Guerilla Writing
October 29th, 2009 by Guest
Phil Rossi, friend of Writer Unboxed, professional musician, and author of Crescent, a sci-fi/horror novel, contacted me recently to ask if we might be interested in an article about his style of busy-dad-on-the-go writing. Of course I said ‘yes!’—especially with NaNoWriMo looming. (Find me at Therese_Walsh and Kath at Kathleen_Bolton.)
Thanks for being here, Phil!
—–
Guerilla Writing by Phil Rossi
I was up at 5:00 a.m. today, courtesy of a pink, cherubic wake up call. When that sweet little voice says “Daddy,” the day is officially a go. Five a.m. isn’t unheard of in this house, but considering the previous night—when I didn’t get up close and personal with my pillow until almost 2:00 a.m. after my concert/book signing ran late—things were a little dodgy at first. Regardless, the morning barreled on—I got my two-year old daughter ready for daycare while tending to the needs of my eight-and-a-half-month-pregnant wife. The multiple pets that share our house weren’t making themselves scarce either (steam cleaners, god bless’m!). In the precious few minutes before it was time to run out the door, I managed to make myself not look like a hippie mountain man. I took my daughter to daycare. After that, I began my hour-and-fifteen-minute commute to work by waiting on the ferry that would take me across the Potomac River. Work offered up its typical high-speed, little-time-to-breathe environment of teleconferences, spreadsheets, and drug safety. When the whistle blew, I was back in my car and home an hour and thirty minutes later, making dinner, entertaining my daughter, bathing her, getting her to bed, and then spending quality time with my increasingly immobile wife. Finally, around 10:00 pm, it was time to work on some projects—I released a podcast, recorded a song for the associated soundtrack, and yes, I even put the pen to paper.
I wrote over two thousand words on my new novel today, my seventh novel in four years. With my busy schedule, you’re probably wondering how I even managed to write fifty words. I’ll let you in on a little secret that I’m fond of calling Guerilla Writing.
I come from the trees and strike the instant an opportunity presents itself.
Be wary, be vigilante—for these moments wear easy disguises, blending into the lush foliage of the internet, the cell phone, and of course, that wall you’ve been staring at for two-and-a-quarter minutes while waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. I’m telling you—there are hours of unsuspecting free time out there just begging to be manhandled.
At face value, fifteen minutes of free time doesn’t seem like a lot—certainly not time enough for a writing session. But those minutes snowball during the span of a day. Fifteen minutes waiting for the ferry on the way to work, twenty minutes at lunchtime waiting for the pizza to arrive, fifteen more minutes waiting for the ferry to take me home, and another ten minutes waiting on spaghetti to be cooked. I’m no math-a-magician, but regardless, I can see that’s a good hunk of temporal change. The above are just a few of the more expected examples from my day. It’s hard to say when a moment will fall into my (or your) path, begging to be filled. Let me reemphasize—you’ve got to be prepared.
How do I prepare? Part of my mind is always dipping into my fictional universes—mulling over characters, considering plot direction. You get the idea. It doesn’t matter so much what my mind is doing story-wise, so long as it is spending as much time in that creative space as possible. I keep a little black notebook in my back pocket at all times—don’t tell my wife, she might get the wrong idea. Every inspiration that comes across my mind is precious—these ethereal light bulbs might not end up being good fodder for a story or novel, but at the end of the day, they’re still creative output. Jotting these thoughts down not only helps me to remember them, but it’s another way of flexing that creative muscle and having something tangible to show for it. Words on paper—cocktail napkins, notebooks, receipts—go a long way to maintaining motivation.
It’s taken time and patience for Guerilla Writing to become an effective personal technique. The examples I’ve provided—thinking about your stories, scribbling random notes—are all ways to keep your mind’s reflexes honed razor sharp. Awareness of how you spend your time in a day is paramount. I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but you just might be wasting more time than you think. Instead of hitting refresh for five minutes while waiting for an email from that special someone, why not write and check your email five minutes later. See? It’s simple.
Writers must write every day—this is a universal truth. Realistically, we’ve got day jobs, families, friends, and other activities that require and deserve our time and attention. So, unless you can absolutely guarantee an hour or more of uninterrupted time, you’ve got to be willing to dispense with any “writer’s ritual” and any “perfect setting.” We all have those ideal places and times to make the magic happen—but there is no better time than right now and no better place than right here.
Be prepared—that is the mantra and motto of Guerilla Writing. You may have to strike at any moment.
Like now.
(Phil’s Twitter handle: @philrossi)
Picture courtesy Flickr’s Simone♠13
19 Responses to “Guerilla Writing”
I’ve had to learn to do this too. When I first started writing, I was working out of the house 30 hours/week, and had 2 young boys, with a husband who worked 12+ hour unpredictable days.
Out of necessity, I learned to write in the margins of my day. It really helped me see that I can be productive in 15 minutes. If I waited for an uninterrupted hour to write, I’d still be waiting 5 years later.
