Our wonderful Inkshares community of writers and readers has gotten me all excited about writing again. Too bad I have a day job that takes up a lot of my writing time! LOL. I’m sure a lot of you have the same problem. Work gets in the way!
But I still manage to write, in my head. I like to take a walk in the morning before work, and I walk over the lunch hour. During the walks, it’s easy to relax and get into that creative zone, I come up with ideas and then email them to myself from my phone so I don’t forget. I do the same thing in the shower (except I wait until after the shower to use my phone!) And even at work, at unexpected moments, something will pop into my head. I take a moment to email it.
On my work days, I simply don’t have time for prolonged writing sessions. But I do have time for a little research here and there. I am also getting better at stream-of-consciousness writing. The last two chapters I wrote started that way. In less than an hour, I wrote a series of one word or one phrase paragraphs, key words and clues for me, and later came back to it to develop the ideas when I had the time.
Finding only brief writing moments can be frustrating, but I have to remember that this is part of the fun. I look forward to those moments. I try to make those moments happen. If I was a full-time writer, I wouldn’t feel that way. I would feel the pressure of writing as a job. So all in all, I guess I’m okay with it.
Right now, for my book Mission 51, I’m working on the chapter immediately following my protagonist Mat’s crash-landing on his destination planet. It is the most research-intensive chapter in the book. I’m chipping away at the details, so when I do have time to sit and write, it will hopefully just flow. Considering my work schedule, I figure I will be finished with the chapter in 2 weeks. My problem is, I don’t want to wait that long to upload stuff while the project is in funding. I really need pre-orders, and I think the uploads generate interest. So I think I better upload excerpts, and later update them to the full chapters.
I’m learning, too, from other authors, several great promotional ideas. I’m so grateful that this community of writers helps and supports each other.
So that’s it for now. Just checking in with what’s on my mind.
Peace to all! :-)