Tayari's Blog: GUSHER or EKER?
Posted by TayariJones on June 1, 2005 11:44 AM
Filed under
Writing
My MFA advisor, Ron Carlson, once told me that writers are either gushers or ekers. Ekers are the romantic sorts that stare at the page for an hour and a half and then carefully write down four perfect words. Gushers are people like me-- or at least people like I used to be-- who write four or five pages in a sort of frenzy.. And then they look it over and decide that there is only a half-page of useable writing. That's how I used to be. When I write, I was like me-- on crack. But now, my paterns have changed.
Maybe I'm getting older. Now that I am staring 35 in the face, I have noticed that many of my habits have changed. I've always been a morning writer, I still am. But now I am a mid-morning writer. I used to write very very early, at 5am. I think it was because I was afraid that a phone call, an email, etc would throw me off track, ruining my writing day. But now, I think I have enough faith in my writing impulse (and discipline) that I can start writing about 8am or sometimes 9am. Even if the phone does ring before I have a chance to jot my first word.
But back to the gusher/eker thing. Okay. I am now writing in spurts, just as always. But shorter spurts. I am only getting about 45 minutes of writing done a day and this yeilds about 1/2 scene. I don't know what to make of it. I write the scene just up to the climactic part and then I put my pen down. The next day, I'll write the climax and denoument.
It's weird. But it's working. So I won't complain.
TAJ
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There are 8 comments on "GUSHER or EKER?". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.
Comment #1, by Laurie Lynn
Tayari:
Can't remember who said this, I think it was Andre Dubus (senior)--he always stops writing when he's sure what the next paragraph or scene will be; that way, when he sits down the next day he leaps back into it.
Anyway, I've found that useful, that approach.
I think I'm a gusher and an eker---just depends on the energy and time I've got and the place I am with my writing. Both serve the purpose of getting the words down though, that slow and necessary movement forward.
Hugs to you.........
June 1, 2005 04:58 PM
Comment #2, by Cherlyn Michels
I'm feeling some of the same things. I used to get up in the early mornings to write. 4AM. I still get up early to write, but now it's anywhere between 6 and 8 AM on any given day. But I like the 4AM writing better. I like writing when it's quiet and peaceful and writing to the sunrise. Thing is, I need to get in bed earlier in order to do that.
June 8, 2005 09:21 PM
Comment #3, by tayari
That's true about having to go to bed early. When you are an early morning writer, people see you as dedicating your MORNING to writing, but really, you are sacrificing your EVENING. You have to turn in arund 9 to get up at 5!
June 8, 2005 09:41 PM
Comment #4, by Lester Spence
How tightly is your work plotted? That is, how much do you know about where you are going to end up by the time the 45 minutes are done?
June 11, 2005 12:35 PM
Comment #5, by tayari
Hi Lester,
I can usually plot up to an hour ahead. For example, I am writing a scene now. I know that I want it to end with a little bit of a physical alteraction. What I DON'T know is what the reaction to that incident will be. And truthfully, I am starting to wonder if teh altercation will happen at all. I have been sort of building toward it for the last two weeks.. I am wondering if maybe it was a good idea that wasn't meant to be.
June 12, 2005 10:58 AM
Comment #6, by Claudia
I tipping around in your blog. It is serving the essential purpose of gently guiding me back to myself, my writing, my passion. I know that I am ALWAYS writing (i.e., journaling, writing poetry, mind writing) but I have yet to sit down at my abandoned laptop, since clearing the classroom for summer. No, I'm not beating up on myself; I'm learning that ALL things work together to divinely bring us to where we are or will be! THANKS
June 12, 2005 01:01 PM
Comment #7, by Claudia
Ooops! I forgot to add that I'm a gusher and an eker! My laptop screen can become splattered with words in a matter of seconds, yet there are times when, as Toni Morrison put it when discussing the writing of BELOVED, she'd write one sentence, and it would be so heavy with emotion, she'd be forced to rise and walk away for the day. I do that...and stare at the page...become an actress in the scene in my mind...relish the drama...and return to the page with much self-prodding, and let the writing drip.
Se le vie!
Claudia
June 12, 2005 01:05 PM
Comment #8, by Lester Spence
Thanks for the quick reply, and good luck on the scene. I'm writing a different type of book, but I find the process is very similar. I was more of a gusher, but this is a marathon not a sprint. I'm trying to get to the point where I can just write an hour or two per day, every day.
June 13, 2005 04:02 PM