Tuesday 20 January 2015

Greased Lightning

No, I'm not thinking about Grease today (though it must be in my mind somewhere) but about writing  time. I've posted before about trying to find time to write - a puzzle for every wannabe writer. I've read plenty of articles about how to make the most of your time, and how to prioritise, work to deadlines, conquer the demons of procrastination....

But lately I've been thinking about it from another point of view. When I write, I lose time. I lose myself. I come back to reality and find that an hour, two, or three have disappeared, while I have been unconscious of them. I've always taken it as a sign that I was utterly absorbed, and doing something I loved, but I'd never realised before that the hours and days could slide away, slippery as spaghetti. When it's just an hour here and there, it's a stolen pleasure, but when you start to write regularly, and lost time regularly, you begin to realise that one day you'll find that years are passing in a blur...and it's a bit scary!

I suppose this is why it's important to change pace in your writing life as well as throughout a story. When a novel is done, some marketing, editing or beginning to structure the next novel gives you a break from the all-consuming joy and absorption of writing. And meanwhile, my word count is rising, so who am I to complain even if the time is going like greased lightning?

Tuesday 13 January 2015

Watching the word count rise

We're back into the swing of school runs and pre-school mornings in our home, and despite the annoyance of sandwich-making, bag packing and homework, it's a joy! It's true that I have more work to keep up with in my evenings, but I also have some more time to myself again, and can begin to write regularly after the upheaval of Christmas.

It was so exciting to be back at my keyboard, and it was also a useful reminder that the longer you stay away, the more distracted you have to be by re-reading and editing before you can start again.

And with that in mind, I'm going to waste no more time here just now, but I'm going to try to squeeze in half an hour with my novel!