The Trials of Winter Writing

On a different note to usual, here’s something very important I’ve learnt in the last few weeks.  Writing when it’s cold is hard work, especially when your fingers start to stiffen with the first signs of hypothermia!  If you don’t want to turn the heating on then here’s my advice (true for anyone working at home – or in a cold office, I guess – not just writers!):

(1) buy a slanket (worth every penny) - http://www.slanket.co.uk/

(2) wear fingerless gloves (often they’re not thumb-less though so why not make your own – these are very simple http://a-friend-to-knit-with.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/toasttoasty.html and these are the more fancy ones in the photo http://www.orangellous.com/cdn/files/patterns/vancouver_fog.pdf )

(3) type fast to keep your fingers warm

(4) if you can’t do number 3 coz the muse is taking a break or you need some thinking time, then have a hot drink in front of you to use as a handwarmer!

Bring it on December!

On Friday, I hit my word count for November.  Good job too seeing as it was the last day of the month!  But I was SO chuffed to achieve that goal, especially as my experience of writing over the last couple of years has been predominantly wishful thinking rather than achievement.

Now I’m looking ahead to my next goal - 30,000 words (or a finished first draft of similar length) by the end of December.  I can already sense that this is going to be more of a challenge – as a new challenge always should be, I guess, otherwise it’s fairly pointless and should be called something else!!  

The last month has been easy writing in many ways.  Some of the time I’ve written individual scenes that have been working themselves out in my head for weeks.  Often I’ve sat down and just seen where a conversation or idea has taken me.

This month’s writing will need me to draw those elements and scenes together into a coherent, progressive story with realistic motivations, causes and effects.  I’m sure that I’m going to be saying “ah, that doesn’t work” more than a few times and have to go back and rework details that I’ve written previously, so that they are logical and credible.  But hopefully I’m also going to come up with new ideas that will get worked through the manuscript to make it stronger too.

In some ways this task daunts me.  How well a story hangs together is fundamentally important to its success.  I’m the first to spot and be highly irritated by discrepancies in storytelling, so I hope I can be as aware and analytical of my own writing.  

At the same time, I can’t wait to have a finished first draft (even if it still needs weeks/months of editing after that) and am so excited about the prospect of drawing my ideas together to ensure they form a fantastic well-developed tale!  My life isn’t simply a series of individual random scenes, but a joined up meaningful whole - even if I don’t always have the benefit of the author’s perspective on all the links.  My story needs to be just as authentic, which won’t be simple.  But I'm up for it, bring it on!

Just Do It!

I’m not only thrilled to finally be getting on and writing - rather than just talking about it - but also to discover that I really love the characters and the story that are emerging.  It’s almost magical how you can sit down and start writing and suddenly something that you hadn’t thought of or imagined or planned comes flowing out onto the page!  

There are plenty of times when I have no idea what to write next but I’m learning to just get on and get something on paper.  Even if it’s rubbish, even if I end up deleting the whole lot in a future edit, at least I had some words on the page that I could evaluate and craft.  If I don’t have that then I’m no closer to having a potential manuscript than if I was just spending my time watching daytime TV instead.

And to be honest, it’s rarely going to be complete rubbish that I have to completely cut.  Even in the midst of a poor section of writing there’s likely to be a kernel of an idea to use elsewhere, or a nugget of dialogue that would really click in another scene.

For example, just last week I was writing a scene that I wasn’t much convinced by as it lacked pace and punch.  It was kinda important for the character and relationship development of the protagonist and antagonist, but even as I was writing it I knew I’d need to go back and do some serious editing on it at some point.  Then suddenly, out of nowhere, came the protagonist’s key motivation for doing what he needs to do in the story – an essential aspect which until that moment had been glaringly missing from my story arc!  All sorts of other minor elements suddenly linked up and gave the whole story a much more solid foundation!  Hurray :-)

This is true of so many creative pursuits though, not just writing.  We need to try in order to move forward and improve.  An artist needs to dabble with paint to hone their skills.  A knitter needs to knit.  A baker needs to bake.  And a writer needs to write :-)

Don’t be afraid to practise, to try.  Just do it (to plagiarise a fancy brand strapline)!!  Whatever you produce may be a dud and it might feel like wasted time, but actually it’s all getting you one step closer to your goal.  Sometimes that might only be a small step, but other times it’ll unexpectedly be a massive leap!

Go On Holiday And Get A Partner

I’ve recently discovered two really great tips for successful writing – go on holiday and get a writing accountability partner!  Simples!

