Crossing the Bar Line

After I finished graduate school I decided to take piano lessons. I've really enjoyed it and I love to play, but when I have to choose between practicing the piano and writing - well, I probably don't need to say that writing wins nine times out of ten. Consequently, I'm not the best piano player. I won't ever be a concert pianist and I don't think I will ever play as beautifully as my friend who has also composed some music.

My teacher keeps reminding me of the importance of spot work. When I do work on one difficult area at a time my playing shows a huge improvement. And there's a part of spot work my teacher emphasizes every time it comes up - she reminds me to cross the bar line.

Crossing the bar line. In piano the idea is to know which note will carry you across the bar and into the next measure. By crossing the line your fingers will know where they need to go to continue the piece without interruption. If you cross the bar line as you do your spot work, then when you're ready to put it all together the result should be a smooth progression of notes. You should know each measure and how it connects to the next.

Writing is the same. If a measure is a dialogue or a scene, it may seem logical to stop when you come to the end. Then you can start a new scene the next time you sit down to write. But why not cross the bar line so you'll know where you're going next, to know where your characters are going to land.

Ernest Hemingway said, "The best way [to write] is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next." (Trogdon 2002, 172)

I've loved this quote for a long time and I've tried to use Hemingway's suggestion in my own writing, but I've found that it does take a lot of discipline. If I know where I'm going, my natural tendency is to go there and finish writing what is already in my head. I get excited and I don't want to stop. It's so easy to close the document when I've finished everything I had for the day and I'm, as a writer friend of mine often says, "at a good stopping point." It makes sense to stop there. I feel a sense of closure and accomplishment. I have to admit, I'm full of 'good stopping point' guilt.

But according to Hemingway this is not the way to go about it and I must agree with him. I may not normally follow his sound advice, but I've always been able to see the wisdom in it. I'm reminded of how right he was every time I sit down cold to my computer. It's almost like starting over. Where am I? What do I write next? What's going to happen now?

Things are different if I leave myself some of the kindling from the previous day. Then I know when I open my file where I was, where I am, and where I'm going. When I do this the kinds of questions I ask myself occur more while I'm writing and my mind is moving ahead. I crossed the bar line so I know what I'm writing and where I'm going for the moment. Now my mind can prepare for future notes.

Hemingway continued, "Always stop while you are going good and don't think about it or worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry about it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start." (Trogdon 2002, 172)

On this point it's hard for me to say much. I haven't really tried it and I'm not sure I could stop thinking about the story all together. I'm a daydreamer and sometimes it's nice to focus that on my story. The idea of shutting it off completely - to force myself not to think about it, I'm not sure I could. And maybe this is one of those 'different things work for different people' things. But, on the other hand, we're talking Ernest Hemingway. I should at least give it a try for a while and test the idea.

I think I'll give it a try for the next few weeks. Firstly, I'll force myself to stop only when I know where I'm going (especially since I already know it works better for me - it's just gaining the discipline) and secondly, I'm going to turn the story off (by brute force if necessary) when I'm not actively working on it. When I say 'working' I'm including any character development thoughts or interviews for my current projects - that has to count as work time. For the next two weeks I'm going to test my subconscious and see if my brain feels more alert when it is time for me to sit down and work.

Sources:

Trogdon, Robert W., ed., Ernest Hemingway: A Literary Reference. New York : Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2002.