“Awareness of how you spend your time in a day is paramount. I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but you just might be wasting more time than you think.”
So true. After returning from my recent vacation, I feel refreshed, and ready to be a better me. Part of my new “zen” is the idea of focus and productivity — learning to undo bad habits (like the email refresh thing) and to develop new good ones. It’s only Day 3 of said New Zen, but I’m feeling good. Maybe someday I’ll be as productive as you!
… But I doubt it, lol. You deserve major props, because your life sounds crazy (in a good way). I don’t know how you do it.
Kristan´s last blog ..A bit of Ireland (leprechauns not included)
I admire you and other writers who work full-time and still manage to get the words on paper (or laptop). I have the unbelievable luxury of writing full-time and my kids are old enough to fend for themselves. My current post is about word count. People always ask me how I get so many words in. I write 1500-2500 words per day, which seems minuscule given the miracle of time I have available. I’m going to keep your words in mind and up the ante for myself. Thanks for the inspiration!
Debra Schubert´s last blog ..Write Much?
I love this post! Guerilla writing is for me too. Isn’t it funny how just when I start to feel down about things, I see on Twitter your post, click on it, and now I am re-inspired! Thanks!
Margo
Margo Dill´s last blog ..Wacky Wednesday: Using Fast Food Info Site in the Classroom and For Yourself!
Thanks for the comments, all! I think there is always some way you can up the ante. Life is a dynamic thing. Relationships and responsibilities will always affect timing on a day-to-day basis. So long as you are writing in the moment, you can make it happen.
Phil Rossi´s last blog ..Guest appearance on Writer Unboxed
I never called it Guerilla Writing but have been doing this same thing for about 7 years – coincidentally this will be my 7th year in NaNo :) Even when I was a fulltime freelance writer – my writing had to be squeezed into a 60-80 hour work week. Actually I still do that and am working VERY hard to carve out time for NaNo again this year.
My next mystery is calling to me louder and louder as November 1 gets closer :) Almost nothing beats getting most or all of the draft on paper in a month – except holding the finished product in my hands for the first time :)
I think everyone would agree – the writing world is a bit insane, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Nikki Leigh
Phil — love your post here. Very inspirational and I plan to start my writing today. Can’t wait to buy Crescent on amazon and read your work.
Awesome article. Thanks, Phil. I’ve been struggling with how to stay “in touch” with my novel during my various trips and I like how you think. :-)
Melissa Marsh´s last blog ..Traveling and Writing
Thanks Phil, that was an awesome article! I’ve talked to other writers about how I only get to write when a scap of spare time is made available to me. This article is very inspiring, I’ve been thinking a lot of this topic, and it’s so nice to see it all written out and explained, very helpful! I will RT to this article on Twitter!
Dan
Great motivational words of wisdom. Thanks!
Thanks for the comments. I’m glad you’re all finding this worthwhile reading!
-Phil
Phil Rossi´s last blog ..Coming Soon
Even before I started writing, I always felt more productive when my time was limited. If I had vacation coming up I would get as much work done in two days that week as would in a normal five day week.
Having the luxury of time creates an illusion of plenty, but I always find a way to “fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.” Thanks for the post – it’s always nice to get a kick in the pants and refocus.
Jonathan´s last blog ..A little inspiration on a dreary day
[...] is a link to an interesting article on Guerrila Writing for those aspiring writers out [...]
I’ve had a lot of practice at the tactics you recommend. I carry my laptop everywhere but its not always practical to get in writing. I keep my notebook handy, in the cargo pocket of my army uniform, so that when ideas strike, I can write them down, because I never remember them.
Being deployed to Iraq, I’ve had more time than I did back in the rear. However, getting ready to go home, I wonder how I’m going to find the time to write anything, let alone continue. But it’s a need for me, a compulsion. I have to write. So I make the time, between daycare, the army, and housewife duties, it’ll all work out in the end. Even if it’s ten minutes on my lunch break, I squeeze it in. Great topic and love the suggestions!
This is so true! I practice guerrilla audio production for much the same reason, there just isn’t time to sit down for great lengths. Of course, I usually get more than 10 minutes in, but not always. This is a great reminder that while I’m trying to begin writing more, I can use the same sort of techniques. You’d think it would have been second nature but I find that I’m often trying to find that “perfect” setting/condition/environment to write it. It doesn’t exist in my world at this time and I hope by considering your article, and knowing how great your stories are, that I might (might) have a shot at writing something coherent afterall! Thanks Phil!
your schedule brings back bad memories!! but thanks for ’showing’ not ‘telling’
[...] main point he makes in this interview on Writer Unboxed is that everyone has committments, even novelists. Family, friends…book signings–and [...]
What a wonderful article. That’s great advice considering I just signed up for NaNoWriMo, and I have no idea where to find the time for 50,000 words.
Five Things NaNoWriMo Teaches Us About Sustainability…
I have decided that this year, for the first time ever, I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I first heard about NaNoWriMo during my senior year of college. For various reasons that often resembled excuses, I did not s…