A No Writing Writers Day

Backups. Consulting with a friend. Organizing a group. Preparing for a film Festival. That’s part of today’s agenda. None of it involved writing, as in physically recording or chronicling anything. Which, ironically, inspired me to write this post.

Writers write. Some need a degree. Some need a dedicated space. Some need to be visited by their muse. Cool. Or, And, Or and And, a writer is someone who writes. Great. And, But, And and But, writing that will eventually be read by readers requires more than writing.

I’m in the eighth/ninth draft of Muddling By, my next book. The words are done, but there’s a long list of details that define a book. I’ll share them later, but open any book and notice page numbers, headers, footers, margins, formatting, etc. Close the book (or the app) and notice the cover. Someone has to design it, produce it, and properly scale it. In my case, kdp/amazon then gets to chew on both to see if it fits their technical criteria. One book was delayed by days (weeks?) as I tried to resolve a margin that was off by the half of one character width. They’re picky, but the price is right – except for the hired help and the time spent resolving the issue. No writing, but lots of work.

The writing is done, but now is a key time to create backups and backups for the backups. Losing it all now would be difficult. For some writers, it would mean starting over again. For me, I have layers of backups, which I’ve had to use for a previous book or two, but unwinding my process to properly start over takes time. I made two more backups today. Not writing, not overly energetic, but time spent at the local library takes time. (Note to me: Eventually write a post about the power of local libraries, even when I am not reading their books.)

Along the way, I met someone who wanted to meet. I forgot why for a while, but after we reintroduced ourselves, the topic of them writing a book resurfaced. Happy to help. I’ve taught classes in writing and publishing, so it was an easy conversation for me, and an exercise in breaking out of a comfort zone for them. Not writing, but helping it along.

Meetings happen, and maybe there’s a demand for an old-style meeting, one that deals with topics instead of politics. Yes, it may be difficult to remember, but topics can be critical and not entrenched in one color versus another color. Maybe I can help organize such an event. Not writing, but folks are missing apolitical, factual and logical, maybe even entertaining in a geeky way, conversations. 

And tonight, the Port Townsend Film Festival begins. It actually started a few days ago, but I paid for a cheaper pass. I attend so I can schmooze and absorb the culture around creating movies and films because I have a screenplay and the town has a film festival. Of course I’ll show up. Not writing, but due diligence for something that may cost tens of millions of dollars. (True story tall-ship stories aren’t cheap to produce. Ask anyone with a boat, then scale it up to 100 tons with a crew of 25 people. Pricey. Oh yeah, and then film and distribute it.)

Writing is about words following words, but a lot of work follows those words. I am guilty of a classic artist’s flaw. I can produce well enough, but I would benefit from more marketing. Fortunately, I enjoy public speaking, teaching, consulting, and collaborating, so some of the networking gets covered. It is all work that supports the writing. It is also the work that’s easier to ignore because it requires an introverted writer to become an extroverted author.

The work of the extravert can seem like not writing, but it is essential for the writing to be more than a hobby. Good luck can cover all gaps, but I suspect that hard work is more reliable. So, today, I’m writing these few hundred words to chronicle the non-writing aspects of writing. They deserve respect and credit, too.

Now, it is time to clean up the house a bit, make dinner, then head off to this evening’s film festival event. I’m not even sure what tonight’s event is. I just know I should be there. It’s all part of writing.