I love organization. And I love office supplies.
Highlighters. I really love highlighters. And lists. Lists are my favorite
things. There’s a point in every book
when the fog clears and suddenly I’m able to make lists of all the scenes
coming up. Lists of the big changes. The character reveals. It’s a huge
breakthrough moment every book.
But I can never start with a list.
And I love the idea of all those things making writing easier.
I mean, I’m prepared for that. I really am. I have ALL THESE HIGHLIGHTERS.
Sadly, my books start with a mess. And they are written in
an even bigger mess.
For some reason, the better it’s going, the more chaos I
need. I end up working at my dining room
table. (check out my Instagram account
for what that looks like). And then when it’s really going well I write in my
daughter’s bedroom. (Again, I instagramed that – don’t tell my daughter).
Last year I was rewriting The Truth About Him – and the
rewrite was good. Hard, like crushing. Like
don’t-shower-for-days-who-needs-pants? kind of hard. But I was really pleased with how it was going. So, everyday I found myself on the old couch
in the play room with all of my kid’s toys stacked beside me. This pile of toys
would fall down on me through out the day and I’d shove it away – not put
anything away because that would mess with the chaos.
My husband called it my hamster cage. I called it my hamster cage. My hamster cage was magic.
But it’s September and that means the kids are back to
school and I finally have these days back after taking most of the summer off reading
great books and getting new ideas. And while organization doesn’t help me write
books it does get me motivated to do it. The way going shopping for school supplies made me excited for the school year - getting out my calendar and planning ahead makes me excited for the work to come. It creates a framework around the chaos - makes the chaos seem like a good idea. A safe place. Something normal.
I'm looking forward to the rest of these blog posts and getting some tips and ideas but mostly seeing how everyone else frames the mess and chaos of their writing life.
And here are the rest of the participating authors!
Monday, August 31st
Tuesday, September 1st
Wednesday, September 2nd
Thursday, September 3rd
Friday, September 4th
