February 13, 2020
When Books Write Themselves: Perspectives on Creativity
The key to writing good literature is understanding subtlety and gradation. When it comes to good fiction and great books, things are rarely binary. In other words, you can’t answer some questions with a simple yes or no. And the question do books write themselves? is precisely such a question.
On the surface, the answer appears to be “no, you idiot, how could books write themselves? You need a person to write them.” That’s (self-evidently) true, but it’s not the whole truth.
Because, as we will see in today’s post, not only do books write themselves – in some way which we’ll analyze – but you shouldn’t interfere with the process, either.
The Books that Write Themselves: Understanding “Writing”
On its most basic level, the verb to write means to be able to put words and sentences in textual form, that can be read by others. A person who can’t read and write can have a discussion with you – even complex, to a certain extent – but can’t express the very same things in writing.
But in our context that’s not all this verb means. Indeed, when it comes to writing and literature, to write also means to devise stories containing complex plots, realistic characters, vivid descriptions, etc. that make sense when put together.
Obviously, writers of fiction must be able to express themselves in writing. But not everyone who is able to read and write can write fiction – though, sadly, not everyone seems to know that!
What’s the relevance of all this when it comes to books that write themselves?
Writing a Book is a Creative Process
When you have created a book, you have written it. You have also… written it.
In other words, when you have finished a book, you have obviously put it together, combining words, sentences, and paragraphs. Yet something else has also happened: You have ideated it; conceived it as something beyond the sum of its parts.
This latter part is where creativity resolves – and obviously not the practical, technical aspect of typing words one after another.
This is also the part where books tend to escape the conscious control of their authors and, effectively, write themselves.
As I mentioned in the post where I answered five questions about Dracula, contemporary critics of the book mentioned a feeling of transgression reading it. They also said they weren’t sure what was the source, adding that they weren’t sure Stoker was sure, either.
What they meant – and they were right – was that Stoker might have consciously had something in mind while writing his magnum opus, yet his subconscious partially took control of the process and gave us a novel replete with meaning.
But how does this process actually occur?
How a Book Escapes the Author’s Control
Your… authorial mileage may vary, but most writers compose their books in bursts. There are parts where you feel very creative and inspired, and pages upon pages appear as if out of thin air. Then there are other parts, where you just need to perform – that is, put words after one another.
You don’t need me to tell you when it’s most likely to “lose” control of your book, ceding it to your… book.
In other words, “books write themselves” is another (perhaps fancier) way of expressing a very simple thing: The most creative parts of writing a book are those you don’t fully control.
Your existing ideas, plans, outlines, narrative reports, and what not, go out of the window when you’re “in the zone”. It’s as if you were possessed, and things quasi-magically appear on your screen.
Your conscious self (equipped with all those “sense-making” plans and outlines) would probably tell you to cool it and approach it more objectively.
That would be the worst thing you could do.
When Books Write Themselves, Let Them!
A quotation attributed to Ernest Hemingway is “write drunk; edit sober”. It’s almost certain Hemingway never said that, but that’s irrelevant. The crux of the matter remains: Writing a novel requires a certain kind of “madness” to take over.
In our context, you need to relax, abandon your ideas of “it should happen this way”, and let the book write itself. Take another look at my post on developing your authorial style. Following rules is the best way to produce something boring and similar to what everyone else is writing.
However, to break the rules (at least until you learn it’s OK to do so), you need to become oblivious of the fact. You need to lighten up and write things as they come to you. In other words, you need to let your book take over and write itself.
Creativity Is an Irrational Process
Remember that post about the nature of ambition? It features a photo of the Wright brothers and the first powered flight. Building a heavier-than-air machine that can fly was a rational process – that is, based on scientific and engineering facts and principles.
Coming up with the idea, however, and devising the whole thing was an eminently irrational process. The same applies to every important scientific discovery or artistic creation.
You make it because you felt like it, not because it made sense.
To write a great novel, you must learn when to allow your book to write itself. You need to occasionally loosen up and write beautiful things even if they don’t necessarily make sense. Moreover, to create art in general you must be open to the happy accidents of creativity.
Anyone literate can put words after one another. But it takes a writer to create something out of nothing.
3 Comments
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Glad this post showed up under the post from Aug. 16, 2021, because I hadn’t read it. You are so right.
My system is to be an extreme plotter about the 5 Ws journalists use (Why, where, etc.) – but to be almost a pantser when I get to a scene to actually write it, and find out How rather than predetermine it. Even the full rough draft of How is more of an attempt to let go than an attempt to control – which is why it is also dangerous: I have A version which sort of works, but have to prod my brain to create THE version which really works – and often discard most (if not all) of that original beginning-to-end draft.
Most of the advice I offer is conditional, in the sense that I offer it with the caveat that each writer is different, and they should do what works for them.
However, there’s also advice that, in my opinion, applies near universally. Allowing books to take over is such advice.
Doing it skilfully (or, indeed, knowing the right time, place, and way to do it) does come with experience, but it must be done. In the end, fiction appeals to emotions; it can’t be fully controlled. Thanks for your comment!
I imagine that books, especially fiction, taking over is fairly common. Being aware of what’s happening, however, may not be.
The last step is USING that awareness.