What I’ve Been Working On

Jaunting down research rabbit trails aside, I’ve been very busy over here working on all the writerly things. What sort of writerly things? I’m so glad you asked!

When I launched my website, I committed to myself to publish a blog post every week. It’s more challenging than you might think. Brainstorming, researching, writing, editing, selecting an accompanying image, and managing the logistics of posting every single week can be demanding. One of the best practices for blogging I’ve heard repeatedly is to plan and batch write posts. I adore the idea of this, I really do. But the execution is tough for me at times. My writing time is often snatches of time here and there between all the other commitments in my life. I’m doing well to get a single blog post completed in a block of writing time.

And sometimes, the ideas or words just won’t come. Even when writing a book review, occasionally, it’s a slog – even when I loved the book! I personally find that the added pressure of knowing I’ve only got X amount of time to write can send me into the weeds. So, I do my best to brainstorm and jot down ideas to have on hand. When I can manage it, I’ll batch write. And all the other times, I’ll just do my best to get a post written and published each week, even when it feels like I’m writing “hand to mouth.”

Some of my commitments I mentioned that interfere are actually other writing-related goals. Spark Flash Fiction, the online magazine that published my story, Catching the Photographer’s Eye, this spring, opened submissions for their fall edition a couple of weeks ago. I was delighted by the theme and the fact that this particular issue is Spark’s inaugural contest issue. I’ve spent the last several weeks working on a few submissions and am happy to declare I just submitted three short, short stories more than 10 days ahead of the deadline. Whether they acquire any of them or not, I love the feeling of dreaming up ideas and characters and playing with the stories until they are just what I envisioned. Setting goals and working to accomplish them is so rewarding, even if the end result isn’t exactly what I hoped for (to be published again).

November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. Have you heard of it? NaNoWriMo is a writing challenge, where the goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. I’ve “won” or completed NaNo twice before. I am currently planning to give it a go again this November. This year, I’m trying something different: I’m planning ahead. My two previous efforts, I set out with a vague notion of a story and characters that I was excited about. That’s about it. I sat down each day and endeavored to get at least 1,667 words on the page (screen) every time. While I love writing as a pantser (writing by the seat of my pants), allowing my characters to boss me around as I write, I suspect my first drafts would be better if I outlined the story beforehand, at least a little bit. So this attempt, I have the characters and idea and have already begun trying to plot out the story a bit using the snowflake method. I’m excited to see how it goes.

In case you were wondering about the status of my edits on The Wedding Belle, I have intentionally set that aside for a time. I was struggling with the rewriting and getting the story changes I wanted to implement just right, so I decided to put it on the back burner while continuing to nurture my creativity by doing other writing. My TWB characters are never far from my heart and mind, though, so I trust I’ll return to them when I’m ready to finish their story.

Regardless of my schedule or what I’m working on, I have made it a priority to have a few hours of writing time at least four days a week. That time is sometimes interrupted or cut short by everyday life, but I protect it as much as I’m able. I used to justify putting off writing because my schedule was unpredictable and our lives, busy. But the urge to write, the call I feel upon my heart, shifted my perspective. I love this quote by E.B. White: “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.” And so, I write.

What about you? Is there anything you’ve wanted to do or accomplish that you’ve put off for lack of ideal conditions? Do you have any dreams that have fallen by the wayside because life got in the way? What could you do today to take a step toward rekindling those dreams?