Since I embarked on the adventure of writing my first novel, I have learned many things. I wanted to write them down, so I could remember these lessons when I start writing my second, and third novels... assuming, of course, I finish the first!
1. Reading about other writers' processes does not help. Although I have wanted to pick up the phone and call Steven King, Margaret Atwood, or Joyce Carol Oats and ask a million questions about how they do it and what their challenges are, I am sure I would find that what works for them ~ would not work for me.
They may not outline first and just start writing away... I found I had to do an outline first.
They don't hold down full time jobs AND write... they just write... so they can't tell me anything about fitting the craft into a 50 hour work schedule. I've got to bear that cross on my own and figure it out.
They may have hard, fast rules that don't fit my personality at all. So my rules, and processes are going to be unique just to me. I get to discover those quirks as I write along.
2. Write first thing when you get up. FIRST THING. God damn it if I get started on housework, or my mom calls. As soon as my mind is going 1,000 mph in the direction of life, stepping into my fiction becomes nearly impossible. When I try, it takes an hour of writing before I find a flow. If I am at the laptop after my first cup of coffee, I can get right into it.
3. Never underestimate the power of a pen and a notebook. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest freakin' times! On the toilet, in the shower, at the grocery store, and especially in my car during my commute. Jotting epiphanies in a spiral bound notebook has lead to great paragraphs.
I think writing long hand, accesses a different part of your brain. It is sometimes easier to channel the muse through my left hand, than through my fingers on a keyboard.
4. Take naps. When I hit a block, it feels like a smashed my skull into a brick wall, and I get an overwhelming urge to go completely unconscious, literally pass out on the keyboard. When I start feeling that sensation, I lay down for 30 minutes and take a nap. Giving myself permission to NAP has been a breakthrough.
5. Create a Playlist for your novel. I have a playlist created just for this novel. It includes songs for the whole story, for specific scenes within the story, and for specific characters. When I am stuck, or uninspired, or on one of my MAJOR DOWNERS, putting on a song creates a mood, reminds me of a character and puts me right into the story.
6. Eat. Pray. Write.
Vocabulary, grammar, structure and plot need nourishment. The synapses do not fire when my stomach growls. I must eat!
I light a candle, a stick of insense, touch my little "writing" totems I have on my desk; a large rainbow onyx stone that has good grounding properties, and a stone turtle pin that belonged to my grandmother, who I feel would have been a good writer. I say a prayer... asking to be open to hearing the muse. I feel I am in cooperation with the Universe in creating this tome, so it is vital to my process to say hello and then listen to that voice.
WRITE. Just type, or write something down. If I am frustrated about work or family issues, I get out a pen and vent on a sheet of paper. It gets the muck out. When I feel my story again, I write my story. This blog post is one of those muckwriting practices.
7. Don't Hate.
I did not realize how much I could hate myself until I started writing a book. Oh, I get down on myself for looking old, or having a big ass, or for being a bitch to someone, or for doing some dumbass thing. These are nothin' compared to the loathing and belittling my left brain has lashed upon my right brain about my lack of writing talent. I totally understand why writer's have always been the most serious, depressed, suicidal people. I have never been more brutal toward myself. No wonder it was always so hard to committ to writing, I didn't want to be abused!
So... it happens... I go into a "You suck" diatribe toward myself, I notice I am starting to feel like shit about what I am doing and I stop. "Be gentle with yourself." "Don't hate.... just write. It can suck when you've finished it." Things like that. It's helped.
8. It also helps to have a friend remind you that what you are doing is worthwhile and valid. So having a good, supportive husband who is totally looking forward to reading my sucky, first FINISHED novel... keeps me writing.
9. Don't read. Steven (King) says TO read. Shannan says DON'T. At least not while you are writing your book. I am not enjoying reading as I usually do. It is a surefire way to get bring the "Hater" out. I either hate the writer - who wrote a sucky book that actually got published... or I hate myself because I think I cannot be as "good" as them. I will save my recreational reading habit for when I am finished WRITING.
10. Don't judge the first shit you put on the page. It's like moving to a new house. You get all the boxes of your stuff open and shit is everywhere, a horrible, disjointed mess. Same in the book. the sequence is off... it sounds flat and colorless. When you go back through it a second time, and clean and spruce and rearrange a bit, it starts to have flavor. JUST THINK WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE WHEN YOU DO THE SECOND DRAFT! It'll be freakin AWESOME! ;-)
Okay, enough.
I have a chapter to slog through...
Namaste,
C H E Z
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