I thought I would take time to let all of you know what I've been up to these days. If you haven't guessed from the title I've been finally getting myself back into novel writing. This has been a passion of mine since I was in my teens, but as life would have it, I've pushed it aside. Life happens and sometimes it gets the best of you, for me these past five years after graduating college have been a whirlwind. Getting married after being in a 10 year long relationship took center as well as building up my career and non-profit. Now that things are settling down a little bit, I've started to return to things that I've always wanted to complete. First thing on that list was telling my stories to the world. I've never seemed to shake that desire from me and I've let it consume a good amount of my life these days.
I was inspired to write this post because wanting to be a novelist and actually making it a part of your daily life are two completely different things. I also didn't see very many articles or blogs written on the web that weren't sugar coated or vague about novel writing. For something that has dramatically changed the way I live my life I can only imagine how difficult it would be to adapt to daily novel writing as a beginner. I hope that this post will help people that are starting out, or feel a sense of defeat from previous attempts of bringing writing into a daily part of their life.
Begin with a declaration that you are writing a novel: Your declaration will mentally prepare you to begin the changes when writing becomes a daily part of your life. It sounds silly, but this was one of the biggest and hardest things to do. All writers are hard on themselves; careful what to share with the world about their passion for story telling. I think that it's safe to say that there is this social stigma that any craft that involves feelings is a waste of time or left to be nothing more than hobby. You need to get yourself out of that mindset before you can emotionally and mentally dedicate yourself to the world you are creating. This declaration doesn't just stop with you. Your friends and family need to know about your conscious effort to begin writing. Whether the news is received with a supportive or negative vibes, you will need to let them know so to feel out the environment that you will be creating in. I started with a few friends and my close family; both were received with mixed reviews. Mostly they will be confused why you need to tell them, they will understand in time why you had to announce your choice to pursuit your dream as your schedule will change.
Second life/ second job: The biggest change I've found in my life is that I feel a constant drain and pull working my full time job and finding the time to write my novel. I've built my proper timing and routines, but the drain does get to me at least once a week. If you are serious about writing, this will become a second job. When I realized that there were days that I just had to write, and I had to dedicate myself to it that day, I found myself pulling that weight and making sure that it was done at any cost. Starting out you will need to stay up a few hours late at night, or even get up earlier to write. In time you will adjust and make the sacrifices necessary to give your writing a fighting chance to be in your life.
Alone time is golden, protect it: One thing I learned really quickly was the desire to want to be alone to write. Pulling yourself away where you can clear your mind for the daily task of 'adulting' and letting your mind wander in it's imaginative state is such a fine line. I've gotten to a point where I know that I need at least one hour of decompress time when I get home from work. On my days off I handle the chores first and give myself an hour of rest before I start to write. You will start to be aware of your time and how to work with the schedule you have. You will also have times when you will have to say no to meet ups with friends and family. This is one of the reasons you will need to tell them you are a novelist. A good friend will understand, and will probably be eager to read what you come up with.
You will need to build a stamina for it: I don't care how experienced or talented you are, rushed work never creates good work. Burn out is also something that is discouraging and has often stopped writers from creating a daily routine in their work. When you start, find your comfortable medium and raise your word count or time writing slowly. One site that has really helped me build my stamina is 750words.com . I don't use them daily, but when I do start writing, I promise myself that I will finish that 750 word count in that day. So far, my comfortable count is 875-1,200 words daily depending on the day and the parts I'm writing. I'm comfortable with the pace that I'm at but after hitting the half way point in my novel, I plan on raising up my word count to 1,000-1,700 words. I also want to add that you should schedule your breaks as well. When I suffer burn out, I promise myself a day or two to stay away from writing. During that time I try to inspire myself with documentaries, going to a museum, or seeing friends. Bottom line - you're in this to see the beginning and the end, this is not an a temporary affair.
Find your routine with trial by fire: They say that it takes two weeks to build or destroy a habit. I can say from personal experience that this is true. I felt like a zombie my first two weeks. To get myself used to writing I stayed up an extra hour or two every night. I also feel like writing, especially creatively is very exhausting and will wear you down after awhile. The times of the day that you write are also important, I used to think that I was a morning writer but later found that my peak is between late afternoon to evening. To know what works best for you, you will have to try different times and methods. You will also find your strengths and weaknesses take less and more time. I am very strong in narrative and can write it almost anywhere. Dialogue is my weakness, so I have to take a little longer when I write it. Test yourself with trial and error. Be forgiving of failures and mistakes, but be swift to change to things that do work.
I hope that this post inspires you. Keep writing, and your tea close!
Cheers
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