Space to write

I've spent the last two weeks preparing a short story for the CBC Literary Awards.

I started with an initial character and began building slowly, collecting the ideas as they came in during long walks, good meals or extended backbends. Moments in which I felt "stuck", I turned to The Space Captain, a fellow writer who asked the right questions and offered valuable input.

I sent off my submission on Friday and although there's no way of knowing how it'll perform during the judging, I did learn some valuable lessons worth sharing.

• Talking things out. Writers tend to be a superstitious lot. Sometimes we don't want to talk about what we're working on because we're (a) worried about scaring off inspiration, (b) already worrying about being judged, or (c) paranoid about ideas being stolen. But as the Space Captain pointed out, you don't write for the ego - that's what therapy is for. You write for art's sake, so give yourself the tools to make the best possible art. Not sure why you're stuck? Can't make a storyline work? Ask another writer - someone whose work and opinion you respect.

• Checking in. Be open to having the writer friend call in to check on you every now and again. Some writers hate the pressure of being asked how the writing is progressing, but once again, writing is not about the ego. It's hard work and diligence and discipline. Having a fellow writer call and ask how things are is no different than having an office colleague check on the progress of a project you're both working on, i.e. just part of the process.

• Accepting criticism. And sometimes we don't like having our writing judged either (see comment about ego above). Writing is a process. Almost no one can write a publication-worthy story on the first draft and if you don't have a subjective pair of eyes look over - and comment - your text, it never will be publication-worthy.

• Creating space. Thanks to my commitment to the writing, my new work schedule and the yoga practice, I finally feel as if I have space enough for writing. I can't remember what busy and distracting thoughts were filling up so much of my time previously, but I have finally made enough space in my head to accommodate the writing process. I'm going to have to work hard to keep it open, but without that ego-free space, I wouldn't have been able to finish that story on time.

I know some writer friends might be reading this. Any thoughts you'd like to share about your process?