Oh boy,
Do I dig this music.
Welcome to Found Voices.
I'm Carolyn Zeal.
Hi there.
Welcome to another mini-episode.
Episode 12,
There's No Wasted Writing.
My writing teacher,
Jack Graves,
Says,
Everything is the book,
But everything doesn't have to go into the book.
And I interpret that as,
There's no wasted writing.
What I mean by,
There's no wasted writing,
I often say,
There's no wasted writing and there's no wasted men.
So I've dated a lot of people,
Men,
Who didn't propose to me,
Who I never married.
And I was sort of a late one to the marriage game.
I got married at 40.
I met my husband at 38.
And I like to say,
And it could be because I was with my ex-boyfriend when I met my husband,
But that's a whole other story.
But I like to say,
If it weren't for all those other men,
I would have never learned what I needed to learn.
I would have never been where I needed to be to meet my husband.
The same goes for your writing.
All that writing that we think is wasted is not wasted.
You can,
Number one,
Pull from it.
Years ago,
I was writing about some girlfriends and a trip to the Integraton,
Which,
Look it up,
It's in Joshua Tree.
It was a really weird weekend.
And I had written quite a bit about our drive to the Integraton and back from the Integraton through the desert.
In my novel,
My characters were driving through the desert on Highway 395 here in California.
And I remembered those pieces of writing.
And there were some descriptions that I pulled and put in my novel.
I edited them a little bit,
But I used them.
There's no wasted writing.
And if I hadn't pulled older pieces,
I still learn.
Because every time I sit down to write,
I'm doing some sort of assignment since 2008.
I learn something every time I write.
I'm practicing.
I'm honing my skills.
It's as if you're playing tennis and you're going to practice and hit against a wall with a teacher.
And the teacher's helping you with your form and your footwork and your swing and all the things.
And if you're learning the correct way and you're practicing those 10,
000 hours,
Not practicing 10,
000 hours the same bad habits,
But you're learning new,
Good,
Strong habits,
New skills in writing.
If you're practicing those swings,
Those forehand and backhand swings aren't a waste of time.
They're strengthening your skill set.
So when I say there's no wasted writing,
That's what I mean.
When we say everything is the book,
But everything doesn't have to go into the book,
It's kind of the same thing.
It's that idea of don't worry about what you're writing and whether or not it's going to fit in your book.
And don't worry about your story.
Instead,
You're practicing.
It's your effort for the day.
You're writing.
It's your writing practice.
And if it lands in the book,
Great.
And if it doesn't,
That is great too.
You don't need to stress yourself out.
Oh my gosh,
I have to write this.
It has to go in the book.
Or this is so bad,
It'll never make it in the book.
It's not like that.
You just sit down and you write.
There is no wasted writing,
And everything is the book,
And everything doesn't have to go into the book.
I hope this little tidbit of writing goodness helps you,
Supports you in your writing practice.
I hope it helps you alleviate the pressure that you might be putting on yourself,
Or at least inspire you to keep writing.
If you have any questions,
You want me to cover a specific topic,
Let me know.
I'd be happy to do it here.
And in the meantime,
Write on.
