How Do I get my Brain To Focus
For the month of September, I have been back to working on Dark Island as my main project. I also realize, I hate my brain.
Whenever I hear about writer’s who don’t have any ideas, I laugh. I have always had the probable I work on project A, get a really cool idea for a project B, and then oh yeah I remember Project C I was working on a few years back…. Sigh. No wonder I have so very few actually finished work. I do find short stories can be a good mental break. It doesn’t take nearly as long, and they are a nice way of exploring a minor character or something in depth which doesn’t make it to a larger work.
For me writer’s block is not having no ideas. Writer’s block is being paralyzed with not knowing which project to work on. Or trying to force myself to stay on the almost done project instead of moving on to cool new idea project. Or getting distracted while doing research and finding this is cool and interesting and doing no actual writing. Or curling myself into a depressed ball on the floor and bemoaning my writing sucks and everyone hates it or why can’t I finish anything?
But yes, my WIP. Dark Island. Ahem.
I am glad I took a month log break from it in August. Partially due to vacation so I doubted I would have much time to work on it anyway, and partially because I was forgetting what was in this draft. So for now I am re reading my current draft, making notes, and updating spreadsheets listing scenes etc so I have a cheat sheet for revision. In some ways it is a mental relief to be doing more reading than writing. But when I am done (hopefully a couple more days…) I am planning on working through with a revision spreadsheet. Then using that as well as going through my notes to make a revision plan.
Hopefully I’ll be able to stick with my plan of being done with revisions this year. Then there is the agent search. Whenever I think I am done it is clear more work is needed. Publishing a novel is always a marathon, not a sprint. But I have realized that I need to be better at rewarding myself when I make small milestones instead of telling myself to keep plugging along.
The day after I finish reading the draft all the way through, I am getting a doughnut for breakfast. After I have my revision plan done, I am baking cookies. The Wee Dictator’s contribution to baking usually involves dumping the ingredients in the bowl and stirring, then running back to watch TV while mommy puts it in the oven. But I still love baking. Mostly because I like treats, and making it at home I can tell myself I know everything that is in it.
Yes, I am rambling again. But I got up to 500 words.