Andrew Eckhart

Why I live-write

Posted on 17 August 2011

I think I touched on these themes in previous posts, but I do want to take the time to explain why I live-write. To those unfamiliar with the term, live-writing refers to the act of writing, well, live. That is to say that an author will sit down and either broadcast as she’s writing or take what they’ve just written and put it up for all to see.

More than anything, it’s freeing

I love editing and if I had my way I would edit a page of writing to such a degree that the resulting finished product will have no resemblance to the original. Live writing gives me the permission to put what I’ve just written on display without having to worry about the intricacies of editing. Now, that isn’t to say that I don’t edit at all. I try to do a swift grammar check and spell check, but I don’t always catch it all.

And that’s okay.

Because what’s important is that the story is out and live and available for people to read. It allows the reader to pierce the veil of the perfectly-polished page and peer into the raw creativity in my head. It’s a personal, visceral feeling of sharing and the sensation is phenomenal.

Because I am always writing

That’s misleading. On any given day during any given moment, I’m writing in my head. I think of story, plot and characters. I think of worlds and emotions and dialogue. I think of music and images and vistas. I think of the big reveals and the tiny details. They swirl around in my head like a thick, glimmering fog. But I can’t always set these things down on a page while I’m working or walking or doing other things.

And so once I sit down to actually set these things down onto a page, it comes out in a rush. I won’t compare it to regurgitation because, well, that’s gross. But I will compare it to a sort of explosive release – the sort that happens when you shake up a soda bottle (not the other one, perverts :p). I can do this to such a degree that in a given afternoon, without distraction, I can hammer out seven thousand words.

It keeps me honest

If I don’t get a post out on time I don’t just disappoint myself, I disappoint my readers and I value their enjoyment over my own. Putting out a post is something to celebrate regularly and, given how my life is, I can use all the celebration I can get. Every Tuesday I know that I need to have something up and available for people to read to follow the continuing story of the Mage. I know that it is no one else’s responsibility but my own.

I know there are some published and successful authors out there who do not agree that anything should be put up without ‘proper editing.’ For the most part, I agree. But if I was presented with the opportunity to look into the creative mind of a writer as they wrote, I would jump at the chance. I hope that there are more readers out there who feel the same.

p.s. Because I have a ‘head start’ apparently I’ll have to buy Justin Diehl the DLC for Deus Ex should he win. You know, I bet I could win this fair and square. Since the inception of the competition I’ve written 19k words, more than Diehl. My personal challenge is to do the full 100k, regardless of the competition. That’s 135k words.