Tag: writing life

remembering how much it helps to write…

Although I’ve gone through periods of time when I didn’t write much, writing (especially writing fiction) has been a through-line of my life.

Writing mini-novels as soon as I could form words and sentences with whatever writing utensils were on hand. (And I do mean “mini” – as in 3 or 4 pages of large, fat font.) Scribbling longer stories and short poems as I went through elementary, junior high, and high school. Pouring out my heart in diary entries and journals. Writing stories and novels over the decades. Writing papers and reports, and freelance greeting card work and nonfiction projects and blog posts.

Although I enjoy a variety of writing, fiction has been my big love. Having characters and dialogue in my head, and taking stories on the journey from vague thoughts in my mind to words on paper, and creating something from nothing.

When I’m writing fiction regularly, it does something to me. It does something for me.

Simply the process of working on fiction helps me.

It gives me energy, and a sense of purpose, and a feeling of being alive.

It helps me deal with day-to-day life because…well, I don’t even know how or why that happens, it just does.

Writing fiction helps me stay sane when it might seem like things are far from okay.

I KNOW all of this.

I’ve known it for a very long time. Decades.

But when I get away from writing fiction for a while, it’s as though I forget these things, at least in some way. I don’t actually forget, because I can repeat all the above to myself or to others, remembering and knowing that all of it is true. But I sort of forget – or maybe it’s that I forget on some level. Whatever it is, though, some part of me (even though I know and remember) will lose sight of the reality for me of all of the above.

And then…

I’ll get back to writing fiction regularly again.

And I’ll be reminded of the truth all over again. About how writing fiction is healing for me. How it helps me with living life. How it helps me get through.

There’s just something fiction writing gives to me that goes missing when I’m not writing fiction.

For a while this year, I got away from my fiction writing but now I’m back to it consistently. Getting out of the house to write in a different location has helped me get back into a fiction-writing routine. I grab my smallest tablet – and I recently got a small, lightweight, foldable bluetooth keyboard that I LOVE and I grab that too – toss them into my purse (because that’s how small and light they are, but they do what I need!) and I head out for an hour or two.

And I write.

For the past couple of months I’ve been leaving home to write at least a couple of days each week (usually more often). This isn’t new for me – I’ve gone in cycles of writing somewhere other than home, and now I’m in another cycle of doing it…and as with writing itself, it can feel a bit surprising to be reminded, to remember how much it helps me to go somewhere else to write.

I’m not sure why we sometimes forget what we know, but I’ve talked with enough people about this to realize it’s not uncommon. We know what we love, what makes us feel alive, what helps us…and yet, on some level, we forget or we lose track or we don’t put it into action.

Then when we do it again, it’s as though we’re reminded all over again of what a difference it makes.

I’m going to do my best to hold onto remembering for good this time.

♥

 

writing time…

I took the above photo of myself and uploaded it on instagram several months ago.

One thing I love to do is spread my notes and research around me as I work out some writing ideas and issues (I usually do the writing itself at the keyboard), and that’s what I was doing the evening I took the picture.

Here’s what I wrote when I shared the photo:

Tonight. In my workroom, modern jazz playing, manuscript notes for the novel spread out around me (in a comfy spot, not at the desk): a big sketchpad, 3-ring binder, spiral notebook, index cards, loose pages and pieces of scratch papers… all of it in addition to the digital files and the actual writing that’s on the computer. (And a purple pen with me, of course.) Notes and research are scattered among these places but it’s surprisingly much more organized than it might seem.

I’m a combo of pantser and loose outliner when it comes to long fiction but I’m pulling all these notes together into more of a “real” outline and I’ll see how that goes. It’s something I try now and then – but always before, I’ve ended up going back to my loose-ish way of bringing the story to life. Which I might do this time too, but I’m experimenting again.

Earlier today I was stuffed up and headachy with allergy/sinus stuff and not feeling well. Right now I feel so much better and sooo alive with joy-plus-calm as the music plays in the background and I work on the writing. Nights spent like this used to be my norm. I’m living in that world again – and I love that I am.

#creativelife #amwriting #indieauthor#thisismytonight #writersofinstagram #writersgonnawrite #creativityjoy#writeratwork

Although my writing times happen at various hours, writing after dark – lamplight filling the room and smooth jazz playing in the background – has been a way and a time I’ve loved to write for almost 30 years.

The music – which usually has no words – helps me get into the flow and  stirs my creative juices.

The night-time writing took advantage of a time of day when my energy was good.

As a night owl, I remember telling people that I often didn’t feel I was fully awake or completely alive until early evening. I said this to friends even back in high school. I was a night owl from my earliest memories.

But…

My energy patterns and sleeping habits have been shifting the past several months. To my surprise, I find I’m enjoying getting to sleep earlier at night and waking up earlier in the mornings.

And this means quieting my mind in the evenings earlier than I used to do.

If my mind and imagination are working on writing, if my brain is stimulated and focused on writing, if I’m feeling the alert aliveness I get while writing in flow, if my mind is streaming ideas and dialogue and plot lines while my fingers type it all out… it’s hard for me to shut off my mind enough to fall asleep soon after.

I need to start settling into comfy, cozy, ready-for-sleep mode earlier. And, unfortunately, working on my writing does the opposite of getting me into that zone.

I still write at night sometimes. I don’t want to give up that time completely when it comes to writing. It feels too good, too content, too joyful, too alive, to never write during the evening hours.

But these past months, my writing time has mostly shifted to mornings or afternoons, depending on my schedule for the day.

The joy, struggle, staring at the blank screen, or words flowing on the keyboard – all of those still happen, just as they always have, no matter what time I write.

And the main thing, regardless of what time, continues to be: I am writing.

♥