I shared four writing tips the other day, but now I want to share my experience of just the ‘writing’ bit

To celebrate Boldwood Books 4th birthday (yay), I shared four writing tips the other day, but as I’m currently in the ‘writing’ stage of a new book, I thought I’d share some more. But below is what I said as one of my four writing tips.

WRITE – it sounds stupid, but I do think it’s important to write, if not every day, then when you can fit it in. Routine is super important. As is setting yourself boundaries and deadlines. So, if you want to be a writer, you must write. It doesn’t have to be every day. It doesn’t have to be loads. If you’re struggling with the element of being an author that is writing, then I highly recommend taking part in NaNoWriMo in November of each year. I’ve been taking part for about ten years now. The lessons learned about routine will stay with you – and when they don’t – well, you can hop back on the NaNoWriMo train the following year.

Now, I’ve not been in a writing phase since April this year. That’s four long months that I’ve been busy editing what feels like book after book after book. Obviously, as part of editing, I have written new chapters and made lots of adjustments but I’ve not started FRESH with a new idea since I wrote Protector of Mercia. But, it’s August – I’ve finally caught up (Protector, Clash, non-fiction etc etc.) so now I can write. And this has reminded me that writing is my ‘happy place.’ I love the writing element. I love forging a new storyline. I’m a pantser – I make it up as I go (mostly) – and so this is where my imagination tends to roam somewhat free.

But, to accomplish my writing goals, I’m really strict with myself, even while being creative. My writing routine is 5k words a day – when I’m having a writing day – that’s not every day. For instance, this week, I wrote on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd August. I’m not writing on Friday because I have other commitments. But, next week, my aim is to write Monday-Friday. This is because I need to be kind to myself and ease myself into a new protect – so 3 days in a row – and also because I want to accomplish my goal of a horribly rough, first draft written in August. (Then I can move onto the dreaded editing – which I also enjoy – just not as much as writing). But, three days in a row will also give me a ‘feel’ for the story I want to tell. I also don’t tend to write at weekends, even though I could. Weekends are for blogging and advertising, unless I’m close to finishing and then I might well write anyway.

I often approach a new book with a very firm idea of the first chapter, or the last chapter, but not often the bit in the middle. This means that the first few days of writing can be quite ‘easy’ or quite ‘hard,’ depending on which bit I’m writing, and how long it’s been since I wrote about these characters – my most recent Earls of Mercia book was really hard as it had been 3 years since I last wrote about them.

Everything will be massively reedited – but this is me telling myself the story and so I have to tell it how I think it. After that, if my idea isn’t working, I’ll need to reset a little – and then work this retrospectively into what I’ve already written when I edit – not at this part of the process.

The other point to this is that when I’ve written so much, it’s easier to press on through the tough bits. By the time I hit 40k in a novel, I’m NOT going to give up on it even if I’m not entirely happy with it. That’s half a book – roughly. That’s a lot of thought and creativity. I will make it work. (Usually – I have some stories that aren’t historical fiction that have hit massive brick walls at this stage.)

I know a lot of people will be horrified by such an approach (I’m looking at you planners) but it’s what works for me. As much as planning might make the process easier (and I do think it would make the editing easier), after more books than I can remember off the top of my head, this is my approach in all its messy, horrible glory. As an aside – I’ve never been able to plan my writing – I can remember at school that I struggled to structure an essay because I’d just end up writing it, so what was the point, I may as well just write it.

That said, it’s taken me time to refine my approach and it does change from book to book. It used to take me all day to write 5k words (with breaks). Now I try and write them in the morning. I get up, I write. I take a short break. I write again. By the time I’ve written 3k words, I’ll have some momentum and be able to write the next 2k quite quickly. I rarely, if ever these days, push on beyond 5k because by that stage, even if I’m really keen, I tend to have exhausted my creativity and I need to do something else. It’s not easy, but I can convince myself that it is – if that makes sense. It also helps that I am a fast typist! I also set rules for myself – at a minimum I want to write 1K every hour – it shouldn’t take me so long – but it’s a good rule of thumb.

When I wrote my non-fiction book, this was all a bit different, because aside from deciding how to present my book, the creativity was much less – I was telling the story using the available source documentation. And so, throughout the whole of last August my problem wasn’t that my brain was tired from being creative – it was that it wasn’t. I found it difficult to stop, but with all the copying of sources – the process was slower.

I sometimes write to music – headphones on – music on – transporting myself to ‘my’ time and place. These days I don’t always need the music. I’ve trained myself to do the thing that needs doing with as little conscious thought as possible. To prove this, when I edit, I’ve often forgotten elements that I’ve written, especially if a few months have gone by since I wrote it. And, I have to write down my characters names because I always forget those who aren’t the main characters.

I’m massively motivated by having a ‘finished’ draft. There’s the old saying about enjoying the journey but I really do want to reach the ‘end.’ I mean, I really enjoy it as well. I’ve been smiley and jolly for the last three days. I’ve felt reinvigorated and ‘on it.’ It’s my happy place, but I still have to work at it.

So writers, remember writing is your ‘happy place’, and whether you want to linger on the sites and sounds, or get to the end, do what works for you, because it certainly isn’t the same for everyone.

I’m currently working on Icel 6, for those who might be curious. And after this, I’ll be getting back to Coelwulf 8. It no doubt helps that I really love writing these characters.