Hey, all! I’m coming to you live from the midst of this craziness that is my life. Between the kids, the house, the blog tour, revising “Off to War”, working on my new writing project (to be announced), and my book becoming officially available, life is going non-stop! So, I thought I’d take a side-step from all of that and spend some time talking about the creative process.
Inspiration. I’ve written about inspiration. That is a BIG part of the creative process for any writer. Certainly for me. Everything comes from that inspiration, that initial idea. And you need to continually revisit that idea/inspiration throughout the process of crafting your work to make sure everything fits into that idea/theme and that you stay on track (no bunny trails). Also, it can help stave off writer’s block or lulls in your creativity.
Determination. Determination to get words on the page whether you “feel” like it or not is something I’ve discussed on this blog, too. Journaling, or simply sitting down and trying to get something (no matter how bad you think it is) on paper is important to “prime the pump”, so to speak. I mean, you can rewrite or revise something you wrote that was bad, but you can’t rework something that doesn’t exist. And, in my (admittedly limited) experience the more you give in to the lulls/writer’s blocks, the longer they tend to drag on.
Word Counts. My life being the way it is, I’ve never been a fan of the idea of getting in a certain amount of words every day. I’ve started to rethink that stand, however. As I feel so strongly about getting something down on paper each day, the word count thing seems like the next most logical step. I’ve always been more a fan of sitting down and getting out what you can each day. Some days that’s 500 words, some days that’s 5000 words. I have enough trouble with perfectionism without one more stipulation staring me in the face each day. And this is not income that my family relies on to survive. Most of these authors who preach about word counts per day are career authors. That just can’t be my situation right now with three small kiddos. On the other hand, I take my writing very seriously, as does my husband. And we do carve out several hours every day for me to dedicate to my craft. So, there’s really no reason I can’t get a goal word count in. So, that’s where I am on this.
The Draining Effect. Here’s the truth about word counts and me. I have found that when I get more than 2000 words in a day, I feel drained. Either that day or the next day. Completely drained. Perhaps this is how the creative process should be – that I’m putting a piece of me on the paper. If this is so, it should take something out of me. I love what I do. Writing makes me feel fulfilled in a way that nothing else has. From the moment of inspiration, there is a story inside of me that has to get out. And putting it on paper is so…cathartic. The fact that others enjoy my work is icing on the cake.
That’s about all I can say about my creative process. It’s unique to each person. Be inspired…get words on the paper…go back to your inspiration…put more words on paper…repeat.