Writing Update: March 2016

February turned into a train wreck. Perhaps LTUE this year got me too excited to write. Suddenly all my plans changed. I dropped the fantasy novel I was trying to begin and picked up the YA paranormal fantasy I’ve been toying with. About all I proved there is that I am not a “pantser”. I have to plan my work at least a little. And I learned that writing in first person is a lot harder than I thought.

I also suddenly got all sorts of ideas on how to improve my previous two novels through significant revisions.

So in essence, I got really, really distracted and ended up with very little to show for it. And burned out on writing. Again. It didn’t help that things have become really busy and demanding at work, and even my lunch our has been intermittent. That really makes it hard to get anything going in my writing.

So, it’s time to regroup and try again. Back to my “Forerunner” novel. First chapters are the worst, so I just have to push through and get to the “good stuff”. I’ve got a better idea for it this time, but it still might not be the greatest. And that’s okay. Many writers end up throwing away the first few chapters of their novel and either writing new ones or just starting from a later point. I shouldn’t let myself get stuck on the first chapter.

Another discovery from this last month is that mental/emotional health is important to a writer–which makes sense, because stories come from the mind, not the fingers. Granted, there is a connection between physical health and emotional health, and so that can’t be overlooked, either. But if a lot of emotional stuff is piling up it’s going to be hard to write. I feel like I’m starting to get some things back under control, so I’m hopeful March will go much better on the writing front. There’s sunshine and warm days again, which helps, and opportunities to get out and work in the fresh air, which helps even more. Digging a about half a dozen post holes on Saturday helped improve my mood, oddly enough.

So it’s back to work. Writing is work. Anyone who says differently is selling something.