by Patricia Fry
When I sat down to write this article for WPNews, I’m afraid I did something I’m going to warn you against doing: I wasted several minutes trying to come up with a title. But were those really wasted minutes? In my world as a career writer, maybe not. I find that sometimes I can roll more easily into an article when I create a title first. In fact, that seems to be one of my many unwritten rules of writing fast and keeping it clean. I’ll explain that in a minute.
First, let me say that your newsletter editor, Sandra Murphy, knows I’m producing six cozy mysteries per year. I published the first one in the series in June of 2013. By the time you read this I’ll have published number thirty. Sandy asked me to talk about how I do it, and I will. But my techniques and idiosyncrasies might not resonate with you. Take the article-title issue.
I don’t always create a title first, and often when I do, I ultimately change it. However, when I find myself sitting with fingers poised over the keys of my ergonomic keyboard, silent and still, sometimes it helps me to jump-start my story or article if I have a title to look at.
So how do I manage to write six books (over 300,000 publishable words) in a year? (That’s a book every two months.) I suppose it comes down to the old and valid rule of writing—butt in chair, fingers on keyboard. Certainly there’s more to it than that, but that’s an excellent start. For me, it’s my strong passion. Passion drives me. I so enjoy the process of writing that it’s all I want to do. So I’m highly motivated. Plus, I have so many ideas rolling around in my head that sometimes I’m eager to go on to the next one and the next one. I’m motivated to start the book and just as motivated to finish it. (About those ideas—maybe Sandy will ask me to write an article on that topic.)
I’ve met many hopeful authors who complain that they just can’t find the time to work on their project, and I always suggest that they discover their motivation. What motivates you to want to write this particular book or story? If the motivation is strong enough, you will find a way, whether it’s to sacrifice another time-intensive activity, set meaningful goals, or offer rewards at various stages. If you don’t have a solid motivation—whether it’s the joy in the process, the accolades you expect once it’s finished, or the promise of a big reward—this might be one of those projects you never complete, like cleaning your garage.
You can find dozens of tips designed to help writers write:
- Decorate your writing area so beautifully you can’t resist spending time in there
- Hang photos of those who inspire and support you
- Delete games from your computer (or use a different computer for writing)
- Shut off your cell phone (better yet, put it in a different room)
- Inform friends and family of your writing schedule so you won’t be disturbed
- Get used to having a few dishes in the sink, go to work anyway, and so forth
But I still maintain that the only way you’re going to make any progress on your book is to find a strong enough motivation that will drive you to do it.
Do you take deadlines seriously? If so, set them for yourself. I believe that’s an asset that was learned—or at least strengthened—by the hundreds of magazine editors I worked for during my forty-five-year freelance-writing career. I became quite accustomed to deadlines and I find that I’ll honor them even when I set them for myself.
On the other end of the spectrum, it’s also important to take breaks. I sometimes resent having to take a break to run an errand or take my daily walk or keep a lunch date. I just want to write. At times like this, I typically let playful Patricia overtake rigid Patricia and I’ll enjoy the activity. Still, if I have an outing planned, I’ll get up an hour or so earlier than usual or I’ll forego my planned housecleaning chores in order to accomplish more in the office.
While you might be trying to become more disciplined, I’m still struggling to step away from my work more often. Each of us is a work in progress.
If you’re seriously hitting blocks that prevent you from doing the writing you think you want to do, perhaps you’re not as dedicated to your project as you claim to be. Maybe instead of writing your father’s life story, you’d rather create a book of his poetry, your grandmother’s drawings, or old family recipes. If you’re not motivated to work on that book of medical odysseys in the pet world, shift gears and write something fun and uplifting—pet medical miracles, the biggest star pets on the internet, or some of the most heartwarming stories of pet rescue.
Try changing your focus and see what happens. You may recall writing something that kept you smiling. You couldn’t wait to get back to it each day. If that isn’t your current writing experience, maybe something needs to change. It’s okay to have fun while you’re writing. In fact, in my world, it’s required.
Stay Organized and Save Time
Non-writers seem to think writers compose only when the mood strikes. Ahh, if only it were that easy. Some people envision us sitting around waiting for inspiration, and if it strikes at midnight, so be it. You get up and squeeze all you can from your muse. As most of you know, it doesn’t happen that way, especially when you’re working on a deadline.
This piece is due in ten days. I’ll send it to Sandy today so I can get back to Book 30 of the Klepto Cat Mystery series. It’s been printed out and it’s sitting on my desk for my final line-by-line, word-by-word edit. Not only that, it’s the next project on my calendar. Yay!!
Every writer works differently. We each have a unique way of scheduling or not. I’d say that if the way you’re doing it now—either rigidly scheduled or helter-skelter—is not working for you, it’s time for a change.
I’m a morning person, so I get up at four in the morning and put in quite a few hours before I take my power-meditation walk. I quit writing by around three in the afternoon. I have an artist neighbor who’s a night person, and I see her lights on into the wee hours of the morning as she toils away at her art. Sometimes it’s necessary to make a major change in your life to accommodate your writing project. But you’re going to have to really want to create in order to make it work.
Another way I stay organized and save time is to keep a character log. I believe that most fiction writers do this and I’ve certainly learned how valuable this practice is. When I can’t remember an occasional cameo character’s cat’s name or how old one of the children should be by now or when a particular event took place, I refer to my character log.
I’m going to suggest here that you do as I say and not as I do, because I don’t keep mine up as diligently as I should. The fact is, I’m just too busy having fun writing, and I don’t want to stop and add to the log. Not a good excuse.
I maintain my log on my computer; some people use index cards. I had a friend who used sticky notes to keep track of her storyline. You always knew when she was working on a new book, because sticky notes were stuck all over the walls of her studio. You’re probably not surprised to learn that there are character-log templates available online. Annie Neugebauer offers one and here’s another one.
What’s the big deal about keeping a really complete character log? When I miss a detail I want to use in another book in the series, it can take time to find the reference. Even remembering which book it appeared in becomes fuzzy after you’ve written ten or twelve or—heaven forbid—thirty books in your series.
Can a chronically lazy, disorganized individual become more motivated and disciplined to write? I believe it can happen for those who truly want that brass ring, whatever it means for them.
Patricia Fry is the former executive director of WPN and the author of 72 published books. While most of her books are designed for authors, she now enjoys writing the Klepto Cat Mysteries—cozy mysteries with cats. Available in print and for your Kindle at Amazon.com.