Taking a short break from writing
I am currently taking a short break from my writing.
I am on a much needed holiday visiting my son and daughter in law in Sydney. It is also a great opportunity to get to know my grandson a little better too, and at 19 months he is cuteness personified – and that’s a completely unbiased opinion of course!
One of the things I did before leaving home last week was to write and pre-post a series of articles to appear on my other two blogs (see the side bar for the links to them). These will be appearing every few days while I am away, so I don’t have to worry and can relax. Unfortunately I didn’t get to write a complete series for this blog. I just ran out of time.
I tend to write blog posts in spurts, sometimes writing 5 to 10 or more in the one day and scheduling them to appear at later dates on a regular basis. In this way I get into a rhythm with my writing, totally focussed on the blog and the needs of readers. After I have several weeks’ worth of posts scheduled I can then get on with other writing – like my novel – and focus solely on that. Some people can attend to many different tasks in the one day. Others like the variety but I think I write best when I am totally focussed on the one task. I tend to be more productive that way.
Good writing.
Distractions from writing
There are many things which can distract writers from their writing. Some example:
- Illness
- Holidays
- Television
- Family
- Full time jobs
- Hobbies
- Lack of motivation
- Lack of ideas
- The internet
- _________________ (inset your own prime distraction).
Successful writers keep writing despite the distractions. They find ways around the distractions and keep writing.
It has been quite a few days since my last entry here on this blog about writing. I’ve still been writing – just not here. Instead I’ve been busy posting blog articles on my other two blogs. These numerous articles will appear on those blogs over the coming three weeks while I take an interstate holiday. I’ll be playing with my 19 month old grandson. That’s very important to me. While I’m away the blog posts will keep on appearing, both here and on the other blogs.
Why not take a look at those other blogs? I’d love you to leave some comments too.
- Trevor’s Birding – about my love of Australian birds – complete with stunning photos of our beautiful bird life here in Australia.
- Trevor’s Travels – about my adventures here in Australia and in Thailand and Nepal. Complete with lovely photos of some beautiful places I’ve been.
Updating my blogs
Over Easter I’m having a short break from writing my novel. This weekend I’ve concentrating on writing numerous posts for my various blogs (see the links on the sidebar). I’m writing these now and dating them to appear on a daily basis for the next few weeks. I often do this as it helps me with my writing.
Once Easter is over I will be very busy on two other projects: finishing the final draft of my novel and preparing to present four sessions at our church camp. I won’t have much time for blogging so I like to get the posts written and have them appearing regularly without having to bother about them. I often do this when I know I’m going to be away for a length of time, especially those times when I might only have limited internet access, for example, when travelling.
There is another benefit. Writing a dozen or more blog posts in one day builds momentum, and before I know it I’ve written five or ten or more. You get in the groove and get very productive. I like that. You can do the same with writing a novel, editing some stories or doing that horrible administrative stuff that writers have to attend to from time to time – like submitting work to publishers.
Must get back to blogging.
Good writing.
Writing a novel – a writer’s journal part 10
The Frustrations of the Writer’s Life
It has been a long time since my last entry in this series of articles. I have been very busy finishing off my course work for my degree. Then I had a stay in hospital followed closely by my wife having a stay in hospital too. On top of all that, I have had a very serious bout of influenza over the last three weeks with nine consecutive days in bed.
Over recent days I have managed to get back into writing my children’s novel. This will be submitted in November this year as the major part of my thesis paper. I have been getting rather stressed out by the fact that my supervising lecturer would like to see a draft copy of the manuscript by the end of July. Eeek – that’s a week away. Losing much of the last six weeks has put me way behind. I am so blessed to have a very understanding and compassionate supervisor.
Her compassion is very welcome, but the novel will not write itself. In the coming three months I will have to work very hard to get this project completed. The only way to accomplish that is to plonk myself in front of the keyboard and write, write, write. One of the additional frustrations is that I have other projects on the go. I have another two novels and four picture book texts almost ready to submit to publishers, as well as numerous short stories and poems ready to submit or enter into competitions. I need a thirty hour day and a ten day week!
One very practical solution would be to stop blogging and get back to writing the novel. It’s all a matter of application and priorities.
Good writing.
- Writing a novel – a writer’s journal – a series of articles outlining the process I went through in writing a novel.
Writing when you don’t feel like it
Last year I bought a copy of the Garry Disher book called Writing Fiction: an introduction to the craft. It was the required text for the fiction writing unit in my Master of Arts course.
As I read the first chapter I underlined the following: ‘…new writers… believe that the best writing grows out of powerful feelings and intense passion.’ (Disher, 2001, p.5) While this can be true I have found that it is not always the case. Sure, intensely experienced life events can be a wonderful source of writing inspiration, but if that is all we had to write about we’d never have much to say. Most of us lead such deadly dull and boring lives that we should restrained from hoisting that on our readers.
Disher goes on to say that ‘even the most mundane incident, can give rise to a story or novel, and the best writing and creative insights often come from writing calmly and with detachment… day after day. Don’t sit and wait. Start writing, and write regularly – for the practice, and to find what it is you want to say.’ This has been another benefit of doing this and other writing units in my course; the regular enforced writing exercises and the requirement to hand up finished works.
While it is writing under intense pressure at times, I believe that it is excellent discipline for the aspiring writer. To succeed, the aspiring writer must become a perspiring writer. Over the last three years I have, in part, developed the skill of writing on demand. This was in relation to my blogging. I set myself the difficult task of writing – on average – three articles of 300 – 400 words each per day. I haven’t succeeded entirely, especially last year while studying, but I came close to it before commencing the course. I have learned to very quickly come up with ideas, plan and then write rapidly. The more I’ve done the less editing and rewriting is required, so my skills are definitely developing.
Later in the chapter he says: ‘It’s pointless to wait for inspiration… Write whether you feel like it or not.’ (Disher, 2001, p. 12-13) He suggests setting definite goals with writing, say a 1000 words per day. When I was blogging solidly over recent years I had goals for each day regarding word count, number of hours of writing, number of articles written. I also had weekly, monthly and annual goals. All that discipline has helped me during my year of study and will be of great help in coming years as a writer – especially if I ever have looming publisher deadlines.
Good writing.
Reference:
Disher, G, 2001, Writing Fiction: an introduction to the craft. Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest.