Thursday 23 February 2017

In the Zone

Hope everyone is having a productive February. Despite fierce storms in our neck of the woods, we're getting patches of sunshine and it feels like spring is around the corner, a time of renewed productivity and new beginnings.

I'm just here to give a quick update on my writing progress and also talk about something that's been on my mind. While I've been making fair progress on finishing off the draft of the last part of my trilogy over the last few weeks, with a good few thousand words clocked, I haven't been writing every day. It doesn't happen often, but usually one day a week, and Monday is a big culprit for it. Basically, writing is the reason I get up at 5am; I don't have a good reason to be up at that unseemly time otherwise, and if I'm not feeling the urge then I switch off the alarm and doze for an hour or so instead. If I try and write, and I'm too tired or nothing is coming together, I feel worse about scratching out 50 words that don't take me forward than allowing myself an extra hour in bed.

On other days, which thankfully there seem to have been more of lately, I'm excited to get going and get down a thousand words or more without a break. It's about staying in that zone of being in the story, turning over the possibilities in my mind, staying engaged with my protagonists and their considerable problems. We often hear that it's important to write every day, and it's something that I believe in and try to stick to; however, some days it's just not happening. I also don't write at the weekend, and I've always been like that.

What about you? Are you an inconstant writer, or do you like to get something down every single day? What works for you?

Wednesday 1 February 2017

IWSG February 2017

Time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, where we have a space to share our insecurities in the company of friends. Can you believe we're into February already? 2017 is going fast. Today's co-hosts are Misha GerickeLK HillJuneta KeyChristy and Joylene Butler. And of course, as ever your host is the tireless Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh!


Today's question is: "How has being a writer changed your experience as a reader?"

This is definitely an interesting question. If you immerse yourself in the world of writing, learning about effective pacing, tone, characterisation, and a host of other factors, I think it's inevitable that you will pick up on these things more in other books. That's certainly been the case for me. It doesn't mean I don't enjoy the story or get swept up in it. In fact, the mark of a really good book is one that manages to captivate by doing all the different elements so well that the whole thing seems effortless. But for books that don't work so well for me, I find myself projecting how I might have done something differently, and that's all good learning for my own writing.

Turning to my insecurity for this month, it's pretty much what I noted at the top of the page; that this year is already going by fast, and although I got a fair bit of writing done in January, I'd like to have done more. Of course, February is an even shorter month, but I'm going to grab it by the throat and get as much out of it as I can. Springtime is on the way, which should be very productive and fruitful.

What do you think of this month's question? Check out more responses here.