How often have you heard a writer say, “I couldn’t face my manuscript, so I cleaned my closet instead?”
On the surface, this remark seems to be entirely about procrastination and the weight of creative work. But is it?
What if decluttering, organizing and cleaning are skills we writers truly need?
Decluttering is a lot like editing. We find things in our home that no longer serve a purpose, and we get rid of them. Likewise, we find parts of our writing that don’t serve the story, and we delete them. If we’re not good at decluttering physical objects, if we hold onto them too closely, then how can we expect ourselves to get rid of our own precious words? Decluttering is the first step to editing.
Organization is the second step. We need to be able to see the story’s structure, and decide whether it can be made more clear. We need to put things in their place. Organization is about seeing the big picture, and putting the most needed elements within easy reach.
Our final step in both house maintenance and editing is making things clean. We polish up our writing at the sentence level, just as we polish furniture and sweep up dust.
The next time your house is in need of some cleaning, try to change your perspective on the work. It’s not just about the house. It’s training for your next round of editing. Think of how decluttering, organizing and cleaning relates to your writing work. What do you learn when you re-frame it that way?
I’ve always liked decluttering and organizing, and that may be why I like editing, and why my manuscripts improve hugely after they’ve been edited. I clear out my closet on a regular basis, and it gives me such a thrill to throw everything on the bed and purge what’s not needed. While editing my manuscript for WAIST, it occurred to me that I was experiencing those same feelings.
You may wonder if I’ve read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I haven’t, if only because I feel like it’ll be preaching to the choir, and the last thing my family needs is for me to become more of a cleaning/organizing zealot. But I’m now considering reading it from a writing/editing perspective, and wonder if it will help me create manuscripts that “spark joy.”
How do your cleaning and organizing skills help you in your writing? Have you ever thought about the connection before?
Don’t miss my post at DIY MFA this week, You Can’t Do It All Alone, about how to ask for help on your writing journey!
Oh gosh. Housework and writing. XD You have no idea how loaded a topic this is for me, Leanne! And not in the way you’d probably expect.
Since I live alone, all of the housework duties fall on me. But since I consider writing my top priority, guess what often slides somewhere further down my list of priorities? (*blushes*) I do make an effort to keep my condo neat and maintained, but if I have a choice between cleaning the bathroom and working on my WIP’s final chapter, it’s a no-brainer every time. I think some of this has to do with my attitude toward cleaning, though, because I grew up in a family that prioritized chores and practical responsibilities over “fun time” (a.k.a. writing). Now that I’m an adult, my own priorities are slightly reversed.
It’s weird, though, because I try to stay organized in my writing realm. I stick to a checklist for each draft, and I have separate documents for character profiles and world-building (to avoid info-dumping in the manuscript itself). I’m also planning to make a style sheet of sorts after I finish Draft #3 so beta-readers can use it to know what the occasional foreign words mean. But… like I said, maybe I have different attitudes toward “cleaning” in my writing realm and cleaning my home.
Sara, I’m not meaning to suggest that people who don’t enjoy housecleaning don’t also make good editors! You might feel that your editing feelings more closely resemble how you approach other work, or a type of play. I just liked making the cleaning-writing connection for myself. Anytime I can draw a parallel between two parts of my life, it makes me happy.
^^ And in hindsight I realize that, so please don’t think I was interpreting it the other way around. 😉 I’ll have to think about possible parallels between my writing and other aspects of my life, because nothing comes to mind right away. It could be a good blog post topic in the future…
I never considered the connection between cleaning and decluttering with writing before–though I HAVE put off writing in order to tidy up something 🙂 I do love the feeling of streamlining a manuscript so that it reads smoothly and clearly, probably more than I love getting that bathroom drawer all ship-shape. I like the connection you’ve made and will keep in mind in future.
Kathy, I’ve never actually put off writing to clean anything because I keep myself to a pretty strict schedule, but if I ever do, I’m going to cut myself some slack and try to use it as a tool for when I return to the writing desk. I’m glad you got a new perspective from this post. That’s always my goal!