Editing as Art: Nurturing Creativity in Your Writing

“The first draft of anything is sh**.” — Ernest Hemingway

Earnest Hemingway said it. And I live by it.

Here’s the thing: we want everything to be perfect the first time. We want an award-winning novel to flow out of us without a blemish.

But I have to ask, where’s the fun in that? Transformation is the game when it comes to writing a novel.

From scattered thoughts to organized stories. Some writers don’t want works that are organized. On the contrary, I’d like my work to be easily read. An escape. It takes editing for me to see what works and what doesn’t. Who should be talking? What point of view? I like to see how it feels using different tools in the writing game.

Editing doesn’t have to be this looming, impossible thing that we avoid. It can be easily reframed into a process that nurtures our creativity. Don’t get me wrong; editing is hard work, but just like any act of service, it’s a worthy cause.

I’m the type of writer who’s in it for the transformation.

Transformation of myself and my work. I hope that the evolution of me shines through my work.

I’m ready to put in that effort.

Instagram: Jayne_Press | Facebook: JaynePressWriter | Medium: JaynePress

Renew Your Energy: The Writer’s Guide to Rest

Accept the Call

“The mind needs to be given rest so that it can return to its work with renewed vigor.”
— Seneca

I will never understand why our culture rewards overworking. In yesterday’s post, I talked about how you need to give yourself permission to go away and write. In that post, I mentioned how another writer shared that she needed a week of rest just to recover from her busy home life.

We really do need to rest so that our creative brains can show up to work at full capacity. Some people say creativity is our birthright. I say let everything else be done half-assed as long as when it’s time to create, you can show up in full force and create something that makes you proud.

I remember in one of my jobs, I told them my job was my hobby and writing was my life. And you should have seen the way they looked at me. Boy, you should have seen the amount of proof of my writing talent they demanded of me. I had nothing to prove. I chugged along and continued to remind myself that it was my second job, not my first.

Let’s pull it together now.

We need to reserve our creative energy.

We need to rest our bodies.

We have got to quiet our busy minds.

I love the way Seneca said to return with renewed vigor! I think that’s what makes it worth it.

As writers, we carry the entire story. We hold the entire world, and we make up all the characters and let them all live rent-free in our heads.

But once we step away from creating,

it’s time to let the world carry itself.

Instagram: Jayne_Press | Facebook: JaynePressWriter | Medium: JaynePress

Give Yourself Permission to Write: Why a Weekend Retreat Matters

If you’re looking for permission to cancel your plans and spend the next week writing, I give you full permission.

The thing about writing daily is that it feels greedy for me to set a weekend aside to write when I’m already dedicating 4 hours a night to writing. I do think I need a weekend though. A weekend to just read and write. Only those two responsibilities.

Here’s my thing: when I think about spending a weekend just writing, I feel like two days are not enough. It reminds me of the time I read about this one writer who finally felt bold enough to go to a week-long writing retreat. She said she felt so guilty because she slept the first week away. When she talked to someone about the guilt she felt, they responded by saying that her body probably needed that rest. So the next year, she booked two weeks. She found that when she allowed her body to rest for the first week, she was able to get a ton of writing done the second week. That worked for her.

When I took a week away, it felt like plenty of time. I go hard the first three days and then take it easy toward the end of the week. It’s not like things magically start flowing just because you’re away, but it does give me the space to create without interruption.

A train of thought can be so delicate that constant interruption can make you feel like you can’t think. The truth is you have a great brain filled with millions of ideas; you’re just not getting the space your brain needs to complete a thought.

And that’s why you need to give yourself permission to go away and write.

I’ll give you permission.

Instagram: Jayne_Press | Facebook: JaynePressWriter | Medium: JaynePress

The Balance of Solitude and Connection for Writers

Human connection is a huge part of the writing toolkit.

In yesterday’s post, I talked about how you have to show up to the page when no one else is there to cheer you on.

It’s to be expected that you will be writing many hours alone. But something I don’t think we talk about enough is the importance of having humans who cheer you on throughout your journey.

I am so grateful for the relationships I have with some fantastic humans. They also happen to be so supportive of my journey. Some are writers, which works perfectly. Some are people I connect with, and we just never left each other.

What’s important here is that there is balance. Yes, a good chunk of the work is done by validating yourself alone at 12 a.m. on a Wednesday when you have to get up in 5 hours. But it’s important to make time for people too.

Years ago, I kept circling solitude and how important it was for a writer, but after thinking about it, I realized we need a lot of both: solitude and connection with other humans. The amount of each is personal. Some may need more solitude, and some may need more human connection, but either way, you need both.

The thing about Writer’s Quest is that it was workshopped with other writers and written over five years during my daily evening writing ritual. This is a handcrafted work of art that took an extraordinary amount of patience and discipline. You get to be part of a project that was developed with a lot of solitude and a moderate amount of connection.

Instagram: Jayne_Press | Facebook: JaynePressWriter | Medium: JaynePress

Write for Your Soul

✨Unlocking Creativity ✨

The thing about writing is that there are times when no one is going to validate nor support your craft, and still, you’ve got to show up to the page. You gotta think. You gotta rewrite and reread and type a million different thoughts into one singular sentence at a time. The only person that can validate your craft when no one else sees it is you.

