Form an orderly queue ...
Monday morning, and I'm staring at two very big files of notes, about to embark on editing the next book. It's a bit like standing at the bottom of a mountain, looking up. You know it will be great when you get to the top, but there's a long way to go. That pesky boondoggler at the back of your mind goes 'hey, look, you need a new file - what are you going to do with all the editor's notes? C'mon - you could do with a good cup of coffee too, let's just sneak off to the mall, buy some stationery, grab some breakfast ...' Then an email comes in to do with the launch at VCUQ, and that little voice goes 'come on, you need to write up a press release now ...' Then you think - 'crikey, the Canadian blog tour. Let's get ahead of the game and write today's post ...' Does any of this sound familiar? How do you cope with the excuses - legitimate or otherwise, that you come up with not to dive into what you really need to be getting on with?
Today's blog tour post over at the Krissy Brady's great site Keeping the Passion for Writing Alive is all about process - we talk about how books really get written. What I'm looking at on my desk today are three distinct phases: there's the finished article - The Beauty Chorus (and in my filing cabinet/basket, all the publicity and blog tour notes). There's the rough diamond, the next book (the files in the foreground that could give you a hernia). Then there's the shimmering, glimmering idea of a book - the one I'll start writing this summer. That book is pictures on the mood board, it's piles of research books and notes, it's music on my mp3 player at the gym. Add the three together, and that's three competing casts of characters jostling for mental space. Form a queue, ladies and gentlemen, please.
So - how do you keep your passion for writing alive? The truth is, I love it. Wouldn't change it for the world. When 'work' involves reading endless books for research, pinned down by two indolent Siamese cats who make a beeline for you the moment you sit down with a book - well, this process isn't too bad. Now, who needs a cup of coffee?
