Going fast through my second month with research for my novel, I´m also getting closer to get to know my characters as types. I´m working on a framework for them, in that I build layer upon layer like an onion.
The time feels short at this of year for me. I tend to have a disposition for winter depressions, so I engage in as much work as I can handle. I don´t need to sit and sob half of the year, and therefore I work my way through it.
Slowly, but steady, I´m preparing myself and my loved ones for nine months of drafting. It will not be so different from now, except that I will need to focus my concentration on writing in certain periods of time.
I plan to work two hours at a time with regular breaks and then take half an hour off for daily chores and doing something completely different from writing. There also has to be time for my loved ones, and occasionally I will take a day off.
I´m excited to the point of wanting to let the horses out and dance across the keyboard to the sound of epic instrumental music with howling bass guitar riffs and intriguing thundering drums. But I control myself, I know there will be plenty of time for that soon, and I concentrate on the learning process.
If I wore a hat, I would take it off in awe and admiration. It is not easy to write a novel. It shouldn´t be, for the road to the destination is a journey of experiences. The feeling of working with the tools and ideas like a big puzzle is impossible to let go of.
It is a want and a need. To write has become essential to me. It is my reward for having being present for my loved ones. It is my reward for having participated in the issues of the mundane world. It is my reward for having done my duties as a human being.
Preparing for nine months of drafting is about much more than “just” creating a world from an idea. It is recognizing that the body, mind, and soul need to be in the best shape possible. Half, if not more, of the workload, is in the research and the physical-mental well-being of the writer.
Gradually, I´m creating a writing habit that fulfills my goals about writing 3-500 words daily in my novel. I´m also aware that there will be days where I can´t write so much or so little. But that is the reason behind my choice of using nine months to create the first draft for my novel.
Living with several mental disorders and physical ailments as well can seem like a huge mountain to climb. I try to immerse myself in life as it is, and my main recipe for success is to engage yourself with a positive outlook. To never, never back down.
Physical preparations
This week I need to clean my creative den and re-arrange it, for it is going to be one of my work stations when I begin the drafting period on March 1st, 2020. And then I pick one place at a time and do the same there. When the cleaning is done, I´ll use my white sage incense to clear any stale energy.
Today, I cleared my permanent writing desk and my working place in the living room. Now I have my late mother´s working bag at a central place with the most important tools to carry around with me, depending on my mood of the day and the time of day.
I prefer writing in natural light in the mornings, comfortable in the afternoons, and as simple as possible in the evenings and nights. So I plan to sit in my creative den in the mornings, surrounded by creativity, to relax, meditate and write in my witch´s den in the afternoons, and the rest of the time either at my writing desk or in the living room.
When re-writing notes, I prefer my writing desk where it is easier to write in hand, but when taking notes, I prefer doing it everywhere else. I seldom sit still for longer periods of time due to the side effects of prescription medicine, and therefore, I have several places to work.
Physical preparations are also to make sure that the necessary tools and supplies are available, so I have been going through my stock of paper, pens, sticky notes, etc, and soon I will have everything I need. I wait for the budget-friendly offers, for the main budget has to remain stable no matter what.
One important issue is the quality of the light at my work stations. The permanent places are equipped with lamps with both sharp and comfortable light. And my findings are often from a local second-hand shop, for the stuff there are usually as good as any expensive items.
And I like the concept of re-purposing things before throwing them away. There is enough garbage going around in the world already, and there is only one way to change that. And that is to begin by yourself and get going instead of preaching.
We sort our garbage, we re-purpose as much as possible, and we use only what we need. Were it not for the condition of my eyes, I wouldn´t mind writing in candlelight alone. But fortunately, today it is possible to get light bulbs with low energy consumption.
Another important issue in my physical preparations for nine months of drafting is to make sure to remember to back up my material. I have before been in situations where a laptop decided to get a life of its own and mess everything up, so I only had some curly notes with coffee stains to work from.
So I have learned from past mistakes. I´m as prepared as possible. It is the second-best part of writing.
