I'm not a morning person. Never have been, never will be. I've just started week 4 of getting up at 6:00 in the morning to write. Who was it that said if you did something for two weeks in a row you'd start a new routine?
Yeah...no.
Four weeks later, getting out of that bed is still as hard as it was on Day 1. It's by sheer willpower alone I force myself out of that bed each morning. But I do it then stumble to the coffeemaker.
The reason I'm having to wake up so early is because I write best in the mornings now. Didn't used to be that way. Used to be at night. I don't know if it's mommy brain or just getting older, but by the time I have free time at night, I can barely put a coherent thought through my head, much less create a fun and exciting life for the people who live in my mind. So getting up earlier was the only option to make more time to write so I could meet my deadline.
And I HAVE gotten a crap-ton done in the last 4 weeks, despite being a single mom and working another job. I've written 35,000 words, (already had 15k written when I was told the deadline) and those words are not first draft quality. It's the polished, completely fleshed out stuff I post for my CP's. Once I finish, all I'll have to do is go through their crits, makes some adjustments and then it's off to my editor.
I've also proven something to myself this month. I can put out a book fast. A really freaking good book, too. I've always been envious of prolific writers. Always in awe of how they write so fast and still produce a good book. Always wondered how in the world they were able to get it all sorted out and have it make sense on paper so fast.
Up until this point, the fastest I've written a novel-length book has been 5 months. I was thrilled with that, lol.
Now I'll have a book written, polished and off to my editor in around 45 days. I'm really stunned by that. Never thought I could do something that quickly.
I used to be the Queen of Procrastination. Used to let blocks in story keep me from writing for weeks. I haven't had the luxury of being able to do that this time. I've had to use every spare minute. (I'm two weeks behind on Dexter and Homeland :( There will be a marathon viewing when I'm done)
And when I come to a part in the story that is giving me fits because something isn't working, I don't walk away, I sit there and figure out what isn't working. I rewrite the scene, try different approaches until it clicks.
I won't lie. My schedule has been rough. I'm tired. A little on the
cranky side, but I wouldn't have traded this experience for anything.
Because I've learned two very valuable lessons:
1) There is always time to write, you just have to be willing to sacrifice other things. (Mine has been sleep, lol)
2) I don't have to wait until I'm walking in the grocery story, three weeks later, and have an ah-ha moment to fix a difficult chapter. It can be worked through in a matter of hours.
Now I'm off to write. :)
Abby
No comments:
Post a Comment