“A writer is someone for whom writing is
more difficult than it is for other people.” — Thomas Mann

One way to validate yourself as you write is to remember that it’s not about writing the perfect book. It’s not even about writing a book. It’s about finding a way to release all that stuff that’s backed up inside your system. And you gotta get it out on paper for a few reasons.

One reason is for the release, or the beginning one. I heard somewhere that when we write down the things we feel like we need to remember, it lightens the burden on our brain. It relieves stress.

The second reason is that it can help you process things better when you take time to consider possible action steps or alternate possibilities.

The third reason is that it helps you better understand yourself and those around you.

Remember, we are a bunch of humans bumping into each other trying our best while we’re here.

Might as well learn to write what you love even when no one can see your vision yet.

I spent 5 years writing what I love. It’s the biggest project I’ve ever started and completed. I spent years reading and learning different types of storytelling. I did this because I was curious to know how storytelling worked from bible stories to oral tellings, to the different types of novels we see today. This all lead to Writer’s Quest.

Instagram: Jayne_Press | Facebook: JaynePressWriter | Substack: Jaynepress

Love and Writing

I didn’t just wake up one day and decide to be a writer.

I’m not the get-rich-quick schemer that America loves to celebrate. I’m a slow cooker and an intentional learner. It’s nice to have time to think about which lessons to bring and which ones to chalk up as “just a part of life.” Rainer Maria Rilke once said,

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.”

It’s not just about putting words on a page; it’s about love.

It feels good to have somewhere safe to pour your love. There are plenty of places that will swallow your love whole and leave you drained, but writing doesn’t do that for me. This is slow love. This is intentional and aware. It’s dedicated and fiercely loyal, and I made sure all that is a part of my writing space.

I hope that someday I get to share that with other writers.

Speaking of love, Writer’s Quest has been poured into for 5 years.
I’d be more than happy to share some
of this love with you.

Instagram: Jayne_Press | Facebook: JaynePressWriter | Medium: JaynePress

James Joyce was my Guardrail

“The demand that I make of my reader is that he should devote his whole Life to reading my works.” -James Joyce

In Ulysses, James Joyce uses different types of storytelling while mirroring The Odyssey. He has a table of connections to help his readers to navigate his works and clear knew the investment was placed upon his reader was enormous. It took seven years for him to write Ulysses, so I guess I can’t complain so much about the 5 years of work I spent on Writer’s Quest; however, my novel isn’t even a tad bit as detailed as Joyce’s work.

That was intentional on my part. I wanted my book to be challenging, but at the same time, I wanted it to be accessible. Joyce’s work requires a significant understanding of outside literature prior to grasping all the connections in his novel. Not everyone has the time and support to understand the literature required to connect with Joyce’s work. When I read his book, I dove in, but I was a full-time writer for a chunk of that time. I had to watch videos, reread The Odyssey, and eventually learned his works are much better understood when they are read by someone with an Irish accent who understands Irish culture. Doing all that was exciting and adventurous, and I wanted more people to appreciate that type of adventure right where they are in life.

A Casual Reader’s Guide to Ulysses

I Want to Honor My Teachers

“The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.” -Friedrich Nietzsche

If there’s one thing I want my writing to do, it’s to honor my teachers. Teachers come in so many forms: professors, people we hope to never be, infants and children, lovers, and nature, just to name a few. Some teachers invest in us just for the love of it. That always feels nice. And so the point is that Writer’s Quest, in essence, was written while I was full of gratitude every time I sat at the computer. Not that I was some toxically happy individual. No way. Writing this novel was hard work. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into this novel.

But

if there’s one knowing that showed up with me while writing every single page, it is that I wouldn’t have been able to write a single page without my teachers.

(And muses. But that’s another topic for another day.)

Valuing Your Writing

The Magic Behind Storytelling

Writing is more than just telling a story. If you’re a writer, you’re a multitasker in your most natural state. You’re a visionary, communicator, researcher, and an editor—among all the other stuff we must do as humans. When we combine all these, we become something else entirely: a world of our own, especially if we write full time. It’s only natural for writers to step away and become the observer. We need it for our stories. And the world needs our stories.

That’s exactly why, as writers, it’s important to value our effort. Don’t underestimate the amount of magic it takes to tell a story.

This is About Mentors

“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Writer’s Quest is about three women who find their own way to liberation. Their liberation is spiritual and deeply internal. The thing about being human on the path toward liberation is that we often need a hand or what some may call a mentor. Mentors can feel like magic the way they show up, and maybe there is a little bit of magic in there, but what is really happening is intentional patience, compassion, and understanding. What I’m saying is that mentoring someone can mean a new life for them, not just because they gain skills to help them navigate the world, which does happen, but because they gain a wider perspective of the world and a little more hope.

I know I started this post about women, but the truth is that there are amazing mentors out there who are ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary.

Did you find an amazing mentor?
You might relate to Senta who found a mentor she adored from the moment she saw them.

If not,
Writer’s Quest: A Triptych can be your first mentor.