Drawing from the Well
Things are queueing up for publication. I’ve got the steps laid out. LLC Incorporation is still next on the list. We’ll get there soon. As I mentioned last week, that part of the process is currently on hold, so until it comes off hold, I’m going to stop mentioning it.
The question then is what is worth mentioning? Well, writing, of course! I finished the outline which is a huge success for me. Thus, we’ve moved into mapping. There’s so much to keep track of with this book, though, that I’ve printed two different documents: one marking all the high points of each POV character’s arc and another with all the extraneous notes. The latter document is important to ensure that the flavor and texture of each character’s chapters are just right. There’s more going on in Book III than Book I and II combined so it’s a lot to keep in my head (that’s why I’m not relying on my head alone 😉 ).
I’ve mapped out the high points for the first pair-of-characters’ arc and have started the next major arc. It should be going faster but what with holidays and social gatherings (remember those?), I’ve been slower than I would like. I’m going to work on it more tonight, though. Before long, we’ll be tracking scene and word counts again. It’s about to get exciting, folks. For now, though, the Mad Cartographer has returned.
Filling the Well
I only finished one book in the last week (see what happens when I update more often?). That was The Queen of the Tearling. It was okay. I’m sure there is a huge audience for it, but the through line was just too hard for me to personally grasp. There was some cool stuff in there, for sure. Still, I won’t finish that series. I’ve moved on to The Emperor’s Railroad which has also been difficult for me to grasp despite looking forward to reading it for a long time. We’ll see if I can get more into it by the end. And I really need to sink some time into the Cyborg Tinkerer because every time I pick that book back up it just sings to me, yet I never pick it up with large chunks of time to read. Silly me.
37. The Queen of the Tearling
37/100 for #ProjectBookworm2021
Well Chat
Flow is often an important topic to writers, something we seek daily. Some people call it their muse but it’s more, and less, than that to me. Flow is not some ethereal being I have to worship for them to show up. It is something I can summon and harness and focus into creation. How can you do that, though, when it feels like the well has run dry when you sit down to type?
The first answer to that is to start thinking about your writing long before you actually sit down to write. Keep your mind open to your book at all times. I don’t mean ignore everything around you to think hard on your book; that’s bad for your personal life. What I mean is to keep the door to your creative mind propped open all the time.
In practice, that means consuming everything around you and feeding it into your writing. Daydream about your book when things are quiet, especially when you’re driving (just keep enough attention on the road to be safe, obviously). I find my mind most open in the car so harness it. More importantly, take notes on what you think about. Every thought won’t be the next best seller, but something might. Even if you throw away half or more of the ideas, it’s still more than you would have had. And use everything you see and hear. An interesting street sign, a stranger’s name you hear in a coffee shop, a town you see in a documentary, even a TV show whose plot you wish went a different way can all be fuel for flow.
Lastly, have some positive self-talk. Be relentlessly persistent in your quest for creation. No one is going to give it to you, so you have to be tougher than the grindstone. And remember (and this is the MOST important part), you’re more powerful than your fears. We all have them. We all suffer from them. We’re all afraid that we’ll never write the book we’re dying to make or if we do it’ll get rejected (spoiler: it will, but that’s ok) or if it doesn’t it’ll flop (it might, but that’s okay too). Speak power to your fears by acknowledging their existence and then denying them control over you. Fear is the mind-killer and if you’re a writer, you can’t afford to let anything kill your mind.
Next week, we’ll finish this series by looking at what to do with all these ideas.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG