It's been a busy couple of weeks of writing. Sorry I'm not blogging more, but while I'm drafting time becomes a precious commodity. My approach is changing, a bit, this time around also.
Writing MFoDB was a lot like guerrilla warfare. I had to take my chromebook everywhere with me and try to find five minutes here and there to bang out a thousand words or so during the day. It was a case of a little here and there adds up to a lot. Unfortunately, this created quite the editing problem for me in the revisions. My writing style was choppy, disjointed, uneven and it took a WHOLE lot of work to piece it all together and make it cohesive. In the end I was very happy with the product but it was forged in fire, blood, and exhaustion.
After my first few days of working on Maestri it became clear to me that this approach was going to be unsustainable. I wasn't going to fight for scraps of time to complete my vision on this novel.
I have set up dedicated time to write and the rest of the world can just function without me for a couple hours per day. My wife has been great about accepting that I need distance and privacy to focus on my craft. I explained it to her like a computer being pushed to the limits of its RAM. That's how I feel. It all loads into my consciousness and any outside influence buffers out important, pertinent data involving my story.
Another way in which I have made this book easier on myself is by compartmentalizing it. I have divided the work into 4 distinct sections. This allows me to focus on one part at a time, knowing where my beginnings and endings are so the script doesn't wander away from me. I really hate it when my characters have too much free reign and become uncooperative.
I highly recommend finding a way to communicate to the people in your life that you absolutely NEED SPACE and privacy to work on your book. Writers, if the people in your life care then they will make that small sacrifice for you. Please don't do like I did this past year and run yourself into the ground trying to get your book finished. It really took a toll on my psyche. For a while, during edits, I was unsure whether I even wanted to move forward on book 2.
It's so easy to say "I'm going to write a book" but oh so much harder to actually find the time in your day. Don't put all of the burden of your hobby/career on your own shoulders. It is okay to ask people around you to help you out by giving you the environment that you need to be productive in your literary endeavors.
Take care of yourselves.
The Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett will be FREE in ebook format from Amazon for Kindle to celebrate the upcoming Friday the 13th! Get it free from 12/10-12/13.
https://www.amazon.com/Morbid-Fascinations-David-Bennett-ebook/dp/B07ZG4N2XB
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