Finding Focus

The last Saturday in October and all quiet this week on the writing front. I'm working on the last few thousand pages of my latest manuscript entitled Turning Secrets - the first draft and it will need some revising and tweaking to make all the plot points work.

Authors are often asked what motivates them to keep writing and do they have periods where they have trouble getting down to it. I'd have to say that there are days and sometimes weeks when I'm not settled enough to work on a project. I might be preoccupied with something else going on in my life. I could be unsure about the plot and need to give myself some time to think it through. The weather might be so perfect that I can't make myself stay inside at my desk. A day of this is okay but what happens when the desire to write is gone for an extended period?

Many say to just sit at your desk and force yourself to write. A hundred words, two hundred ... no matter the number, get something down. It might end up being cut, but the idea is to make writing a habit. I try to write every day and aim for between 500 and 1000 words. Sometimes I write less and sometimes more. More and more, I write late mornings into the afternoon. If writing isn't going well, I'll go for a walk or read for a bit.  Call a friend.

It can be frightening to reach the home stretch on a manuscript because this means you have to come up with a new idea for another book and start all over again. What if a good idea doesn't come? What if the elusive muse has been all used up? I imagine this worry is the same for everyone working in the creative arts. I think what is important is to step back and stay in the moment, to enjoy the process and not worry about outcomes. Like all good intentions in life, sometimes easier said than done :-)

So this week, more writing on my agenda and hopefully this time next week, I'll be able to report that the first draft is complete ... or close to complete. The work won't end there, however, as then I'll be into a few rounds of editing the entire manuscript with a January 1st deadline looming.

Time to get this day underway!