Ready to go
The heck with waiting until August…I’m starting the blog posts now.
So here goes: 10 weeks from Monday.
10 weeks from Monday is when I finish up work and give myself over to a 2-3 month writing frenzy. No work responsibilities, nothing other than a full-time focus on a plot involving a forgotten cemetery, forgotten memories and a crime scene the village elders wish would just go away.
And that’s all you’re going to know for now. Want to find out more? You’ll have to read the finished book. But I promise you, it will be good. How do I know? Well, that’s a blog post for another day.
What I won’t do is bore you with posts about what it’s like to squeeze in noveling alongside of a daily job and freelance writing. You already know something like this is hard. Why repeat the obvious? In one corner, creativity rages into a full force 7 gale hurricane, pulling, calling, DEMANDING that I do something about it and yet I sit quietly in the other corner, plowing through the assigned work tasks in front of me.
Right now, I only write on weekends (and holidays). Frankly, I don’t know how I’m doing it. I just do it. I do it partly because I want to do it. I do it mostly because it has to be done. The story has to get told.
Ooh, sounds boring, people say. Aren’t there better ways to spend your time? Sure. Hiking, spending time with friends and family, good food, the beach, all those things are great fun – and necessary to kickstart stalled creativity. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve had a breakthrough on the elliptical, annoying as it is since I’m not usually in the habit of bringing a notebook and pen with me to the gym. I gotta draw the geek line somewhere.
But here’s the kicker. When you are completely engrossed in something you love, something bigger than yourself, something worthwhile, it’s not work. It’s fun. It’s fabulous. It’s magical.
And time stops.
Or at least it does until the throbbing in your shoulder breaks your concentration and you look up to realize three hours have slipped away. So going forward, I’ll tell you about the idea germination, the research, the outlines, the false starts and stops. And hopefully, you’ll stick around for the whole ride because I think the final result will be worth your time.
Permission granted. Start the 10-week countdown.
I think it’s great that you are writing a novel. It takes a lot of courage. I know, because I’ve always wanted to, but am afraid it would flop.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Although knowing you (and the market you could write to), I’d be willing to bet you’d create something amazing.