Maintaining Momentum as We Write

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I was sitting with the other parents watching my daughter’s horseback riding lesson when one of the moms there asked me if I was always inspired when I write each day.

I always hesitate when I answer this question.  It sounds awful to say that I’m rarely inspired when I write.  For me, it’s more of a discipline.  Aside from those wonderful, feverish moments when I’m scrabbling around in my pocketbook for paper and a pencil because a fabulous idea hit me…I’m just sitting down and focusing on creating a story, inspiration free.

Although I give inspiration short shrift, I do believe in momentum.  I don’t know if there’s a psychology to momentum or not, but I do know that if I’m on a roll, I should probably keep writing.  And if I am hearing my tardy Muse, I should keep cranking out pages until she wanders off again.  I’ve watched enough football with my husband to realize that if our team is ahead and something destroys that precious momentum, it’s almost as if a different team has possession of the ball.

Things I do to maintain momentum:

I don’t put in chapter breaks until I’ve finished a first draft.

I don’t edit until I’ve finished the first draft.

I write in very short segments of time so that I won’t get distracted until the timer goes off.

If I run into something I need to research, I mark it and research it later and keep writing.

If I’m stumbling through description (which I do 99.9% of the time), I layer it into the second draft.

If I’m staring into space trying to conjure a setting, I add it in later.

If I can’t remember the character’s eye color, I mark on the manuscript with Track Changes to check it later, pick an eye color and keep writing.

If I’m feeling stuck because I know the huge scene I’m about to write will make or break the book, I’ll skip the scene and pick up with the story action right after that scene would have ended.  I use the highlight feature on Word to show there is missing text.

If I’m not in the right frame of mind to write a particular scene (I’m feeling on top of the world and I’m writing a funeral scene, I’m feeling blah and I’m supposed to be writing a wedding), then I’ll skip it and keep going.  I’ll, again, use Word’s highlighter or Track Changes to indicate missing text.

To pick up the next day with more momentum than starting with nothing, I’ve used Hemingway’s trick of stopping a writing session in the middle of a sentence.

These won’t work for everyone, but some might be worth a go if you feel yourself getting stuck.  How do you keep up momentum as you write your books?

Image: MorgueFile: Hotblack

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