Dona Munker: Writing a Biography

Jul 30, 2011 9:16 PM EDT

I agree, and not just about the master's advice: Writers are told so often that they "must" write every day that many people come to feel that if they don't, they aren't "real" writers.

For me, writing evidence-based narrative, which requires constantly going back and forth between my research and the computer screen, is so mentally fatiguing that I'm more productive if I don't write every day. I know biographers who do, but the important thing is whether you're getting done all the "chopping wood, carrying water" that you need to do.

I'd love to hear from other people on this important question. What's your writing routine? Do you work best if you write every day, or have you found that some other way works better for you?

- Dona Munker

Aug 02, 2011 9:19 PM EDT

I wish I could get organized enough to HAVE a writing routine! I plan well, but some days some things take forever. Other days things move right along. There are so many aspects to a biography, compared to a work of fiction, that it is sometimes hard for me to concentrate on what must be done first.

- Sybilla Cook

Aug 03, 2011 7:44 AM EDT

I know what you mean. Not only do they take forever, they always take longer than I think they should. Not to mention, I have a strong tendency to do what I enjoy instead what I "should" do. What do other people do to prioritize?

- Dona

Aug 03, 2011 8:41 AM EDT

Sybilla makes a great point - it's hard to keep hold of all the strands in a big nonfiction work (I'm not a biographer, but I write/edit nonfiction).

One thing that helped me with a big project was to buy a monthly at-a-glance planner that let me look at an entire month on a double-page spread. I then filled in tasks - first the writing schedule, keyed to the deadline. Then the tasks that had to be done to support that schedule (researching certain topics,interviewing certain people), and when those things would need to be done to be ready for certain chapters to be drafted. I worked in pencil so I could erase it. And I used colors, so "research" was in green, "writing" was in red, and so on. I even X'ed out time off. I could see where tasks overlapped; where things got too overlapped and would need to be spread out more over time, etc.

I'm sure this could be done in an Excel file or some digital form; I just felt more comfortable with hard copy. There might be ways to adapt this to biography - anyway, hope it helps.

- Toni Sciarra Poynter

Aug 03, 2011 10:48 AM EDT

In terms of prioritizing tasks, during one hot summer in the Midwest, the garden got away from my wife. She despaired of all the weeding that needed to be done. I took a piece of twine about ten feet long, and put a stake on either end. Keeping one end staked in the middle of the garden, I told her to move the string like a clock hand and only weed the equivalent of ten minutes on a clock face every day. In less than a week, by spending a little time each day, the garden was perfect again.

I think when we look at a creative project in its entirety, the job seems overwhelming. Where to begin? What would make a difference? Just move the string every day— work on some segment. As my Mexican-American wife Guadalupe says, "Poco a poco— little by little" it will get done.

- Charles J. Shields

Aug 04, 2011 7:59 AM EDT

I am writing fiction so there is less research. I find that If I can sit down to write as soon as the morning chores are dealt with I tend to do well. If other things intrude it can be hard to start. I keep a notepad of things to research next to me. When I am having a hard time writing, I do some research. That can get the juices flowing.

- Nevin M

Aug 04, 2011 8:41 AM EDT

Fiction or nonfiction, if I start doing something else in the morning before I get to the computer, I tend to keep on doing it, because inertia takes over.

Staying mindful helps. I will dig out and post a list of things to do I once devised for preventing something called "homeostasis," of which I have a lot. :)

- Dona

Aug 09, 2011 4:04 AM EDT

These comments are so helpful! I've been beating myself up all week because I can't seem to get back to writing the biography I'm working on after going great guns all last week. I've been seeing this as some sort of personal failing.

Knowing that others have the same problem is such a relief! And that it's okay to turn to some other aspect of the project--like compiling a list of agents/editors to send a query to, which is what I plan to do today.

So thanks, all!

- Joan Kane Nichols

Aug 09, 2011 7:05 AM EDT

I don't think "not getting back to it after I was doing so well all last week" (or yesterday, or last month) is necessarily a problem. It may be just a necessary recovery period.

A lot of the work of writing is done by and in the unconscious mind. But nonfiction writers tend to think it's all "rational"--you just pull out your research and start tooting along. Writing any narrative is always hard, demanding work, and in my experience, when I go "great guns" for a day or a week, I'll almost certainly not write as well for at least a day or two after that. To be honest, sometimes I'll spend a day or two doing things that have nothing to do with the book (like writing a blog post!). That's why Charles Shields' advice strikes me as so wise.

Sometimes there is a problem that needs addressing--maybe one of time management, or maybe the writer is trying to avoid something in the story (or the research) itself. But those problems usually form a pattern you can identify and start to deal with--they don't show up as a normal "Now I need some recovery time" week.

- Dona

Aug 04, 2011 8:02 AM EDT

For me the voice is the beginning. When I have the voice in my head, it just speaks, words flow onto the paper (OK screen) and I am happy.

- Nevin M

Aug 04, 2011 8:50 AM EDT

Anybody remember the mother in "The World According to Garp"? She spent years writing a novel (or was it a memoir?) that just didn't work. Finally, some small thing happened that made her write a single sentence, and the sentence was written in the right voice for the book she wanted to write. She wrote it straight through, and it became a huge best seller, etc.

Not that finding the right voice is any guarantee of that. :) But Irving was right about the voice.

- Dona

Aug 25, 2011 4:13 PM EDT

Thanks for sharing these tips-- they're very useful, even to a seasoned researcher like me.

- Elsa

Aug 25, 2011 5:10 PM EDT

Someone said that a contract is a record of many bad experiences--ditto my list of "rules" for myself. I do think that it's sometimes a good idea to get back to the basics, so I'm really glad you find them useful.

- Dona

Oct 04, 2011 8:25 AM EDT

Dona, your session at last year's BIO conference was great and I'm waiting eagerly for the next installment of your blog on filing and organizing. I'm pretty sure you promised more.

- Carol Sklenicka

Oct 04, 2011 9:32 AM EDT

Vay is mir. I know. I did. I promised more. I will post "Part 3" in a couple of weeks.

It isn't mere sloth: my scanner has been down, and I haven't been able to fix it. Soon as I can do that, I'll scan the screen shots I need to illustrate the posts I want to put up. Thank you for prodding me!

- Dona Munker