In a good writing place

It’s my turn to blog tonight. I’m glad Katrina, Alyson, and Jacqueline blogged earlier. If you haven’t read their blogs, you should. Profound stuff. We’re all discovering our process and this seems to be a week to write about those insights.

As for me, I’ve been busy pounding out new pages – both for my current MIP and a novella I’m writing. Sum total for the week so far is 46 pages. Yes, I know that’s not a lot by some standards, but I’m quite proud of my pages. I hope to hit 60 by the end of the evening tomorrow.

Why the push this week? I joined a BIAW (book in a week) challenge for the week. The goal: Try to write as much as you can and just get it down on paper. No editing. No research. No rewriting. My goal was 60 pages. I think I’ll hit it.

I’ve learned a few things this week by participating in BIAW.

First, I’m goal and deadline driven. I need both. I do my best work under the constraints of a tight deadline. There is just something about the imminent potential for success or failure that spurs me forward. At other times, no matter what pressure I put on myself, I know the deadline isn’t real, therefore the imminent potential to lose face doesn’t drive me. A while back, we had a 10k club. The goal was to produce 10k a month. I guess it’s no wonder why that worked so well for me.

Second, I learned that I work well on multiple projects. I’m a multi-tasker. Always have been. When I must juggle projects, it allows one project to brew while the other is getting the attention. Then just when my attention wanes, I can flip back to the other. It doesn’t work for everyone, but it works for me.

Third, I remember the reason I write. It really isn’t to tell a story that everyone else is okay with. It’s to tell one that I’m okay with – more than okay – a story that has to be told because the characters can no longer be confined to my head. Regardless whether anyone else “gets it” or not, I am compelled to write my stories. When I do that, my voice emerges. Otherwise, all that emerges is just an amalgamation of the censorship of others – whether intentional or not. So, the point – I’m going to tell my stories, my way, and eventually someone will want those stories. And if not, I’m still happy writing.

Finally, this novella is the first new thing I’ve tried to write since really understanding GMC, black moments, the hero’s journey, etc. I don’t know that writing a book ever becomes easy, but just as I hoped, understanding the fundamentals saves a lot of time. Producing pages is a lot easier (of course that has a lot to do with firing the internal editor for a week too).

All in all, I’m in a happy writing place now even though I have the edits from hell next week. It’s a good place to be.

Macy