How I write
I’m interested to see how my writing techniques and beliefs have evolved. I anguish less over blog posts, enjoy experimenting with different ways of recording and researching information, and I enjoy, far more than I used to, the pressure of the everyday, which seems to galvanise me, catapulting me, where previously, with whole long days at my disposal, writing tended to be – but was not always – a bit hit and miss.
Here are my current best tips for writing consistently and enjoyably.
~ Having a lot of other things to do does not mean we can’t write. It can simply mean that we refuse to be beaten. If I have a deadline, say, and suddenly a million things come to get in the way of reaching that, I simply have to evolve new ways of working: Getting up earlier in the morning, turning off the phone, deciding that I deserve to take my work more seriously. That I don’t get paid much or often has nothing to do with my sense of discipline or purpose. Perhaps taking writing more seriously, I can begin to envision being paid seriously too.
~ I used to believe that the artistic, writing muse did not relish being summoned regularly every day. As a result, my work was not often timetabled, and my writing time was subject to the whims and changes of anything that got in the way (which was more or less everything). Now, I’m happy to say, I see that having a regular writing habit – or at least an attitude that values work time and refuses to compromise it for anything – allows my writing muse to come out and play regularly too. As those who know me will know, I tend to the view that I am not the instigator, more the facilitator of my writing. Knowing I shall usually be available between 2.30 and 5.30 every weekday afternoon, my writing muse appears more consistently and easily, with a relaxed vibe, rather than one which suspects that my current visit to the writing shore will be brief and likely to be cut off at a moment’s notice; an attitude which rarely results in the best work…
~ I set a work time, a regular work time in my diary. I respect that division, and treat it as I would any other office commitment. As hubby reminded me, those of us who work for ourselves have no-one to help us set our priorities or to say, “I need this from you by the end of the week.” So it’s up to us to set the rules, and to say, when someone asks us to come to the garden centre on an inconvenient workday afternoon – “No, sorry, I’d love to, but I’m busy at that time.”
No doubt my ideas will continue evolving, but these ideas are helping me at the moment.
Thanks for reading.
***
Please share:
June 2, 2018
How I write
Fran Macilvey The Rights & Wrongs of Writing, Women's fiction and chic lit 0 Comments
How I write
I’m interested to see how my writing techniques and beliefs have evolved. I anguish less over blog posts, enjoy experimenting with different ways of recording and researching information, and I enjoy, far more than I used to, the pressure of the everyday, which seems to galvanise me, catapulting me, where previously, with whole long days at my disposal, writing tended to be – but was not always – a bit hit and miss.
Here are my current best tips for writing consistently and enjoyably.
~ Having a lot of other things to do does not mean we can’t write. It can simply mean that we refuse to be beaten. If I have a deadline, say, and suddenly a million things come to get in the way of reaching that, I simply have to evolve new ways of working: Getting up earlier in the morning, turning off the phone, deciding that I deserve to take my work more seriously. That I don’t get paid much or often has nothing to do with my sense of discipline or purpose. Perhaps taking writing more seriously, I can begin to envision being paid seriously too.
~ I used to believe that the artistic, writing muse did not relish being summoned regularly every day. As a result, my work was not often timetabled, and my writing time was subject to the whims and changes of anything that got in the way (which was more or less everything). Now, I’m happy to say, I see that having a regular writing habit – or at least an attitude that values work time and refuses to compromise it for anything – allows my writing muse to come out and play regularly too. As those who know me will know, I tend to the view that I am not the instigator, more the facilitator of my writing. Knowing I shall usually be available between 2.30 and 5.30 every weekday afternoon, my writing muse appears more consistently and easily, with a relaxed vibe, rather than one which suspects that my current visit to the writing shore will be brief and likely to be cut off at a moment’s notice; an attitude which rarely results in the best work…
~ I set a work time, a regular work time in my diary. I respect that division, and treat it as I would any other office commitment. As hubby reminded me, those of us who work for ourselves have no-one to help us set our priorities or to say, “I need this from you by the end of the week.” So it’s up to us to set the rules, and to say, when someone asks us to come to the garden centre on an inconvenient workday afternoon – “No, sorry, I’d love to, but I’m busy at that time.”
No doubt my ideas will continue evolving, but these ideas are helping me at the moment.
Thanks for reading.
***
Please share: