Last week was quiet around here because my dad was hospitalized on Sunday and I was away from the computer for most of the week. However, Jeannie Davide-Rivera of AspieWriter.com invited me to participate in a writer’s blog hop (and gave me a deadline!) so here I am. Jeannie is the author of a terrific memoir, Twirling Naked in the Streets and No One Noticed, which I was lucky enough to get to read as she was writing it. She also blogs on a wide variety of autism-related topics, including a series of answers to frequently asked questions that she’s recently started adding to her regular blog. Jeannie’s blog was one of the first I ever discovered and I learned a lot from reading her writing as I was exploring whether I might be autistic too. If you’re not familiar with her blog, check it out.
The Writing Process blog hop is basically (for me, at least) a chance to do a structured infodump on a life-long special interest: writing. The cool thing about this blog hop is that it’s migrated from nonautistic writers to writers on the spectrum and is now making its way through the autistic community (Mike Monje was also tagged by Jeannie and will be posting this week.).
On to the questions . . .
What am I working on?
Um, nothing? I’ve finished up the final major edits on Nerdy, Shy and Socially Inappropriate, which will be released by Jessica Kingsley Publishers in September (yay!). The book is a combination of revised bits from this blog and new material, organized thematically into a sort of “user’s guide” to life on the spectrum. I’m really happy with how it turned out and am looking forward to holding the printed book in my hands.
Technically, I should be working on a piece that I’ve been invited to submit to an anthology and some new blog posts and the next article for AWN, but writing gets a little harder with each passing week, so mostly I’m working on being kind to myself around the writing process.
I’m working on writing a lot on days that I can feel the words and the mistakes are few.
I’m working on not melting down on days when I discover that nearly every sentence I’ve written has multiple errors.
I’m working on writing without judgment, on writing and rewriting and rewriting some more.
I’m working being satisfied with what I can do, even if I don’t quite feel like I’m being as clear or as articulate or as precise as I’d like.
I’m working not being embarrassed when I write a ten word tweet and discover an hour later that two of the ten words aren’t actually there.
I’m working on letting the process take me where it does and having fewer expectations.
I’m working on relying less on words, on supporting others through showing up and being present and hoping they understand.
I’m working on not giving up hope of getting back to a place where words have feeling and shape again.
How does my work differ from others in the genre?
This is hard because there is so much diversity among autistic writers. I feel like we’re each very different in our approach and writing style and the topics we write about.
I do a lot of research and try to blend research with my personal experiences. Autism is one of my current special interests, so I enjoy digging into a topic and reading about it in depth as background for a post. In some ways that often makes my writing wonkier and more technical than the average blog. Also longer.
For last few months I’ve been enjoying interviewing other autistic women and including their stories in the articles for AWN. I was starting to get tired of writing about myself all the time so that’s been a refreshing change of pace. It’s forced me to develop a slightly different writing style, which I don’t quite feel comfortable with yet, but I’m eager to keep working at.
Why do I write what I do?
I started blogging for myself–to understand myself better. I never really expected it to go anywhere beyond being an outlet for processing my own realizations and giving me a place to infodump about what was quickly becoming a massively time consuming special interest. That people found what I was writing interesting was a happy surprise.
A few years ago, I tried to talk my way into a creative nonfiction class at the university where I was doing my economics degree. The professor asked me about my writing experience and specifically whether I’d ever written any memoir. Well, no. Needless to day, I didn’t get into the class. At the time, I couldn’t imagine what on earth I could possibly write about myself that would be of interest to anyone. I figured creative nonfiction meant the stuff I so enjoy reading in the New Yorker but the professor had other ideas and deemed me an unsuitable candidate.
Life is funny like that, I guess. I’ve always loved to write. Fiction for fun and nonfiction for work. But writing about myself–opening up my life and thoughts and experiences to strangers–was the last thing I expected to ever do. It’s been an interesting process, one that’s made me stronger and more vulnerable as a person.
Along the way, something else that’s very important to me has happened too–this has developed into a space where people feel comfortable sharing their stories too. That was something I’d hoped for in a “wildest dreams” kind of way. Hopefully, by creating a place where we can learn from each other, I can give back to the community some of what I found when I first wandered into other autistic writer’s blogs looking for clues about myself.
How does your writing process work?
New ideas nearly always originate in real life. A conversation had or overheard. An observation that raises a question. A quirky detail that I can’t quite figure out. Something I’ve read and found exciting or annoying or confusing.
Once I have the seed of an idea, I like to let it germinate in my mind. I’ll come back to it throughout the day or while I’m contemplating the meaning of life at 3 AM. Often I take tough ideas out for a run, literally. Some of my best thinking is done while running or walking the dog. Eventually the idea will take on a specific shape and that’s when I start writing.
I usually write as much as I can off the top of my head, then begin researching to fill in background, answer questions or challenge my own theories. If a topic is difficult, I might start with background reading, let the idea grow in my head a bit, then go back to more serious research. Generally, though, I like to get some fresh thoughts down before I start reading what others have to say about a subject.
I rarely start at the beginning of a post and almost never know how a piece of writing will end. Half the fun of writing is seeing where an idea will take me. If I know the ending, there’s no point in even beginning to write but there’s no sense of mystery or discovery along the way.
Finally, I revise a lot. Right now I have 23 draft posts in my Google docs folder, all in various states of revision. Some posts I’ll write in an hour and have ready to publish in a few days. Others I’ll let sit for months, going back to look at each occasionally until I find the right way of saying what I want to say. And some never see the light of day.
Up Next
Part of this blog hop deal is tagging other writers to participate. Hop on over to these blogs to check out what they’re up to and read their responses to the blog hop questions next week:
Sparrow Rose Jones is the author of “No You Don’t: Essays from an Unstrange Mind“, a terrific collection of essays about her experiences as an autistic adult. She blogs about autism and advocacy related topics at Unstrange Mind and is also a fantastic musician and has taught me a great deal about autistic culture and history.
Alyssa is a prolific blogger who writes about autism-related topics at Yes That Too. She’s been in China for the past academic year and is returning to the US soon. In addition to writing nonfiction, fiction and poetry, she’s an artist who creates cool visual patterns, which you can find at Because Patterns.
Renee Salas blogs on autism and neurodiversity related topics at S. R. Salas, is a frequent contributor to Autism Parenting magazine and a champion Tweeter and a tireless advocate. She is the author of Black and White: A Colorful Look at Life on the Autism Spectrum, a positive look at life on the spectrum.
Musings of an Aspie 
Congrats on your publishing and thanks for sharing your perspectives!
Thank you 🙂
Yay, you’re back!
But now you’ve given me so much to read up on …
I hope your father is getting better?
Having a deadline was a big motivator. 🙂 My dad is back at home now and preparing for the next steps in his treatment.
First of all, I’m glad your dad is home again; home is infinitely preferable to hospital settings. Second of all, I’m so excited that you have a book coming out! Third of all, I appreciate the recommendations at the end of your post and look forward to checking them out. Fourth of all, our writing process sounds quite similar! Fifth of all, your excellent skills as a moderator have inspired me to try out a blog (with comments; I write one without and have always been intimidated by a more public process) in the hopes of having a productive and positive conversation with educators, support persons, and parents of children, on the subject of mindfulness (and related matters). So thank you on multiple fronts!
Home is definitely better!
It’s great to hear that you’ve starting blogging with comments. It can be a bit intimidating at times but overall it’s been a really positive experience for me. I’ve learned so much from all of you. 🙂
Cynthia, I look forward to reading your book sometime soon! I love hearing about how you blend research, stories, and your own thoughts into your writing process. I tend to use a framework, then write bits and pieces and research as I go along. I’m still in the process of finding my voice as a writer, after years of blogging. There is something deeply satisfying about writing 🙂
I think I’ll always be finding my voice, as it seems to evolve over time. But I love the process.
Interesting and thought provoking read. I wanted to comment this morning but I was having anxiety attacks and can’t type when my hands are shaking.
I only write fiction (special interest) but your process is similar to mine in that I like to write off the top of my my head first then start research later, and also, the journey *is* half the fun. I love discovering how the story ends only as I finish writing.
Oh, I hope you’re feeling better.
