Putting One Finger in Front of the Other

Writing a Book is that Easy? Or is it?

In most jobs an employee has to show up and carry out their allotted task whether they feel like it or not. The job doesn't go away just because someone isn't in the mood or isn't feeling it. Yet, often as writers, we convince ourselves that we can only write when the perfect mood strikes. I know I have the potential to give in to these feelings.  This blog is an example. I knew I needed to write a blog post and yet I put it off thinking, I haven't got an idea in my head. Time goes by and no blog post is written.

However, I think I am lying to myself. We often do as writers. Once I opened up my laptop and put one finger in front of the other, the thoughts started flowing and ideas came thick and fast. My brain, and/or my muse, just needed dragging out of bed and told that it was time get to work.

The same can be true for my novels. I can procrastinate, telling myself that my muse has up and left. That's not true. My muse just needs me to show up and join him or her. Once we're snuggled up together in front of the keyboard ideas come thick and fast. Showing up is the first part of the process.

The second part of the process is typing actual words. This may seem elementary but again the muse may need a bit of cajoling to get going. There is a lot of expert advice out in the stratosphere about writing when the mood doesn't strike. I have found one to be particularly helpful. Write anything. Write rubbish, you can do something with it later. The very process of writing will help the mind to start thinking creatively. It will then take over and the rubbish becomes something more coherent. Who knows, it might become something truly brilliant?

This advice is the same whether you, the writer, are penning a short story, an article, a blog or a book. You will not get anything done if you are not moving your fingers on the keyboard, or using a pen to script words. So going back to my caption, writing a book is that easy. Well not quite. As most writers know, there are many steps to the process of writing a book. However, none of them will ever get done if the writer and the muse are not sitting down to write the first draft.

So why are you still reading this blog? It's time to grab a pen or sit down in front of that keyboard. Your muse is waiting for you to show up so it can get cracking. More power to your pen or keyboard and I look forward to reading that completed book. If you have any more writing tips feel free to share in the comments. See you back here soon.

Reading More Widely

Day five of the blogging challenge and I'm still going strong. As I said in yesterday's blog, I haven't been feeling too well.  However, one thing which any writer can still do whilst ill is read. In order to be a writer you also need to be a reader. Now I read voraciously but mainly in the crime genre. It is often good for a writer, and in fact an individual, to expand their horizons in regards to reading choice. This allows the writer to view things from a different perspective and avoid becoming too narrow in their viewpoint. Their writing can be strengthened as they absorb the variety of ways in which writers express themselves.

Last week I was away from home and staying with friends. I was entertaining a two year old and he wanted me to read to him. He had a wide variety of books, but one which stuck with me was Ted's Birthday Bus. This was simply written but demonstrated beautifully how to build suspense and provide a surprise. My young friend loved this facet of it as well, resulting in my having to read it about fifteen times.

I appreciate that this may not be the best book to help me develop my writing skills. So I have bought the first book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and Archbishop by Michelle Guinness. Completely different from each other and also different from my usual choice of book. I am looking forward to reading them and will report back when I have done so.

There ends day five of the challenge. I will see you Bck here tomorrow for the next instalment in the series. Until then keep reading and writing.

How Important is Routine to a Writer?

I've been reading a lot lately about the importance of routine for different writers. This got me thinking about my own routine. Do I actually have one? Would I be a more productive writer if I did have one? How easily am I swayed from my routine by other factors? All good questions which make me wonder.

In some ways I do have a routine. It tends to follow this pattern.

Early am - Deal with social media

am - write

Lunch - when hunger strikes

pm write and/or edit

evening - free time.

Now you will realise from this that I have no fixed set times for working. These timelines are fluid and flexible. This means that other factors can easily get in the way. So my plan is to write a more sensible timetable and stick to it. The idea is to see if I become a more productive writer and my output increases. 

