Questionable: Focus for Writers
C.A.Bridges wrote:
“How do you focus on one story? I have two things I’m dying to write, and when I work on one I get getting insights on the other. Which is great as far as that goes, but it means neither one progresses very far.”
Okay, I can hear that snickering in the background. Just because you all have read four or five or six of the WiPs I have going doesn’t mean I can’t answer this question.
Actually, I can only answer this question for me, your mileage may differ. But for me, all books start out the same way. They’re thin and light and they’re mostly snappy patter. The characters aren’t developed and I’m wandering around in their worlds like I’m at a street market, just sampling the wares. At that point, it’s easy to get distracted by something shiny (which is how I end up with multiple WiPs).
But at some point in all the books I’ve published, there came a time when the book started to glow in my head, and at that point it became more real than reality, I’d spend all my time thinking in that world, annoyed by the people who kept trying to drag me out of it, obsessed with getting it all down on paper. I have no idea what triggers that, but I’m pretty sure it bears a connection to how long I’ve spent in that world as an observer, how much I’ve let the characters grow, and how much I want them to succeed. I think it’s the same thing that happens when a movie is over and you don’t want it to end because you want to spend more time in that world. With a movie, you’re out of a luck. But with your own book, you can live in that world for as long as you want.
Well, that’s not entirely true, for me anyway. At some point that sunny glow starts to fade. I’m never finished with the story when that happens, but I can feel it slipping away from me anyway, and if I try to write much more after that, I end up screwing it up, trying to revise a corpse. It’s DONE and so am I. Of course there are beta reads and copy edits and that kind of thing, but I’m not writing any more, I’m cleaning up, I’m the guy with the push broom after the concert.
So for me, it’s the difference between “I really like this world and these characters and it’s fun being here” and “This is where I must be.” It takes me awhile to get there, I’m not there yet with any of the WiPs including Nita, but once it hits, I have no interest in writing anything else and focus is not a problem. That’s the world I want to live in.
That’s not helpful, is it?
Okay, here are some more practical ways to focus on one book:
1. Make a soundtrack for the book you want to concentrate on and play it while you write. At some point, if the songs really work with the story, they’ll merge, and then all you have to do is play the songs and you’ll be back in the book. To this day, when I hear “I Only Want To Be With You,” I see Sophie and Phin in Temptation, the sense memory is still that strong. Kenny Chesney’s “Demons” is Nick for me in the book I’m working on now. Every time I start to lose him, I get his rueful voice from there and I’m back in the game. And Lenka’s “Trouble is a Friend” is Nita, definitely, (and thank you, CateM, for that).
2. Make a collage or a pinboard (a real one, not Pinterest) and put it where you can see it. Add to it as you write and discover new things about your book. The collage for Maybe This Time kept me centered in that book the whole time I was writing it.
3. Do something repetitive while you think about the book. Doesn’t matter what it is, it just has to be mindless and repetitive. Pull weeds. Play solitaire. Hit the treadmill. Mop the floor. Drive (except I had a bad accident because I was thinking about a book, so maybe not). Anything that allows you to do something without paying attention. (So not driving.) Then think about the book while you do that. Do that half a dozen times. The seventh time, you’ll automatically begin thinking about the book as you do those automatic things. Muscle memory.
4. Make a plan for the next day’s writing and start that scene. Just the first couple of sentences should do it. You’ll think about that while you sleep, and then you’ll get up and go to that book because that’s one you were dreaming about.
Basically, the more you think about a story, the more you’ll know about the characters and the world, and that’ll make you think more about the story, and eventually you’ll connect to it so strongly, you can’t get away. Or you won’t connect, and that’ll be a good clue that it’s not the story you need to write right now.
One final thought: Are you sure those two books aren’t one? Maybe that’s why you keep getting ideas for one while writing the other one. Good rule of thumb: Never save anything for a different book. Treat each book you’re writing as the last one you’ll ever write and put everything you have into it.
And now because I started playing Lenka while I was writing this, I must go write about Nita. Good luck!
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