galadrielwatson

January 31, 2015

An Awesome Day of Writing

In my blog post last week, I lamented getting stuck in my writing. Earlier this week, I’m happy to say, I found myself in the opposite situation: in the awesome state of flow.

Okay, okay, like the Grinch down the chimney, I got stuck for a moment or two. But then the answer came and I was off. And kept going. And kept going.

Though life pulled me away from time to time—a load of laundry here, a vet appointment there—they weren’t welcome distractions, like they so often can be. They were: Aww, I have to get up now?

For the ideas kept coming. Not necessarily amazing ideas. But ideas that kept moving me forward.

Ernest Hemingway said the following:

“The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next … and don’t think about it or worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time.”

I say, why take the risk? If I know what needs to come next, then let it come next right now. Sooner or later life will impede (i.e. my family will come home) and then you’ll be forced to stop. Until then, go for it. Don’t make your subconscious fuss over what you already know; let it fuss over what comes beyond that point. So when you next have time to write, you can strive for that awesomeness all over again.

How do you proceed in your writing? Do you stop when you know what comes next?

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About the Author

Posted by Galadriel

Hi, I’m Galadriel: blogger, author, reader and resident of a quaint small town in the breathtaking West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

January 28, 2015

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Impulse Control

Living in a small town, one thing I don’t have to worry about very often is impulse buying, especially when it comes to books.

That’s because there are few books to be had—except used books, which aren’t my cup of tea, or supermarket and gas station selections, which generally don’t tempt me at all.

So when I’m reading book reviews that make me itch for the latest and greatest, how do I scratch? I can’t run out and buy them. I refuse to pay shipping charges when ordering online from Chapters, so can’t buy one book at a time. My visits to mortar-and-bricks bookstores are few and far between. My library only offers so much—and you can’t order in books from afar that were published within the last year.

This is where Goodreads has become my saviour. I want a book: I mark it down. Then I can sigh and let the I-WANT impulse fade away.

One day I might buy the book. Or may not. One day I may be lucky enough to find it in my library. But at least I was able to act—free of charge—on my desire.

I currently have 65 books on my Goodreads to-read list. The next time I’m in the bookstore, I’ll look some of them up. I may come home with a few—which will feel impulsive and crazy, but will actually be well thought out. And a few is a heck of a lot less than 65.

Do you run out and buy every book you want? How do you keep in control?

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About the Author

Posted by Galadriel

January 24, 2015

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Getting Unstuck

A while back, when writing about writer’s block, I smugly said: “I honestly can’t remember ever having it.” I should have known that would come back to bite me.

Because after Christmas, I came to a period of blank “uh…what do I do now?”

Unfortunately, my own writer’s block remedy—to notch up the pre-writing planning—seemed to have been the cause.

For I had planned. And I had planned. And sure, there could always be more planning…but I had planned. My head was crammed with so many intertwined, fantastic thoughts that my brain couldn’t compute where to go next. It was a traffic jam of ideas.

So between the planning and the doing, for a few days I got stuck.

I think the major essence was that I had a relatively whole, exciting vision of the completed novel—and therefore making it happen was far too unfathomable. How could I possibly use words on paper to create such incredible wow?

Of course, the answer is that in the first draft, you don’t. First drafts aren’t meant to wow. The initial stab won’t include all the suspense, all the nuances, all the foreshadowing, all the depth of character. Those come with the layering that comes with the subsequent drafts.

So once I agreed yeah, this’ll be crap, I was able to move on. My first draft now has over 10,000 words. They may not be lovely words. They certainly aren’t wow. But I’ll work on that later.

How do you get through the first draft?

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