Morning Owls - Writing In The A.M.

Recently, I've had some trouble keeping up with my daily writing schedule. I usually leave my writing to the last minute, so that I'm trying to be creative and do something I enjoy when I'm exhausted and spent. It's like spending a day at the beach with a bad hangover.

In addition, I'm not a morning person, and the habit of staying up late trying to write just makes it worse. I'm lucky that my current job allows me to roll out of bed around 8:30 to make it to work by 9. However, I often find myself pushing the limits, trying to stay safely ensconced in my bed for just a few minutes longer. And it's not just me; many creative people I've met share this tendency towards loving the night.

Luckily, I just discovered a new goal that I hope will help alleviate both of these issues: write first thing in the morning! This might sound like crazy talk, given that I already push the limits of how long I can stay at home before leaving for work, but just bear with me for a moment. Before I started writing first thing in the morning, my train of thought upon waking would look something like this:

Ugh. Morning again. Stupid dog kept me up last night. So tired. What do I have to do today? Let's see, get up, shower, then go to work. I've got some people to email, then I have to call people and try and sell them a product they're not interested in. I wonder if the software manual needs updating? I wonder if this is really the kind of work I should be doing at this time in my life? Maybe I'll just stay in bed today.

After I started writing first thing in the morning, my thoughts changed to this:

Morning again. Stupid... Oh yeah, gotta turn on my laptop and write something. But what? Let's see, Elish just ran into Eydie the Unbearable, and she's trying to figure out if the girl is the Wise One she's looking for. Hey! Wouldn't it be interesting if I had those evil women find her at Eydie's house, and then there'd be a chase? That would definitely spice things up.

Writing excites to me. I love it; I enjoy it. It's so much nicer to wake up to something you enjoy than to something you dread. Until I can support myself as an author, I have to stick with my day job, and this helps me do that without going crazy.

Now the only hard part is putting away the laptop so I won't be (too) late for work...

Writing on Command

I think I mentioned that at the Write Stuff conference, Jonathan Maberry encouraged us to write every day. The more you write, the better you become, as with most things in life.

I've managed to write on nineteen of the past twenty days, for a grand total of 16,000 words, give or take a short story or two. There are certainly times I just want to give it up, but I manage to keep going. I think it helps to have experience writing in a not-necessarily-creative field. For example, journalists don't have the luxury of not writing; for them, writer's block equals not having a job anymore. Loss of income source is a powerful motivator.

For me, the non-creative writing comes in the form of technical writing. In one way, they are the bane of my existence: page after page after page of "Press this button, and this window opens. In order to add..." They represent boredom to the nth power. On the other hand, like with journalism, you can't just say "I'm not going to write today," unless you value your job very little. And, surprisingly, technical writing does help to develop your skills. The more you write, the better your spelling, stronger your grammar, and faster your typing. You focus less on the deceptive beauty of flowery language, and more on the nuts and bolts of getting your message across. At the same time, you develop various ways of saying a certain phrase to preserve interest in the most mundane situations.

I'm not suggesting all emerging authors go out and get jobs as technical writers, but it never hurts to consider writing styles outside of your main focus. Before I wrote the user manuals, I often found myself bogged down with painting the perfect picture with luscious verbs and tantalizing adjectives. "She swayed as the wind took her, and flicked about her mellifluous, auburn hair." I've learned now that whimsical turns of phrase do not a story make. It's much better to indulge in conciseness and clarity than thesauruses (thesauri?)

Don't leave writing to the last moment

I've been working on establishing a habit of writing every day. I've started small with a goal of fifteen minutes (starting small is important for establishing new habits!), and so far I've managed to write on eight of the past nine days. Not bad, considering my previous recent record was two for sixty...

Getting motivated isn't a huge problem; I love to write, and I'm excited to finally be making an honest go of it. However, I'm also a lifelong practitioner of the ancient art of procrastination, and I often end up leaving writing to the very, very, tail end of the day when all I want to do is sleep. Sleep is one of my most favorite things in the world, and I'm not one of those people who can get by on a measly seven and a half, or even eight, hours. Additionally, after I write my, mind starts to churn with all sorts of ideas and possibilites: not a great starting point for a good night's sleep!

My solution: write during the day, and not at the end of it! But of course! Stress relief gurus advocate taking frequent, short breaks throughout the work day, and what better way to relax than to cozy up with a laptop for ten minutes and build worlds out of words? Or instead, I can type a few while eating lunch, or maybe (gasp!) even get up fifteen minutes early to write. The possibilites are endless.

We'll see how that works.

On Motivation

A couple of days ago I got back in touch with Karen Syed, who taught a great class at the Carroll County Community College last year about how to get your works published.

Main points to remember:
- Get your work out there wherever you can
- Craft a tagline that tells people about your work and how to contact you
- Learn how to write flawless query and cover letters
- Marketing a book is just as important as writint it
- Do something every day to advance your writing career!

Now that's she's seen what I'm working on, she's made up her mind that I have no choice but to go forward. Talk about motivation!

Karen is a publisher who owns the publishing company Echelon Press. She also has a line of books for children and young adults AND she is a successful writer and public speaker in her own right, so I have a lot to live up to!