#15: the ever-evolving process-go-round
Hi! So the last couple of tinyletters were filled travel and et cetera, et cetera-ing, and this one will be back in the actual country where I usually (and am supposed to!) reside, the country of work.
You've probably picked up on this, but I've talked to a couple of people about how making the switch to writing full time is--in many ways--like getting a new job. I wish I'd thought of it that way up front. But, yes, it's true, it takes time to figure out what works and to establish new patterns and rhythms.
And, let me just say, I know it is HELLACIOUSLY difficult to write books with a full-time day job. I never ever ever want to go back. But it's also how I wrote every single one of my books--at least in the formative stage--except for the one I'm writing now (Lois 3) and the proposal I finished recently. Everything else was in some state of existence before the beginning of the year when I leapt.
I think intellectually I knew that writing two to three books a year for a few years in a row there while holding down a capital r Real Job had probably left me with some level of burnout. I don't think I had any real concept of just how capital b Burned Out that was though. What that translated to, in retrospect, was a lot of letting new things sift through my brain, with more walking and moving in general (be it through our neighborhoods, at Bella Forza, or on my many travails). I have finished several smaller projects in that time, written outlines for bigger ones. I'm not claiming I didn't get anything done, because that would be crazycakes, even for doesn't-know-how-to-take-a-day-off me.
BUT what it means is that I'm just now, since we got back home for the month of August, realizing how much MORE I can accomplish now that I'm free to almost entirely clear my schedule and Just Write when I need to. I have never been one to switch back and forth between projects in the same day or even the same week, if avoidable. I don't do it well. I never have. I'm much more of the "focus on this for two days, three weeks, etc" IF the projects are in the initial composition phase. I can juggle in things at later stages a bit better, but nope, when I'm writing from scratch I need to be able to slip in and out of that world with ease.
A side note to illuminate this: Our middle grade--which we just turned in the revisions of last Sunday, hooray!--is in close third in the POV of the kid who is the main character. Whenever I would switch from working in that file to Lois Lane, I would inevitably discover I'd written at least a couple of paragraphs in close third there too. DOH! Which was why I realized that I needed to just work with C to get the MG cleared off our plate (at least for now!), and then focus exclusively on Lois until I turn it in.
About this same time, last week, I got a text from one of my favorite humans and writers, Courtney Stevens, just checking in. She magically had sensed that I was about to launch into "Let's do this" mode on Triple Threat and asked if I wanted to do formal cheer-on, check-ins during the week. I'm a big believer in accountability buddies. For a lot of us, it's nice to have an extra someone who you can worry about disappointing than besides yourself. (Oh, writer neuroses, they are plentiful.) So Monday morning, I got my first check-in text. And let me tell you, it was a big help. If you're having trouble, I heartily suggest recruiting a pal.
My goal was to hit a 2,000 words per day pace (going from a very variable word count, not daily, because of all that travel) and I've busted that by a bit. In fact, I think I finally get how I can best make use of this more time I now have, and of having a non-burned out brain. I have a good, solid outline, which has required only minor tweaking so far. I have the ability to let most non-book things go hang for the duration (and the things I do have to do are nice things, good breaks from writing).
The very best thing though, is how unrushed I feel. This is a good pace. It's a sustainable pace. Will I be tired at the end? Sure. Will I feel like I've scooped all the me out of my bucket and am empty? Nope.
(So I say now anyway.)
This brings me to perhaps the thing I now feel is my biggest source of gratitude for the year: how much joy I'm getting out of the various projects I'm working on. I will not for a moment take that for granted. Writing is fun again. Also, you guys, there are SO MANY FEELINGS in this book. SO MANY. I may kill myself with some of these Lois and SmallvilleGuy scenes. They are ADORABLE.
GAH.
ANYWAY, TL/DR I figured out how to write books again and hopefully better. I think I actually CAN do more stuff than I've been doing. I get the time fu now. It's about focus and attention. It's about rediscovering my own old best writing advice again, when I have the energy to take it: Stop dicking around.
Work.
YAY.
This week's news:
Hey there was a post at B&N about how you need my Lois Lane books in your life and who am I to disagree? (This was a day-maker.)
Jana Nyman at Fantasy Literature wrote a great review of Girl in the Shadows;
Issue #2 of Girl Over Paris was released! Comixology has a preview!
I was interviewed (along with many of my favorite people) for this PW piece, where I talk about Lois Lane.