The last question is, how easily am I swayed from what I am doing by external factors is the one which I found most illuminating. I am the first to admit I am a bit of a social media junkie and I can very easily be swayed from what I am doing by notifications from various social media sites. I have come to realise that this can take up a large proportion of my writing day. Although I say that this can build up my fan base and allow me to interact with others, it is still time taken away from my core job which is writing. I recently attended the Cromarty Crime Writing Festival. During this Ian Rankin spoke about his writing routine. He writes on a computer so old, it has no internet action. This is a deliberate ploy so that he is not distracted by going on to the internet every five minutes. Whilst I appreciate that this is a great solution, I cannot see it working for me. As you can see from the photo above, I write on an iMac and I am not entirely sure I want to disconnect if from the internet. I can, however, switch off notifications. This should stop me responding to every message which comes through. He also said part of his routine is eating snickers bars. if I took that tip on board I would be the size of a house. So maybe I will need to think of something else.

I am also good at being distracted by friends and family who want me to go and do things. I am both an adventurous, and social person, so I usually respond by saying Yes. Maybe I should do slightly less of this, but in all honesty, often it can be put down to research. I may be out but I am always thinking about things which could go in a book.

I have discovered I am a person who likes a clean and tidy desk in order to write. This is illustrated of the picture of my writing desk above. I have a very large office, but one part of it is a utility room. Given I live in Scotland there is a lot of inclement weather which means my washing is hanging up in  my office, drying. Thinking about this, it really irritates me and puts me off my stride. In future I am going to hang the washing up elsewhere. One less distraction and more time for writing.

So I am off to put what I have discovered in to practice. For all my reader friends I hope you have found this glimpse into a writer's life interesting. To all my writer friends I will leave you with two questions. What distracts you? Do you have a writing routine, and if so what is it? Please share in the comments below and help other writers, myself included. 

Bye for now Bookaholics. See you all back here soon. 

The Trials and Tribulations of Writing

                     

As many of my readers will know Novemenr is NaNoWriMo month, where all those writers who take part pledge to write 50,000 words over the month. Last year, 2012, I zipped through the words and emerged victorious at the other end, well before the deadline. This year, 2013, however, has been a totally different story.

I started well, the words were flowing and I was getting a great head start on my new novel. Then everything that could go wrong went wrong. There were days where, despite the fact I got up, my muse stayed firmly fast asleep in bed. Rather than flowing swiftly along on a river of words I felt like I was trudging on fly paper. This was an unusual feeling for me as I am used to being able to write with abandon. 

Add a pre booked weekend away and a rather unexpected hospital admission into the mix and you will get a general idea of where my month was going. The hospital admission and subsequent recovery meant more days where taken out of the writing equation. However, Looking on the bright side it did give me a lot of inspiration for my writing. The writer in me knows I can't let an opportunity pass to expand my knowledge and develop my skills. It also gave me a lot of thinking time which is often missing in my life. There were many other disasters and issues which got in the way of my writing but I won't go in to them here. These could be made into a novel and I don't want to give any plots away. 

The month culminated with a washing machine flooding the utility room which is at the end of my, fortunately, large office. The subsequent clean up operations and mending of said washing machine took up a great deal of writing time. However, the good news is, the month also culminated in my completing NaNoWriMo by the skin of my teeth amidst some degree of stress. 

What has this month taught me. Firstly it has taught me that No matter how hard I plan things will go wrong and this is out of my control. It has also taught me that despite everything I should keep writing. Putting one finger I front of the other on the keyboard is crucial. I've learned that sitting at a desk typing is not the only form of writing and sometimes I need to take time out to think. 

I've also learned that I need to go with the flow and the important thing is to keep writing when I can. Using up spare moments can often be as productive as sitting down for long swathes of time. The one thing I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, is that I now feel like a real writer. I've had the month from hell and still managed to come through at the other end victorious and determined to write. 

That' sit for this week Bookaholic's. Normal service will be resumed next time with another review of a great book.