It’s tough. Many immediate barriers jump out at me. For instance: spelling, constructing sentences [not to mention I hate commas and where to put them]. I still don’t really know the difference between a colon and semi-colon and furthermore: what the heck does pluperfect mean or future indefinite?

Now, the truth is, none of the above could matter less when it comes to what writing is really about. Grammar and syntax are “tools of the trade” – the writers trade – and have nothing to do with creativity, thoughtfulness, integrity or passion. Writing has only to do with what you want to say and anything that gets in the way of what you want to say is obviously going to be a problem.  So, the very first thing we must learn to deal with is the unnecessary intimidation caused by rules and regulations. If rules and regulations are your primary concern – you’re in trouble. So what do we do: “there are no rules”.

Technicalities that intimidate can prevent the guts of what you want to say from reaching the page. The page is all that matters: the page and what you want to put there. Therefore, put all thought of craft and technique behind you until you have put whatever you want to say on the page. Never think unconsciously of form. The form will declare itself in the doing. Grammar and syntax come after the fact, not before it. In truth, all rules and regulations come after the fact, because it is only after the fact has been established – the writing on the page – that you can recognize what does and does not work. Put it this way: when we are starving and are given food, we get the food to our mouths however possible – often times just stuffing it in our mouths. It is only after we have fully recovered that we even begin to think of where the dessert spoons are laid. If the blank page is starving, are you going to sit around refusing to feed it because you don’t know where to lay the commas? Give it the words: that’s all it wants.

Okay! There is one more essential that must be stated and that is: if you are a writer, you will know it. Others will know it, too. The voice of the true writer is always recognizable. It is recognizable in precisely the same way that we recognize any other natural talent, from basketball to skating to playing the piano. This is what Michael Jordan and Sidney Crosby and Yanni have in common with J. K. Rowling: all of them found their own unique voices and the voices were basketball, skates, piano keys and pens. All of you have to do it verify the trueness of these voice is try to imagine J. K. Rowling playing for the Chicago Bulls or Yanni  in skates. This is not, of course, to say that these particulars don’t dance or that women don’t play hockey. It is simply to say that an Atwood attempting to find her voice on skates, and Gould, his voice in ballet shoes would have been tragically prevented from fulfilling their potential. Beyond the finding of the voice lies endless work and effort – but without the voice, the work and the effort could go on forever and nothing would ever come of it.

Why am I saying this? I’m saying this in order to demonstrate the truly compliant role that grammar and syntax, rules and regulations play in the making of good writing. No amount of perfect understanding concerning the craft of writing will ever produce a writer. Gertrude Stein wrote that she had once had a very sad conversation with an aging, ambitious but not very fitted artist whose whole career had been an attempt to emulate Picasso “…but only Picasso can be Picasso,” she told him. What a pity the aging artist had not attempted to be himself – [via Mike Robbins].

I suppose, when all is said and done, there are two areas of the writing process that I could define as being the “toughest”. The first of these would be articulation and the second would have to involve the final decisions concerning edits.

Achieving articulation is quite a long process for me. Every line – actually – every word must be made to do its job, but every line and every single word must be made to seem effortless. Seams must be invisible. The reader must never be aware that anyone has been “at work here, taking pains”. Unfortunately, what guides each writer through the articulation process is necessarily private and unique, therefore, there are no guidelines or any general rules concerning articulation, barring the single rule: be true to your own voice. Nevertheless – for me, at least – the articulation of precisely what is being said inevitably involves the longest and the hardest slugging in terms of sheer labour.

Psychologically, the toughest moment in all writing for all writers probably comes during the final editing sessions. This is when you must make your final draft and hand it over to the publisher. This is when you give it up and commit to finalization. This is the moment that William Faulker defined as the time to “kill all your darlings”. I for one couldn’t have said it any better myself. Let them go. The work is all that matters.