For Those Who Want to Write
I'm writing a novel. The idea has been in my mind for nineteen years. I've attempted to write this novel three other times and never got beyond four or five thousand words each time.
This time is different - better.
Here's what I've learned on this writing journey this time around. Oh, by the way. I'm not finished writing it. But wanted to rush these thoughts out for now.
~I started on January 1, 2024 in earnest to write my novel again. I hooked onto an idea that was a good 'hook' this time that had escaped me before. My title stayed the same. My main character stayed the same. My location stayed the same for the most part.
~What changed? My mindset. One night, late, I was writing and it hit me. I am god (little g) of these pages. I can write anything, do anything to my characters I want. Even death. Once I realized that, it was like a lightbulb turned on and the lid was taken off.
~I also realized that persistence in writing is critical. I work a 40-hour week, and write two blogs each week plus produce at least one podcast and a video podcast every week. And I still find time to write almost every night. I say 'almost' because I give myself permission to take a night off when needed. Yes, permission. I listen to my body, and when the body says 'rest', that's what it gets.
~Since we writers are gods of our writing, we control the destiny of all we create. I killed off a minor character in my book this week. She had outlived her usefulness and I needed to keep the action in my chosen location.
~I took a writing retreat break recently: Thursday - Sunday. What a marvelous retreat that was. My goodness. To have a huge block of hours of concentrated writing time was a real gift to myself.
It was just me, my laptop and a few groceries at a friend's condo at the Peake of the Snoqualmie Mountains just out of Seattle. There was no one else along. I set no agenda. I wrote and took standing breaks as needed, I napped as needed, and then wrote some more. For two of those mornings I was up by 6:30 and writing shortly after that. And two of those nights I wrote until 11PM or later.
~I had a goal to accomplish for this four-day retreat. I was well into my second story in this book and felt it was time to bring it home. My goal was to finish this particular story. And I met it Sunday morning around 10:30. That felt great.
~I'm the kind of writer who has the idea of where the story is going to go and then I let it come out. I don't outline and stick to that script. I was amazed and surprised more than once in the twists and turns my story took, and in some of the characters that came forth. Toward the end I introduced a 10-yr-old street kid named Ze that I'm going to bring back in another story. He's a keeper. He was also a surprise.
Here's what I proved to myself.
~I have good ideas.
~I have the discipline to attempt a retreat like this and stick to my agenda of writing, writing, writing.
~My characters became real in some unusual ways. They took on traits, personalities, speech mannerisms and behaviors that were unique to each one. I love that. I told my wife before I went on this retreat that these characters were becoming friends.
~~ Thanks for reading this article. It's not for everyone, and if any writers or wanna-be-writers read it, my wish is that it will help unlock and inspire you to keep writing.
Success to all you word-smiths out there.
Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration
