So, it’s September now, the weather has turned decisively from summery to autumnal, and my boys are back in school and pre-school. It’s time to turn my attention back from holidays to writing, and specifically back to the novel I’ve been wrangling with for several years. I’m trying hard to relax a bit, learn the lessons of past difficulties, and lean into the passion of writing, rather than putting pressure on myself.
But I also want to finish writing this damn book before I die — preferably, by this time next year.
It’s a tricky balancing act. I’ve already found myself doing a calculation of how many words I would need to write a day in order to finish by next summer, and I have to remind myself, it’s about the process of creation, not hitting daily word targets. Two hundred good words is better than two thousand rubbish ones, and writing a load of literary loft insulation just to hit a self-imposed target is no help to anyone, least of all me. A target should be an encouragement, not an annoyance. A carrot, not a stick. A medal, not a millstone.
But also – two thousand good words is better than two hundred. So what I can I do to encourage myself to write the good stuff, and plenty of it? What’s my carrot?
So I have this thing about opening presents, and surprises, and surprise presents, and I love the idea of having a little self-gift to open every time I hit a 10,000 word landmark. Having that sweet sweet dopamine to look forward to is a great motivator. For this novel, I’ve decided to do a sort of raffle system – I have wrapped up ten little gifts, put a sticker on each of them, put matching stickers on pieces of paper, folded the pieces of paper up, and put them in a jar. The idea is that, each time I hit a 10k landmark, I pick out a ‘raffle ticket’ and then I get to open the matching gift.
I have also decided that I’m not going to be super strict with myself about the 10k thing, because that way lies forcing myself to squeeze out the words without regard to quality. 10,000 is an arbitrary round number, not a measure of quality or effort. And I don’t want to be too lax either, because that defeats the purpose of the whole exercise.
Like I say, it’s a tricky balancing act. Passion is great once it gets going, but in my experience, it’s also something that has to be encouraged. It doesn’t just happen. So I’m trying to create a structure around timings and incentives that’ll work for me.
I have designated this current month as ‘Prep-tember’ and my aim for the next few weeks is to get myself completely prepped and ready to start writing the fresh draft of my long-gestating novel. The main part of this prep is a set of index cards, one for each scene of the book, but I may also produce some new character profiles… all to be ready by the start of October.
Or Choc-tober, as I have designated the next month. The idea is that I’ll start writing in earnest and, each time I have a good writing session, I’ll reward myself with a piece of chocolate. Just to get those words flowing, you know. Then, hopefully, that’ll lead seamlessly into the following month, which I have designated Flow-vember, when my local writing group will be doing the annual writing challenge formerly known as NaNoWriMo and I’ll be in good company.
After that — well, I’ll just have to see how things are going. I expect December will get busy with Christmas-related stuff and then I’ll have to get going again in earnest come January. But I’m promising myself now that it’s about the passion, not the pressure. If I start to struggle, I’m not going to try and force myself to keep going, I’m going to take a step back, work things through, and rediscover that passion. Because ultimately, the joy of writing isn’t about opening presents and eating chocolate, it’s about the process of creation itself, and no carrot can replace that.