Over half term I was in Devon (this was my view – it probably helped!) and made writing my priority for the week.  That meant I actually got on and did it, even though there were lots of other things still pushing for my time.  I wrote more that week than I have for months, producing several thousand words and getting my head firmly into the overall storyline.  It’s obvious, but when you’re writing regularly then you naturally spend more time in between thinking about what’s going on in the story and why.  New ideas and connections pop up easily.  Long gaps between writing stints means that each time you come back to it it takes more time to warm up again, making the writing slower and more clunky.

I’m aware that popping off for a week’s holiday isn’t an everyday solution though (sadly!)!  My writing accountability partner (more on her in a minute!) has just been on a personal 2 night writing retreat, giving her the opportunity to successfully edit her whole 89,000 word manuscript (she’s writing a proper novel – my kids’ book will only be about 30,000 words thankfully!).  Like me, she has kids and a manically busy life, but unlike me she’s been quick to work out if something’s important then it’s gonna need special time dedicated to and protected for it.  It’s not easy to organise time out like that – nothing worth doing ever comes easily – but it’s something I’ll definitely be putting in my diary early next year when I have a finished draft that I want to edit.  Getting fully immersed in a manuscript for 48 hours will be so much more productive than having to tackle it piecemeal over a number of days/weeks.

If a holiday/retreat isn't possible then another way to get serious about writing is to find a writing accountability partner.  I can’t begin to tell you what an amazing help it is!  Although J is further on than me in her writing journey, we can mutually encourage each other.  She’s brilliant at giving constructive criticism and also encourages me to set clear achievable goals.  That has already been invaluable and meant I actually get on and write, rather than just think about doing it.  It is so true often that “to fail to plan is to plan to fail.”

I’m learning about making those goals realistic though – my first was to write 20,000 words while in Devon!!  J was dubious at the time but gracious enough to let me set it as a goal, so I learnt the hard way.  2,000 words a day would be impressive for any writer, let alone one just getting going.  I didn’t manage anything like that but it did mean that I produced more than I might have done without any goal.  I’ve broken the 10,000 word barrier and now aim to have 20,000 by the end of November and 30,000 words (finished first draft, woop!!) by the end of the year :-)  No more wishful thinking round here!

"A goal without a plan is just a wish." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

If You Fail To Plan...

There are lots of potential ways to be more disciplined about writing.  The key suggestion I’ve come across is to think of it as your work/business.  In theory this should be easy for me, especially as I’m not “working” at the moment and allegedly I have all my time available for this pursuit!

This post by a fellow writer looks at that idea – http://elizabethducie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/business-start-up-doing-work.html 

Points 3 & 4 painfully challenge me, although I agree with them fundamentally!  I’ve known for awhile that if I’m going to get serious about writing then I need to ring-fence my time, but do I really want to go as far as setting up child-care arrangements or getting a cleaner?  Surely those are hassles (and expenses) that I save myself by not having a “proper job”?

Bullet point 4 cuts to the heart of one of the main reasons why I particularly enjoy not being employed.  I can be flexible with my time, including being part of the Jubilee Food Bank team, getting involved with the council’s Major Incident Response Group and spending time with people that matter to me.

So, how serious am I prepared to get?  What am I willing to give up?  If I want to write then there are going to be sacrifices I’ll have to make.  If I’m not going to give up anything in order to write then I’m going to have to give up the idea of writing instead :-(

Even then, how exactly should I organise my time?  Time management is such a challenge for so many people and we too easily let mundane things get in the way of pursuing our hopes and dreams.  I may not have a "proper job" but I'm constantly busy and rarely stop or sit down.  I don't have spare time just sitting around, waiting to be filled.

One option would be to block out an hour or more at the same time every day, which would quickly become a habit that I could hopefully stick to.  But each day is very different and my life doesn’t work like that.  Something invariably crops up or runs over into that time and it doesn’t happen.  Elizabeth's points 3 and 4 sting again!!

Another possibility I’ve considered is blocking out a whole day a week to just write.  I did that with great success when I was studying an online course a couple of years ago.  But I get bored very easily and although it worked for the course as I could flit between different modules and assignments, I really don’t think I could sit and write for 5 solid hours (at least not yet – perhaps one day I’ll have to!).

In all honesty I've done so much time management training over the years that I don't think that that's my actual problem.  My mental attitude about how much I can fit into my life and what I want to achieve (in reality, rather than dreams!) is the real challenge.  

But my first step is going to be getting back to my old mega-disciplined and organised ways again (flexible and spontaneous can be fun but it’s not very productive!).  Hopefully through effective, even excessive, planning my time and priorities will start to dovetail more.  It may even enable me to “do it all”, at least some of the time!  I feel a good old-fashioned full-week, hour-by-hour planner in Word coming on, with specific writing sessions blocked out - initially, at least, fitting around my existing commitments.  I'll need to remember to include a session for blogging in there though...perhaps I can even manage some eating and sleeping time too :-)