Every writer finds it. It’s rare, but it happens. Once in a while, a story takes hold of you and forces you to keep writing. You let things slide; dishes pile up in the sink, the house gets a little dusty, the cats and the kids have to whine at you to remind you they need to be fed. But nothing supersedes the story. You’re compelled to keep working on it. You lock the door to your office and huddle there over your keyboard while the story forces its way from your imagination onto the paper.
Momentum.
That’s what every professional writer wants. Momentum. The kind of drive that pushes you to lose sleep, miss meals, forget appointments or snarl at any mortal foolish enough to interrupt you. Once momentum gains hold of your life, it’s hard to let go of it. Why, you may ask?
Because a writer’s greatest fear is losing momentum.
There is a way to have your cake and eat it too. Writers need to learn how to ride their momentum. What I mean by this is very simple–scheduling. I’m a firm believer in scheduling. If I could schedule every second of my day,I would. Right now, for example, I’m riding a huge wave of momentum. I’ve got three projects cranking along at top speed. However, I also have two projects (of mine) in edits plus I have to edit projects professionally for other writers. How in the world am I going to accomplish it all?
Let’s start off with your schedule. What suits you best? Do you write better in the morning, when you’ve had your first cup of coffee? Or, like me, do you write better once the sun goes down and the house gets quiet? Your priority as a writer is to determine your peak time of day for work. For me, it’s night. The morning is the worst. So, when I wake up I take care of the non-writing things: cleaning the house, feeding the critters, running errands. Then, I look to my second priority–which is editing. I take my editing seriously. I’m dealing with another writer’s work and it’s my responsibility to help them produce the best work possible. So, I block out a two hour section in the late morning when I work on the editing projects I have on my desk. My mind is alert–after all, I’ve already cleaned the cat boxes–and I can concentrate on the technical aspects of someone else’s work. One thing I’ve learned is that since I’ve started editing, my own writing has improved immeasurably.
You may not edit professionally, but you still edit. Rewriting is the most important part of the writing process, whether you revamp a story five times or thirty. No matter who you are, there is no such thing as a perfect first draft. So block out some time to rework your stories every day. Even just sitting back and reading them without a red pencil in sight can give you insight into how your story flows. If not that, it’s a good time to blog. Stretch your writing muscles. Do a little world building. Do something writing related that will help your mind to expand and relax.
Then, whatever else you do, take some time for yourself. Have some coffee, watch some TV or read a good book for a while. Me time is more important to a writer than you may think.
Now, finally, it’s time to catch that wave. The momentum has been pushing against you all day. The story is excited; it’s ready to come to life. Shut yourself away in your writing space and pick up the story where you left it off yesterday. You may be asking yourself why it’s important to take time away from that momentum. Why not just get up and start writing first thing and go the whole day pounding out the story and to hell with the rest of it? The answer is simple: the more focused your mind is upon the project at hand, the better the result. Just as with musicians, authors have to practice. We have to exercise our minds, stretch them out a bit, before we turn to the project at hand. There have been mornings when I ignored my schedule and went straight into writing. Trust me; that’s usually where I have to rewrite the most. If I follow my schedule, I can ride that momentum with a clearer mind and a deeper focus on the story I’m working on. But, to get the greatest benefit from that momentum, you have to learn how to channel it so that it works best for you.
You may find that your writing world is the direct opposite of mine. I’ve always been jealous of those people who wake up at 5 a.m. and immediately sit down to write with clear minds and absolute focus. I’m just not that kind of girl. What I can tell you is that if you find yourself in the grip of overwhelming momentum, there are ways to channel that energy and make every word you write count in the end.
Happy writing!
Entries (RSS)