I’ve been an on and off fiction writer since I was in my teens and my writing style has always been one of enjoying the journey. It seems like there are two kinds of writers–the ones who always know the ending before they start and the ones who have no clue until it jumps up and twacks them across the nose. 🙂
I’m a bit better today thanks. Still anxious but not paralyzed by it. Hopefully the email that I wrote to my landlady last night will get us out of our lease and thus away from the crazy upstairs neighbours (the source of my anxiety). 🙂
As for writing, I’ve been a chronic daydreamer my entire life and writing the daydreams down is something that only occurred to me a few years ago. It was sort of a, “Whoa, I could like, totally do that!” moment, and ever since I’ve had one project or another going. Writing my daydreams into a novel format is very satisfying and I get lots of mileage out of them that way and heck, maybe someday something I write might even be good enough to publish, but I get so much pleasure out of it that I don’t really need that.
As for knowing the ending? Sometimes I think that I know the ending only to get there and go, “That’s really not what I thought was going to happen.” and sit there scratching my head. Oh well. 🙂
Glad you’re feeling a little better.
It’s rare to find someone who gets that the pleasure of writing can be enough. When I tell people that I would write even if no one read the finished product, most think I’m fibbing! But I have two entire novels that will probably never leave my hard drive and I don’t regret that for a moment. They were so much fun to write.
I have a little stack of novels, (literally a stack as I always write my first draft on paper with a pen) and I’m not sure weather I will take some of them further than one rewrite (I do my rewrite on my lap top) but the process is very much something that I like and it helps me figure out my life and my feelings. Also something that I find fascinating is that my ‘pen voice’ and my ‘keyboard’ voice are different.
Oh, and we got out of our lease. Anxiety levels are halved, we are no longer trapped and can now search for a better home… and then move. Sigh. Anxiety levels will go down the rest of the way after we move.
I’m so glad to hear that you got out of the lease. Annoying upstairs neighbors are the worst!
Thanks! 🙂
Yay, a new book to add to my growing Aspie collection 🙂 I’ve just pre-ordered it!!
I didn’t even know such a thing was possible! 😀
This is fantastic news!
I was so glad when I found your blog, it is just the language I understand, the right mix of personal, concrete experience plus the theory, the science I crave. An important factor for me, next to your own writing, is the quality of the comments your posts attract.
As a woman diagnosed in her fifties, I needed to hear the voice of a woman dignosed rather late in life, it has helped me a great deal to learn that I am not alone having to go through half a century of ‘normalcy’ to figure out what to maintain and what to reinvent in order to improve my life on the basis of the autism diagnosis.
Another book I found helpful, even if it is dated and only goes up to adolescence, is Christopher Gilberg, A Guide to Asperger Syndrome, Cambridge University Press, 2002. Gilbergs concluding remarks on longer term outcomes are these: “Outcome in Asperger syndrome is very variable. Many with the disorder do well as adults and may attain status as leaders in their particular field. … Some develop severe psychiatric problems. There is a considerable risk that such problems may be misinterpreted and treated in less than helpful ways. Better knowledge about Asperger syndrome and other high-functioning autism spectrum disorders among specialists in adult services is likely to provide the best remedy for such mistakes.”
Gilberg reminds me with his outlook of the difference in outcome between my sister and me, I was always sure that we weren’t that different, only that I had somehow managed to stay this side of the line whereas she had crossed it and never got adequate help.
I am quite convinced that your book will contribute to better knowledge for us and the specialists.
The commenters here are amazing! I’m constantly learning new things from the comments on posts. I’m so glad you find the whole package here helpful.
The quote you shared about outcomes makes sense–some of us are fortunate to have some good breaks in life and others seem to have a lot tougher time, often because of unfortunate circumstances or lack of opportunity. Hopefully over time that will improve as people understand more about what it means to be autistic and what kinds of “help” are actually helpful.
I stumbled across your blog as part of me trying to learn more about ASD and well myself really. Thank you very much for a very informative and well written blog. I like your personal and non-clinical style very much.
Writing definitely falls into the category of one of my more obsessive items. The ideas just come from nowhere and take over. I find that if I don’t actually write them down they make it hard to concentrate on anything else and makes it difficult for me to be creative in other areas.
Once I actually write them down it’s like I’ve actually released something, half the time I don’t even actually remember the idea at all.
I’m putting some of the shorter quick to vent ones online as an easy way to get rid of them. Google Facebook Desolation Test – it’s not the greatest stuff, but it does actually help me.
Again thank you, and I’m so glad I found this.
I’ve found writing to be incredibly therapeutic too (and cheaper than actual therapy!). It really does quiet those roaming ideas. I’ll definitely give your blog a look – thanks for sharing it.