This seems like an appropriate topic after missing three days of blogging etc.
And yes, that IS a mechanical rainbow horse. Whatever your horse looks like, you have to get back on when you fall off.
In my last blog, I talked about the importance of habits. The thing about the human condition is that we will inevitably fail in our habits. The difference between those who see long-term success and those who do not is your willingness to get back on. This can most definitely manifest as overcoming the willingness to give up. Either way, it is a question of willpower.
This morning alone, I had to talk myself into climbing back on my cyber-rainbow-unicorn to write this blog. It is so much easier to take the, well, easy way out and give up on the habit. But, at the end of the day, I felt guilt for not posting over the last three days. I was a victim of circumstance primarily, the weekend was insanely busy this week, but that only has to do with what kept me away that was out of my control.
Today was IN MY CONTROL.
So here I am. And I have to say, it feels good to get back to the new normal I’m trying to create. I’m loving writing these blogs and getting some advice and my process out there.
As to my process, I haven’t opened yWriter in about a week. Last week was just bananas so blogging was the extent of my writing. For those of you out there in a similar place as me, blogging IS writing. It doesn’t contribute to your novel/short story/poem/etc., but it does help keep your skills sharp. If you’re working on a habit where you’re writing for your work, then heed this blog and get back on the horse.
I said this before, but the bones for Book 2 are in place. Now I’m arranging the scenes (which up front is a lot of bone placement) and filling them in with the connective tissue that gets my cast from one “bone” to the next. Morbid imagery? Count me in!
I’m not going to share any plot information at this point for two reasons: 1) some of those details are still in flux and, frankly, will be until publication and 2) they won’t even make sense since practically no one has read Book 1 yet. Suffice it to say that the tight narrative I ended up with for Book 1 is my goal for Book 2 but there is A LOT more going on in the sequel. Book 1 had 2 simultaneous throughlines, Book 2 has 3. Book 1 had less than a dozen characters, Book 2 has close to two dozen. Book 1 explored five locations, Book 2 takes the reader to fourteen. There’s a lot more book in this book. There will still be heart struggles, psychic assaults, and more magic than seen in the first book, but exactly how that will all show up on the page is yet to come.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG