I see a lot of us talk about isolation, isolation and isolation when trying to focus and write productively. For myself, I make use of the alone time to work sure, but I don't get my best work done sitting in a dark room someplace listening to bossa nova jams and sipping wine with a dim lamp and a creeky chair. This might not work for you, but maybe if you don't like what you're putting down in isolation, my approach might help.
So I have a few trusted friends, contributors, lets call them beta readers. Trusted to keep details confidential and avid consumers of work like my own (though I'm genre breaking and paving my own way). Yesterday was a beautiful day out so instead of isolation, I set out with this trusted friend, my paramour, my muse really and enjoyed a leisurely meal in a favorite restaurant with good light and a serving staff that appreciates I'm going to sit at my table for hours. Over appetizers and while pondering a main course, drinks and desserts I shared about some obstacles, concerns I had. Specifically about work I had done in isolation, in a dark room alone late at night. I was unhappy with my pages and my beautiful lover shared some thoughts.
Naturally through conversation about the characters she knows and loves from the first book (Salem's Son) we talked about the arc for the sequel, Harvester of Tomorrow, and kicked around the moving parts. She knows the beginning and the ending and who is likely to survive and who is not. Before I knew it we had moved through about thirty pages worth of material, at least in planning. Nothing was written down yet. Just a note in my phone to do a scene list and approach the rest of the story scene by scene - worrying about links and transitions and any necessary exposition via dialogue later.
I hate writing dialogue, it's meticulous and has such tremendous impact on story that I bog down writing even spare dialogue exchanges trying to make it perfect. I get frustrated and have to frequently take breaks to consider the consequences of words spoken in the text. I have a deadline I'm up against, less than 80 days remain to get a draft complete. Ideally a 2nd draft.
So with the fresh ideas, about story arc, character reveals, secrets that remain hidden and a lot of detail, big and small, we return to the desk to start putting things down on paper. I find everything flows like a firehose and struggle to keep up with my fingers. This energy, flow continues thru the next day (today) and I'm still going. Only now taking a break to share what I'm seeing as a productive habit since working on Sigrunn's Saga (2018). This now brings me to one of the other things I have to do for the community.
On Wed night the Gettysburg Writers Brigade meets, while I'm only tangentially tied to the group, I've been asked to chair the next meeting. This task includes writing a piece about 'Pacing'. Thankfully this has been covered by the Writers Digest and I'll borrow liberally from an article from Courtney Carpenter. Thank you Courtney. I really enjoyed the article and recommend it to anyone looking to improve their own sense of pacing. I feel I'm generally quite good at this, perhaps it was why I was asked to lead a session on it, I typically write 200+ pages at breakneck screenplay pace.
Hey Netflix, you know my stuff is perfect for a B movie treatment c'mon! You better option this before the Asylum and the SyFy network nail me down.
And that brings me back full circle to isolation, it's overrated. It's useful, but no man is an island. Get out there and go immerse yourself in some atmosphere, get some help from some friends and don't be afraid to dip the ladle in the soup on the warmer, a lot of time and skill went before you and we're all in this together, happy to share and help. That's my $0.02 today, and thanks to all my friends helping on this and other projects.
So I have a few trusted friends, contributors, lets call them beta readers. Trusted to keep details confidential and avid consumers of work like my own (though I'm genre breaking and paving my own way). Yesterday was a beautiful day out so instead of isolation, I set out with this trusted friend, my paramour, my muse really and enjoyed a leisurely meal in a favorite restaurant with good light and a serving staff that appreciates I'm going to sit at my table for hours. Over appetizers and while pondering a main course, drinks and desserts I shared about some obstacles, concerns I had. Specifically about work I had done in isolation, in a dark room alone late at night. I was unhappy with my pages and my beautiful lover shared some thoughts.
Naturally through conversation about the characters she knows and loves from the first book (Salem's Son) we talked about the arc for the sequel, Harvester of Tomorrow, and kicked around the moving parts. She knows the beginning and the ending and who is likely to survive and who is not. Before I knew it we had moved through about thirty pages worth of material, at least in planning. Nothing was written down yet. Just a note in my phone to do a scene list and approach the rest of the story scene by scene - worrying about links and transitions and any necessary exposition via dialogue later.
I hate writing dialogue, it's meticulous and has such tremendous impact on story that I bog down writing even spare dialogue exchanges trying to make it perfect. I get frustrated and have to frequently take breaks to consider the consequences of words spoken in the text. I have a deadline I'm up against, less than 80 days remain to get a draft complete. Ideally a 2nd draft.
So with the fresh ideas, about story arc, character reveals, secrets that remain hidden and a lot of detail, big and small, we return to the desk to start putting things down on paper. I find everything flows like a firehose and struggle to keep up with my fingers. This energy, flow continues thru the next day (today) and I'm still going. Only now taking a break to share what I'm seeing as a productive habit since working on Sigrunn's Saga (2018). This now brings me to one of the other things I have to do for the community.
On Wed night the Gettysburg Writers Brigade meets, while I'm only tangentially tied to the group, I've been asked to chair the next meeting. This task includes writing a piece about 'Pacing'. Thankfully this has been covered by the Writers Digest and I'll borrow liberally from an article from Courtney Carpenter. Thank you Courtney. I really enjoyed the article and recommend it to anyone looking to improve their own sense of pacing. I feel I'm generally quite good at this, perhaps it was why I was asked to lead a session on it, I typically write 200+ pages at breakneck screenplay pace.
Hey Netflix, you know my stuff is perfect for a B movie treatment c'mon! You better option this before the Asylum and the SyFy network nail me down.
And that brings me back full circle to isolation, it's overrated. It's useful, but no man is an island. Get out there and go immerse yourself in some atmosphere, get some help from some friends and don't be afraid to dip the ladle in the soup on the warmer, a lot of time and skill went before you and we're all in this together, happy to share and help. That's my $0.02 today, and thanks to all my friends helping on this and other projects.
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