Dedication and the Desk

You may remember the musician, entertainer and all-round legend Roy Castle, fondly remembered for presenting the children's programme 'Record Breakers' for the BBC. Roy died in 1994. Yes, it really was that long ago. 

If you haven't heard of him, or you would appreciate a nostalgic reminder and don't mind an earworm for the rest of the day, do check out this clip of the theme song he used to perform at the end of each show. 'Dedication' combines a catchy tune, simple words which tie together his Christian faith and drive and, in this particular case, over 400 young jazz musicians: 

Dedication, dedication, dedication, that's what you need.

If you wanna be the best,

And if you wanna beat the rest (ooo-ooh),

Dedication's what you need... 

...if you wanna be a record-breaker!

Writers don't get far without dedication. Producing any kind of article, poem or book involves:

1. Acquiring and honing skills (a life-long journey),

and

2. A good deal of sitting down and getting on with it. 

There are days when anything else feels easier than writing and a spot of impromptu cake-decorating or even a bit of housework calls to your inner being.

Procrastination, procrastination, procrastination, that's what you need,

If you wanna have a rest,

And don't wanna face the desk (ooo-ooh), 

Procrastination's what you need...
...you could hoover or become a baker! 

Thankfully, there are also tricks to focus. If you have a favourite method to stay focused, or even just to get started, don't be afraid to share it in the comments. Some people love the Pomodoro method. Some people find a certain time of day works best for writing or editing. While quiet helps me, my son likes noise to focus (see Annie Try's recent post for more thoughts on this). 

Maybe, like me, you feel a deep need to connect first with God. My mind races around lists and lists of responsibilities and urgencies and it needs to be still to focus and create. I strongly suspect my brain is neurodiverse. It is also passing through the valley of the shadow of hormonal changes; staying focused takes real effort. 

A good firm deadline also helps me enormously, not to mention intentional planning and friends checking in - but not during writing hours. However, there is another side to dedication which many of us have encountered in our writing experiences. A writer who cares about producing words must also be willing to:

3. Rewrite. 

Not only because first drafts are merely a means to an end. 

Nope. A writer with tenacity and dedication must be armed to battle the wretched dragon that is Losing your Words. You may have memories of watching a computer screen die, taking with it your unfinished and not-yet-fully-saved thesis or novel. I'm gritting my teeth even at the idea of this utter injustice. This still stings even when computers are not involved; consider Margery Kempe. If you don't know much about her, a short summary can be found by clicking here:

Or consider poor Jeremiah. He had dictated years and years of prophecies and sent them over to the king, only to learn that his only hard copy had been sliced up and thrown in the fire. Of course, nobody backed up files then by default: this is a message to us all. 

I do love one detail that follows in the narrative. Jeremiah sits down again with his scribe Baruch and, having rewritten everything which had been lost, they added 'many similar words' (Jeremiah 36:32). Can you feel his passion? His frustration? If it were me, I would probably have had to pop down to the potter's to smash a few jars. I'm not sure about an extended rewrite. Not immediately, at any rate. 

I think God knows this pain too. Even the Ten Commandments had to be re-inscribed (Exodus 34:1). The new covenant had to be written on our hearts too (Jeremiah 31:33). God does not shy away from rewriting. Neither should we. Dedication matters. 

There is, of course, one other aspect of dedication I ought to include while I'm on the topic: the one many writers use at the front of a book to thank, apologise to or generally confuse friends and family. I do love a good dedication and always make a point of reading them. This, by Joseph J. Rotman in his 'Graduate Texts in Mathematics: An Introduction to Algebraic Topology' does particularly resonate: 

Let's crack on then. Let's get a few more words written today. There will always be distractions.

What are your best techniques for being dedicated?
And do you have any stories of losing work and needing to start again?

You've got this. If Jeremiah and Margery could do it, so can you. 

Screenshots of Roy Castle in BBC's 'Record Breakers' and @JDraper taken from Youtube. 

Lucy Marfleet loves reading, laughing, her husband’s cooking, walking her dog and marvelling at how tall the kids are getting. She teaches Biblical Studies for Spurgeon’s College on their Equipped to Minister course and has a Masters in Theology from the International Baptist Theological Seminary. See her blog at www.lucymarfleet.com