Writing Processes, Thoughts, and Other Ramblings

Processes and Thoughts

This morning I woke up at 5:30, lay awake a bit, and then got up and made coffee. Eventually I made it to my home office by 6:30 a.m. I sat down and got to work on a children’s chapter book/short novel (the 4th book in my Ranch Girl series) I’ve been struggling a bit with. I’ve been struggling with the time I think I need to write, with the ideas that keep fighting with me, with other writing projects I keep thinking about, and with book events and promotions that take time and attention.

At any rate, I am not generally a particularly early-riser since I retired and no longer have to get up at 5:30. If I do wake up early, I am very good at staying in my pajamas, reading my overnight email, and relaxing in the pleasantness of early morning. But this morning, I got up, dressed, and went to my office. Everything was quiet. No telephones rang. No dishes called from the kitchen sink. And I didn’t even look longingly at the stack of books I have been planning to read.

I went to my computer and got started. And, when I stopped for a break from writing, it was 10:05 a.m. I thought I had been writing for maybe an hour. Instead, I had written non-stop (except to do a little research here and there) for over three and a half hours and had added 1,426 words to my manuscript. I loved every minute of it. My natural biorhythms usually have not lent themselves to the early morning, or so I’ve always thought.  As a general rule, I love dawdling at that time, but I gain energy as the day wears on and have been known to write during the late hours of the night and the wee hours of the very early morning—say till 1:00 or  2:00 a.m. The problem with afternoons and evenings is that they are not predictable. I often think I have a whole day ahead of me for chores and writing, but things have a way of popping up. “Things” are less likely to pop up at 6:00 a.m.  So, who knows, I may finally take the writerly advice that I’m always reading and write more often in the morning.

At any given time, I have a notebook of thoughts on my latest “work in progress.” As I go through the day, ideas come to me, and always a notebook at hand, I write them down. The problem is I have many notebooks and keeping up with what is where can be a problem. I do not understand why I am so disorganized about writing. I have always been rather disciplined and reasonably organized, but not with writing. Ideas, manuscripts, and notes are strewn everywhere. The few times I’ve really tried to organize, I have been unable to find anything. The old saw—“I put them in a safe place and now I can’t find them” is actually true when it comes to my office. So, I honestly would love to be more organized as a writer. I read books about writing and am often amazed at the meticulous outlines, organized writing routines, etc., that some them espouse. I used to be quite organized when I had to write academic and “scholarly” papers, do extensive research, and cite my research, but in the creative realm I am a mess. I have simply learned to live with the mess and my nerves!

Those of you who are writers out there, please let me know in the comments if this is true for you or if you are one of those who write detailed outlines and are meticulously organized. I’ll try not to feel bad.

Other Ramblings

In my latest newsletter, I mentioned that I do not live close to any high populations centers but that I don’t live far away either. This fact can be annoying and lovely at the same time. Most of the time, my husband and I love our rural existence, but there have been times in the last many years that I, in particular, have not felt so loving toward the situation. We live close to what many consider the geographical center of Texas. Therefore, we are approximately 150 miles or so from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to our north, 125 or so miles from Austin to our south, around 90 miles from Abilene to our northwest, about 90 miles from San Angelo to our west, and about 100 miles from Waco to our East. Oh, and we’re about 175 miles from San Antonio where we go from time to time.  We generally go to one of these areas for shopping that does not consist of groceries or farm and ranch supplies. The region of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) that I belong to is Austin. Writer’s League of Texas that I belong to is in Austin. And so on.

On the other hand, we are not far (in Texas terms) from these population centers. If we lived in Dallas for instance, we would be much further from the other four areas I named. So, there is something to be said for living in the middle, especially when we get such a lovely rural lifestyle. And we only have to drive fourteen miles (one way) to a grocery store, and only twenty or so miles (one way) to a small supermarket and, of course, a Super-Walmart! So, though I catch myself grumbling from time to time at some inconvenience, I enjoy the trek to so many wonderful small towns and enjoy my life among the cows, deer, and cats.

Read

I recently finished reading Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. I wrote a review on Goodreads. I loved it even though I thought it sagged just a bit in the middle. Still, a wonderful read!

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Reading Now

New York: The Novel by Edward Rutherford

The Christmas Pig by J. K. Rowling

How to buy my books:

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