When Your Career is in the Toilet: 5 Creative Writing Tips Learned in a Cubicle
Writer: Meagan Church
I used to write about RV toilets. Fresh out of college with a creative writing degree and full of idealism, I took a job at an advertising agency. I assumed it would be a temporary gig while I wrote and published my first novel.
One year later, I hadn’t written a novel and that full-time cubicle work had flushed away my optimistic notion that I would change the world one word at a time. Instead of making a difference with my day job, I spent a significant portion of my time researching and promoting camper toilets.
That year, I lamented the means of my paycheck, knowing I had better stories to tell than a carefully-crafted press release. But what I didn’t know was that I was learning to write in a way my writing professors did not teach me.
On the other side of the cubicle wall sat my manager and mentor. On each press release, newsletter, brochure and website I wrote, my manager scribbled copious notes and changes. Over time, not only did my drafts receive fewer edits, but those lessons began leaking into my fiction writing.
Nearly twenty years later, I see the influence of that guidance in my fiction writing. The following lessons I learned in that cubicle helped me become the published author I am today.
Lead strong.
On those early drafts that sounded more like creative writing than marketing materials, my manager repeated, “Don’t bury the lead!” He instilled in me the importance of putting the essential information up front. I’d argue the same holds true in novel writing. Pull the reader into the story immediately. Don’t expect her to wade through pages of even well-written, but not pertinent information. Honor your readers’ time by getting to the point quickly.
Write lean.
Adjectives and superfluous information and descriptions can distract from the story. Be simple and direct. I perhaps took this advice too much to heart. As the first draft of my debut novel came in under 60,000 words, I realized how accustomed I had become to writing lean. Through revisions that focused on world building and character development, my debut novel reached a more desirable length of 80,000 words. But anything that was added was done so with purpose and intentionality, not simply to bloat the word count.
Let go.
When writing for clients, the projects and end results belong to them. When writing fiction, I have to remember that not everyone will receive and engage in the text in the same way that I will. So, if I want to publish a book for a greater audience, I have to understand that I cannot control all parts of the story, nor readers’ reactions to it. For the sake of the greater story and the interest of the reader, I cannot become too attached to my words.
Start somewhere.
I was young the first day I walked into that ad agency. But I didn’t think I was. I thought I knew far more than I did. My mentor’s pen and the toilet account showed me otherwise. While I had hoped to jump from college to novel writing, I needed years of experience and life lessons to get me to a place of being ready to journey the long and winding path to publishing.
Embrace expertise.
Writing can be a lonely business, but it also takes multiple hands to produce an end product. Crafting the story is only one part of the process, so listen to the expertise and wise counsel of your agent, editor and publisher. If you’re not there yet, find a critique partner.
My former manager proofed early drafts of my novels, providing me with pages full of comments, edits and questions. As daunting as receiving constructive criticism can be, it’s a necessary part of the process. Be humble enough to listen, adjust and edit, so the story appeals to an audience other than yourself, and can reach beyond your friends and family.
It took me about two decades longer than I thought it would to sign a book deal, but with each word I wrote, each phrase I strung together, I learned a little bit more about writing. Publishing takes time and perseverance, and sometimes the pit stops along the way strengthen our craft in ways we couldn’t have predicted.
About the writer
Meagan Church is the author of The Last Carolina Girl and The Girls We Sent Away. After receiving a BA in English from Indiana University, Meagan built a career as a storyteller and freelance writer. She shares her storytelling expertise by helping stuck writers get unstuck through editing and story coaching. A Midwesterner by birth, she now lives in North Carolina with her high-school sweet- heart, three children, and a plethora of pets.
Website: MeaganChurch.com