Thursday 27 October 2016

Back in the groove


After a period of lacking in direction in my writing I am back on track, writing between two and four hours every morning and pushing along with my latest novel 'The Man Who Didn't Like People' at a fair pace. Each day I am writing a little more and spending more time on thinking about the way it is progressing, going back to edit where I see I have left gaps or inconsistencies and adding more detail to what I am going to do next.
The biggest change for me was the decision to plot the novel in a lot more detail before starting on the first draft. In the past I would do a rough outline and then launch into it with some idea of where I was going but not of how I was going to get there.
This time I have laid it out scene by scene with details of how the backstory is brought in, how characters develop and where the story changes pace and builds up to each crisis. I find there is still a lot of room for new ideas to be built in as I go along but every time I sit down to write I have a very clear idea where I want to go that day and how I am going to get there.
It has had a big effect on other aspects of my life. I feel calmer, know what my priorities have to be and feel as if I have a direction and purpose.
I remember this feeling from times in the past when I was on  a writing roll but I had not felt it for some time. It's good to be back in the groove.

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