Mind Games... by Cathy Ace

Writers say they write because they have to. Is that true of you? What happens if you don’t write? Do you feel cranky? Bereft? Restless?

I’m one of those writers who doesn’t write every day. Let me clarify – I do write every day, but I don’t write my fictional works every day. To be honest, I can’t think of a single day when I don’t write something, even if that’s an email to a colleague with whom I’m working on some sort of project or other, or something personal, or – say – a blog post! I know that’s not really what this question is about, but I have to say right now that, for me, the process of writing something…anything…is fulfilling: I am, at heart, a communicator, and any form of writing allows me to communicate, so is satisfying.

Now for what this question is really about – given the forum within which it appears – do I write my fictional works all the time? No, I don’t. And, no, that doesn’t leave me feeling cranky or restless or bereft, because – for me – the process of creation is about a great deal more than “just writing”. I am constantly (and I mean that literally) thinking about my work…and thinking about my work is me being as involved with it as I am when I’m at my keyboard typing. I might be plotting a specific book, thinking about character development, working out a knotty problem, or whatever – all of which plays into the process of planning my next book (or even the one after that, to be honest, because heaven knows I find it difficult to focus on just one future book at time!).

First draft DONE!

For me, the physical act of writing is something I do in fence-ringed chunks of time rather than something I dribble out on a daily basis. The latter approach just wouldn’t work for me; I have never been that sort of person. My process is to build the movie of the book in my head, with all the plot points and characters worked out until there’s a complete story told, then I break it into parts, then into chapters, then I outline those chapters, then finalize my research and write up all the detailed character backgrounds…then I write the first draft. After that draft there’s the inevitable editing process to struggle through (can you tell that I hate it!?) until the final draft is through its copy-checking phase and the book is ready to be formatted for publication – which I also do myself.

And it grows and grows...until it's really DONE!

Along the way there’s the cover design to be done, the setting up for pre-orders, the pre-publication promotional effort, followed by the post-publication effort…and so forth. All of this is an integral part of bringing a book to my readers, and each aspect gets the attention it needs and deserves.

So, in summary, for me writing is a part of the whole…the part I enjoy the most, but – as long as I’m able to be thinking about my book plans – I’m a happy person, living a life that’s taking place in my head, as well as in the world where reality exists.

If you'd like to find out more about what's started in my head and ended up on the page in the past, you can find out more about my work at my website: https://www.cathyace.com/

And...if you'd like to find out more about the MOST RECENT thoughts I've been having, then check out the cover reveal on MAY 21ST of my forthcoming WISE ENQUIRIES AGENCY MYSTERY BOOK 8 (to be published on July 24th) at https://drusbookmusing.com/