Mental preparations
The best part of writing is to feel the words come alive both in my mind and on paper/the screen. That´s when it feels like riding an untamed roller coaster or flying on a magic carpet.
This is the heavy-duty part of my preparations as a writer and a human being. Besides the obvious part of researching my novel, it is a major learning journey that I have embarked on. I learn so many new things on a daily basis that I need some time to relax and stretch my mind.
I meditate at least half an hour daily to be able to concentrate long enough to write in longer sessions. When I meditate, I think of the task before me, of what I wrote the day before, and of the long-term goal with all this.
When I´m not preparing notes, I try to read and watch as many psychological thrillers as possible. At the moment I´m reading “Mercedes Man” by Stephen King, and I´m eagerly awaiting my Christmas present, “How to write a damn good thriller” by James N. Frey.
But I also take time off to do completely different things, for working with a psychological thriller takes it toll on the writer. It is a complex area to work with, and it is necessary to debrief form time to time. After all, it is about trying to work inside the minds of fictive people with serious flaws.
So when I take time off or do something else, I think as little as possible about my writing, to free myself from the sinister world in my psychological thriller. I use my life experiences with many different people, both from high and low places.
For where there is darkness, there is also light. And I know from a life of experiences for better or for worse that people will do their best to stay on the light side as long as possible. But I also know that we all carry the seeds for doing wrong at some point in our lives.
That we are all flawed in some way. Perfectionism is an ideal that I myself have had my struggles with. It is only in my later years that I have been willing to acknowledge that it is an impossible ideal. What lies beyond perfection, boredom because if perfection is accomplished, it can´t be done better.
I believe that there always is room for improvement in the way we act towards each other and other species. Being flawed by nature is often misunderstood as being undesirable, but I believe it is essential to be a human being. How would we learn from our mistakes if perfection were to rule the world ?
Just watch and listen when things go wrong in the world of perfection. It scars people for life, in a way that is undesirable for us all. It is all about the money, the famous fifteen minutes of fame, and “see me, hear me” cries.
What´s the reward being a writer
A writer´s reward is the feeling that I´m contributing something to the world of opportunities that I live in. It is the sensation in the body, mind, and soul that I´m using my abilities to create what I´m capable of creating.
Dancing words play a strange, yet familiar tune of the pitfalls of life and the human wrecks that modern society so often create these years. Abruptly interrupted by a distinctive switch to the positive outlook that is my conclusion about my perception of the meaning of life.
No matter how harsh and how unfair circumstances people grow up with, there is a personal responsibility for us all. Unless we suffer from disorders and ailments beyond our control. The space between these two absolutes is vast and is under recurring research.
That space is what I dream to write about in a novel. I find it interesting and life-affirming to learn about myself through the spoken words and actions of other people. By observing and listening, I get to question my own beliefs and assumptions. It is healthy to look outside oneself from time to time.
Therefore, a writer´s reward is also the feeling that everything will be quite okay in this writing life of mine. It may turn out to be the most difficult and yet the most giving time of my life. One thing is to write about writing a novel. Another issue is to do it in real life, alone, for real.
I´m extremely careful not to let all this exciting stuff clutter my mind. I take a lot of breaks, and today, I took a long nap in the afternoon, just because it felt right. I knew with myself that I would get the post for today done later.
And so I sit here in my living room with a new, old-fashioned lamp with a bow attached to it. The evening is here, the twilight has passed for the day. In my next blog post on writing, I´ll show my journey from idea to a novel with a view into my working process with my characters.
My husband is cooking a late, but delicious dinner, the little wise, old dog chews on his bone wagging his tail, and the three philosophical cats are playing around as they do every evening with us. It is quiet, no cars thundering down the street, only a few young people gathered at the green area next to our local grocery store.
It´s peaceful, a night full of every possible adventure, only the imagination sets the limits. It´s a privilege to write and get new readers. I know that tonight will be one of the great sessions until late at night.
I get rewarded every time I write. It is a pleasure in itself, it is a dream coming true right before me, it is worth every inch of the efforts. May you find such a joy in life, may your dreams come true.
The Northern Witch' s Blog 