Keep On Keeping On

 

Terry here with our weekly question: 

How do you continue to write prolifically, even when life occasionally kicks you in the pants? 

 I wish I could say I had a magic button to push that keeps me writing even in difficult times, but in the absence of a such a device, continuing to write boils down to plain old perseverance. And having a writing project that must be completed actually helps when things are rough because when I sit down to write, the real world falls away and the world I’m constructing takes prominence. I can see, hear, smell, and touch the things in that world and am intent on getting that onto the page. 

 In other words, sometimes writing can be a refuge. I’m happy to have somewhere else to go in my head that allows me to temporarily forget whatever is troubling me in the real world. It’s the magic part of writing—that mental retreat to a world of my creation.

I’m also a “pleaser,” so I don’t want to disappoint anyone—and that includes my agent, my editor, my publisher, and my readers. I have contracts that need to be met, and in order to meet them I have to write. Not just write—write well. Which means pounding out the words and then going over them again and again until I get them in good enough shape to send to my writer’s group. And then using their wisdom to revise again. And that means sometimes stepping outside the real world for problems and entering the creative world. 

 So what constitutes life delivering a kick in the pants? Losing a loved one tops the chart,

but there are also medical issues for me or someone close to me, world concerns (I’m very political, and political issues can strike me hard). There’s life changes, like moving (the move from northern California to southern California was huge). And lesser issues: Feeling a need to make a change of some kind, demands from others that I want to or need to meet. Aging. It’s a fact that I get tired more easily than I used to. 

 Through all that, my best friend is perseverance: When I’m writing on a project, my daily goal is usually 2,000 words per day. I say “when I’m writing” and “usually” with a caveat. For some reason I haven’t been writing lately. I think with two books coming out this year I just needed a break. BUT when I say I haven’t been writing, I mean I haven’t been putting in my “usual” 2,000 words, haven’t been creating something new. I’ve actually been revising an old manuscript that I still like. So in that sense, I’m “writing.” 

 Now, with two new contracts looming, I have to get back down to work. That is, I get to enter the world I created and let the big and small cares of the real world slide away. 

 Luckily, it doesn’t matter much to me what time of day I write, or where I write. It’s all about getting those words onto the page. One of my writing friends said doing a first draft is like opening a vein. And that’s the way it feels. Letting words flow out. Good or bad, the words have to get onto the page. Sometimes I feel like I’m in a race with time. Get those words down! I want to be done with the first draft because revision is the part I enjoy—getting to shape those words into something that closely approximates what I have in mind.