Sunday, January 6, 2019

Getting back to Writing


Now that the holidays are behind us, it’s time for me to get back to writing. Throughout the season, I’ve been jotting down notes for my next book but that’s as far as I’ve gotten. I know the title. I know the setting. And I know some of the characters. I even have a general idea of what will happen. Obviously, that’s just a start; I have a lot of work ahead of me in the months to come. Which means making my writing a priority.

I’m a morning person. That’s when I’m the most creative. As the day goes on, my ability to write a coherent sentence diminishes with each hour – or, at least, that’s how it feels to me. I love getting up each day and, after coffee and breakfast, plopping down in my desk chair and entering my fictional world, leaving the real world behind for a few hours.

Time flies when I’m writing and, before I know it, it’s time for lunch and time to attend to the other aspects/responsibilities of my life, the daily tasks we all have to do: shopping, paying bills, cleaning, laundry. . . . I do double-duty because, although, thankfully, my eighty-nine year old mother is doing great, she isn’t able to do a lot of the household chores, etc. she used to do.

By dinnertime, I’m ready to eat, watch TV and then read in bed until my eyes tell me it’s time to go to sleep. 

What all this means is that I need to use my time wisely if I hope to finish my book. I have to be careful to avoid what some refer to as “time sucks.” Social media can be time-consuming and, although I enjoy interacting with my friends on Facebook and other sites, I need to limit the time I spend on them. Writing a blog post takes time too and I’m considering posting at the end of each month, to summarize that month, rather than posting weekly. We’ll see how that goes.

So, until next time, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and that you are as eager as I am to get back to whatever it is you love to do.