When Life Gets In The Way

How many newbies, in fact how many writers overall have been graced with the good fortune to consider writing their full-time job? Other than those who started on this path fresh out of college, the majority of writers, even the biggest names in the industry, often start out as something else, teachers, lawyers, social workers, eventually turning a part time passion into a fully-fledged career.

An amazing feat and certainly something to aspire to, but how does that translate in the real world.

Handling the demands of life today is already pretty tough. Working, parenting, self-care and maintaining healthy social connections can often be exhausting. With so much going on, how on earth do you find time to add another task to an already seemingly endless list and ensure it is done on a consistent basis?

For most people it’s an impossible task. A lot depends upon how regulated your current schedule is. For some it may be possible to allocate a specific day and time to writing, for others your window of opportunity may change on a day-to-day, or week-to-week basis. Getting up an hour earlier, staying up an hour later, employing ways to free time like ordering groceries online, or extending your working day may be necessary.

When I was teaching, Sunday afternoons and Monday evenings were when the bulk of my writing was done. My husband and son’s were abandoned to fend for themselves, and I would dash home from work to lock myself away for a solid 3-4 hours. It became the highlight of my week. Driving to and from work I would make voice notes about ideas and dialect. Before my students arrived each day, if I could I would snatch ten minutes to draft a paragraph or two, and if I was lucky enough to get a lunch break I would add to whatever I had cooking.

Different people write in different ways. Some like to have a well devised storyline before they even get into the process of writing their first chapter. Some may start with just the smallest relatively undeveloped idea and go with the flow, clueless as to where it will take them.

I fall somewhere in the middle. I need a rough idea of the direction I’m going to take but I never fully commit to it. In truth I’m not always sure of what will happen until it actually does. I have never yet written anything in order, often writing chunks of chapters with no idea how the characters actually get to that point until much later on.

One of the problems I faced came from pressure I had started to put on to myself, mainly brought about by time constraints. Working full time with, like everyone, a million other things to do each day, my time to write was limited and therefore I started to believe that I needed to ensure that every moment I spent writing had to result in something meaningful and worthwhile.

When I was longer teaching I felt that I should have been able to carve out bigger slots of time to write and when I couldn’t I no longer considered brief moments sufficient.

I stopped snatching a quick thirty minutes here and there to jot down ideas afraid that what I did in the time would not be good enough, postponing it until I had time to “get into it properly.”

The problem was that time never came. And when it did I had exerted so much pressure on myself to produce something worthy that a fundamental part of my writing process was withheld, the element of creative flow.

I’m a fan of Masterclass, especially the writers sessions, the classes with David Baldacci and James Patterson being my favorite. Not only are the author tips and insights remarkably helpful, gaining insight into each writers personal journey serves as a fantastic source of inspiration. Learning that some of the world’s most successful and revered writers faced the same struggles and more importantly discovered ways to overcome such struggles is both motivational and one of the best forms of encouragement.

David Baldacci talks about protecting the process. I love this phrase.

Protecting the process refers to prioritizing a window in which to write, but without the pressure to necessarily produce each and every time.

Not everything you write has to yield a polished and perfected result, and that’s a good thing. Sometimes the messiest of beginnings lead to the freshest, most innovative end products, opening up pathways full of twists and turns that you may never have foreseen.

The concept is simple, I cast no particular expectations upon my myself aside from, close the door, turn off devices and just write for whatever period of time I have. I focus solely on the process not the product at the end of it.

Using this methodology I have written literally pages only to discard 90% but the retained 10% has set the foundation for the next three or four chapters and revealed aspects of a character or storyline I had previously been unaware of.

I write. I don’t pause, I don’t proofread or amend as I go, I just go and keep going until my cup is empty. Then I go back and read what I have written and every single time this process opens up an array of options regarding the direction I can take the story in, a new potential twist, or another layer I can add to a character or scene.

Don’t worry about how you start, just make sure that you start. The first draft is just that, and if there are parts that need to be cut later down the line, know that the only reason is to replace them with something even better, something that would not be in existence if it wasn’t for that jumbled first draft

Writing involves several stages, but with a little bit of faith, a trust in the process, and just a smidge of belief in yourself you’d be surprised at what you can produce.

It takes no time at all to polish and paint a rock, potentially producing something of beauty. But if you indulge yourself the time to embark on the task of cutting, shaping, and polishing your work there is nothing to stop you from transforming that little rock into a diamond, you just need to have something to start with.