I've been so inundated with starting a new business that I haven't been able to write. I've "put it aside" for now. I've been told this is not a good idea. I've been told that even if I write for 5 minutes a day, that is better than not at all. I've been told it's a habit you must form. And I believe all of that, I really do!
My "problem" is that I can't just write for 5 minutes. I pick up where I left off in my novel and I get involved with the characters. I do research, I find that something I'm writing does not support something I wrote 10 pages earlier or I forget what I wrote 10 pages earlier!
So right now I'm focusing on my new biz. And I'm reading. I'm reading a friend's novel - before it's published, which is really great! Not only is the novel itself great but it's great that she asked me to read it because she values my opinion AND it's great for motivation!
I don't have to finish my novel tomorrow. I will finish it at some point in the not too distant future because that's the most important thing - to finish. I learned that when I used to write screenplays. Make sure you finish. Starting is the easy part. And of course I already have ideas for my next 2 novels and will admit I did start one of those - but very briefly! Another "rule" -- don't start the next one until you finish the first one!
One thing about the way I write that may not be the same as other people is that I get it all down first and then I edit (rewrite and rewrite and rewrite again). I used to worry about this until I heard Anne Lamott speak about her worst fear being that she would die after a first draft of a book was written and everyone would think she was a horrible writer. Her writing she admitted was in her rewrites. Or - her brilliance, as I like to think of it. I'm the same way. I get it all down and it sounds like it was written by a 5 year old. Then I rewrite over and over and with each rewrite my writing IQ goes up. Luckily it's not that way for me with non-fiction - blogging and such - only with fiction.
According to Anne Lamott it's best to get through your complete first draft before rewriting or you may never finish. When I first started this novel over 10 years ago and it was a very different novel back then - I re-wrote the first 50 pages ad nauseum. And they were good but the next 50 pages were awful. And the problem was that I didn't work on finishing the book, I worked on the rewrites. So this time I'm not rewriting until I'm done and I'll be honest, it's really difficult for me and looking back on what I've written is almost painful!! It's that bad!!!
So here I am, close to a month into my new business and close to a month of not working on my novel. It helps to tell on myself!!
