Write something every day is one of the most oft-quoted pieces of advice given to writers and rightly so. Every novelist knows the frustration of coming back to their work in progress after a break. No matter how few words get written, it keeps the ideas in your head – feeds the enthusiasm and keeps the story alive. It’s all so easy to lose that momentum.
So here I am at my desk, after a month’s break (the 14 day cruise turned into 24 when I was asked to stay on for the Greek Odyssey around the Aegean when the original lecturer couldn’t make it) trying to sort out where to go next with the current novel. That’s the trouble with not being a plotter when the story line is all worked out in advance. I’ve re-read my manuscript – not exactly a lengthy task as I’d only completed seven chapters – and looked through the ideas list for future scenes. I did try to think about the novel when I was away – even scribbled a few handwritten short scenes – but getting back into the flow is going to take several more days.
I write fluently in my head all the time as I’m out walking, in the shower, cleaning my teeth and doing the housework, but sitting down at my PC though the ideas might linger, the flow of words won’t come. Gradually, I get back into the zone which always seems to reach its peak when it’s time to stop.
Getting going is not my forte. (Techniques like stream of consciousness and so forth are not for me! I’ve tried finishing in the middle of a scene or sentence, but next day, once that’s done, I’m back where I started.’ I’m one of the world’s great procrastinators. But I refuse to feel guilty! I’m going to keep to my new year resolution not to put myself under pressure. If I don’t make the daily word count, so be it. I’m long retired. I write because I enjoy it and producing a book I can be proud of – one that I’m not ashamed for others to read – is important to me. When I can no longer make a professional job of it, I’ll stop. (Fingers crossed, that will never happen, and the passion will always be there.)
So my piece of writing advice is, even when life gets in the way of putting pen to paper, stay with your characters in your head – continue their journeys – and keep the flame alight.
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