to dawdle. I had to blaze away for four hours, pouring everything I had into the piece. I wouldn’t leave my sweaty little naughahyde chair with the broken back rest until I had the story wrapped.
During the time I worked there, I developed a method for quickly organizing and composing stories. It was the only thing that allowed me to survive with my love for writing intact. I developed this method by trial and error, mostly by error. Early on, like most neophyte writers, I would obsess about the lead, spending three or more hours on it. As the deadline approached, I had less than an hour to finish the rest of the story.
I needed to find another way. I discovered that if I postponed my instinct toward perfectionism to later in the writing process I could produce a better story. First, I got black on white, quickly typing up the rough draft, then I went back over it and tinkered with it. The key to avoiding writer’s block and the Lipper’s wrath was postponing perfectionism.
Over time, I refined this technique. I would arrive at the office, organize my notes, find an angle around which to structure the piece, and then type away. After finishing the rough draft, I would go back and polish it from the lead forward. By postponing my inclination toward perfectionism to the end of the process, I was able to turn in a stronger piece.
For a more in-depth look at the writing process, please consider signing up for the Fall Writing class. For more, see the course description at www.thewritersworkshop.net.
