Green Binder Drive
Long ago, before the eclipse (so we’re talking early April), I had a phone call scheduled to talk about writing with my old friend Lauren. Lauren had been telling me about her writing grid. The writing grid, she said, was how she was going to plan her next novel.
Hm, I thought. That’s not for me.
The grid was typed. She had sections of her novel planned down to the word count. We’re very different people and writers, I thought. And that’s ok! That’s not the kind of thing that would work for me. But I’m always here to get on the phone and hear about someone’s process.
The last time I got a lot of writing done is actually when I knew Lauren. We were in grad school together. This is on my personal timeline before I had kids. At that time I wrote like I was setting out on an adventure. I wrote to discover what I was writing about. I wrote like searching. I tried to get large chunks of time, and I shuffled through playlists until I found a vibe that was perfect. I woke up at the crack of dawn and drank strong coffee and protein shakes. And since grad school?
I haven’t written as much. Is it the kids or my age or my new neighborhood or the lack of train rides spent musing on my book? Is it my mind or my income or the amount of caffeine? Do I need vitamins? ADHD medication? A different writer’s group? Lauren showed me her writer’s grid right when I’d been searching for something, but I almost ignored it.
Hm, I thought, that’s not for me. But now I know how she gets so much writing done. She’s so organized!
The eclipse was coming so of course I was consumed with magic. And beauty. I was not going to be in the path of totality, nor was I going to travel with or without my 7 year old and twin 4 year olds. It was something I’d always wanted to see, but I’d made my peace with enjoying the 94% in Chicago. I mention this only because something magic did happen: I realized something.
I, Amy G, could be that organized. I could try! Maybe I’d be able to write more if I stopped putting on my sunglasses and leaving for every hard-fought writing hour muttering, “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads,” to myself. So I got home, drew three big rectangles on a sheet of paper, and started dividing it up into boxes. My writing grid.
It took me honestly, two weeks? To complete a plan. My grid was handwritten. I divided the whole idea for this book up into 2000 word chunks. And each of those, ultimately, into 500 word sections. I wasn’t locked into any of this, I just knew that if I didn’t know what to write, I could pick anything out of a box and try to hit 500 words with it.
Which is how I ended up in the car one Friday night, driving myself to Target to buy a binder for my new book. I bought a green binder. And driving home with it, I felt so excited for the first time in ages, to sit down and work on something.
What I want to know is, do other writers try a new approach with new books? Or does everyone repeat what worked for them the last time? If you decide to change, does it actually work? Or do you end up reverting to the way you’ve always done things?
I don’t know yet. I guess I’m going to find out! If you’ve done anything like this before, I’d love to hear about it!
Currently Reading:
James by Percival Everett - This book is so, so good. I can’t want to read it again when I’m not reading it, and when I do pick it up, I read way more than I planned.
Days At The Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa - This is so far delightful. It’s funny and sad, and I’m hoping it ends up very bookish and satisfying.
The Woman Who Killed The Fish by Clarice Lipsector - The voice of this one is really drawing me in. This series of silver spine New Directions books is really a romp. I know I’ve said that already, but it bears repeating.
I couldn’t find a song about a green binder! So here’s one about (I think) what it’s like to ride a skateboard around and hang onto the back of cars and stuff. I’m kidding. It’s a song about time travel:
I hope that this week, you get to have a hopeful drive with a new green binder in your passenger seat! Or whatever the equivalent of that is for you. <3
Oh how I love this post! I, too, have been "off grid" for years -- finding my way slowly (ever so slowly) into my second book. Have recently made some new maps. Trying to think a little before I write instead of jumping in the car and pedal-to-the metal-ing off into the unknown. Over this last year, I've found that it helps me to take stock at the end of my working time. I write WHAT WORKED and TO-DO. What worked might be a great sandwich or a discovery of a narrative thread or solid imagery system. To-Do is a little jumping off spot for the next day: a line of dialog, an theme, a place to dig, or a reminder to drink less coffee. Every time I get stuck, I ask myself "What am I trying to say." And then before jumping right back in, I think about the answer.