There's a very good reason talented writers strongly suggest writing everyday. Or at least, Monday - Friday.
The two weeks I spent in Los Angeles completely threw me off my writing groove. I said I was going to write while I was there. What was I thinking?
My schedule was so packed, I had to ask my manager's assistant to cancel two meetings. I was running all over town. One crazy day I had meetings in Santa Monica, Studio City and Beverly Hills. Anyone who has
spent time in Los Angeles understands what a clusterf**k that day was.
Last week was not a good writing week. Part of it was jet lag, but a bigger part was my complete lack of motivation. I would open my laptop and just stare at a blank page. After a while, I would go online instead of writing (or unpacking) and next thing I knew, hours had gone by.
I started to get worried. What if I never get "it" back?
This week I forced myself to sit down and write. I wouldn't get online until after I had spent some time working on my novel. It was slow going at first.
After a few days of this, suddenly on Thursday I hit 1500 words without realizing it.
My goal is 2000 words a day. There will be days I exceed that, and others when I fall short. However, I finally feel like I'm back on track.
I'm also working on a new spec script. I'm writing with another screenwriter who is in the middle of staffing season (for American TV) so we have to budget our time wisely.
The next time I go to L.A., I don't think my schedule will be as insane. The October trip was my first trip to the States after moving to Rome 2 1/2 years earlier and this last trip was for the Jumping the Broom release. I get why my manager wanted to squeeze in as many meetings as possible.
If I had some money, I would go to a hotel somewhere nice and just write. It would have to be a place with a view and quiet like Ravello on the Amalfi Coast. Any place where there's a ton of sightseeing to do wouldn't work.
Or I would even check myself into a place in Rome. Several writer friends in L.A. do it all the time, especially for big deadlines. I completely understand why so many writers love working in hotels... no distractions.
In the meantime, I will be in my apartment trying my best to finish this novel...
7 comments:
Welcome to Novel Spaces, Arlene! Great advice. Haven't quite got the write-every-day angle covered yet but I'm getting there.
I definitely feel the rust when I'm gone from writing for a few days. It's so important to keep the momentum flowing.
Count me in with those who get thrown completely off when I'm away from home. I'm now back into writing 5 days a week. I don't travel as much, but can't write when I do. I've become too much attached by my familiar work space. Might need to re-think that. Thanks for the tips.
Hooray for the busy schedule, you're doing it!
Welcome to Novel Spaces Arlene. I really appreciate the insight into your work ethic and methods.
For half a decade I wrote 1600 words a day. I developed this regimen using an arcane formula that involved phases of the moon and the half-life of certain isotopes. (Or it could be that I keep a log of my productivity and 1600 words a day was my average; I forget which.)
Since November of 2010 my other life, the stuff I do when I'm not writing, has been chaotic. (Family losses, starting a business, and just plain stuff.) There have been weeks when I felt completely overwhelmed and could not recall what, if anything, I'd accomplished or even what I'd set out to do.
Then I noticed I was not writing. I mean, writing had become so peripheral that I could not remember when I'd last created anything. Now I write every day. Only a few hundred words most days, but in order to anchor my mind and remember who I am and what it is I do, I write.
So, yes, very much so:
If you are a writer, write every day.
Not just to keep the process going, though that's important, but to remind yourself why you write.
Thank you Liane for inviting me!
Trust me, when traveling I find it very difficult to write every day.
Our pleasure, Arlene! Hope that novel is practically writing itself now!
Llane,
Thanks for the wisdom (and the movie). When I was writing full-time, I wrote every day without fail. Now that I'm working, going to school...it's more of a challenge, but I'm back to my stick-your-butt-in-the-chair philosophy. Looking forward to reading your novel.
Post a Comment