By: Delilah Marvelle
Mood: Over the moon, although I thought I'd come back just to post!
Currently working on: My new series, Once Upon a Scandal.
So what gets my backside into the chair? Guilt. And it works every time! Ehm. But seriously...guilt DOES play a part of my writing. Allow me to break down the percentages of what gets my backside into the chair.
Guilt - 20%
The Schedule I set - 50%
Inspiration - 30%
Determination to succeed - 100%
Now as you can see by the breakdown of percentages, I always try to put in 200% into everything I do. A writer cannot possibly find a happily ever after for themselves or their characters without placing said backside into said chair. End of story. (Pun intended).
So let me explain my percentages. Guilt reminds me that I have a story to write and ensures that in one form or another, I will write it. Which is very important. The Schedule I set is critical. I need at least 6 straight hours of writing time every time. I can't do the whole 1 or 2 hour session thing. Mostly because 1 to 2 hours is what it usually takes just to get my brain warmed up. Inspiration includes the world around me. Books, movies, my writer friends, my family, the food I eat (oh yeah, especially the food I eat...), the places I travel to, and the music I listen to. Without taking the time for myself to discover inspiration, the backside will merely sit in the chair and nothing will happen. And last, but not least, the determination to succeed. Without determination, what is the point? And when I mean the determination to succeed, I'm not talking about selling the next book (well, I am..), hitting the NYT bestseller list (though that would be nice), I'm talking about the determination to succeed in actually finishing the book. The book that won't let me lead a normal life until it's written. So I would say, many things get my backside into the chair, but the bottom line is, the only thing that truly gets a writer in the chair is the writer itself. End of story. Really.
Cheers and until next time,
Delilah Marvelle
4 comments:
Seems to simple, doesn't it? Glad I'm not the only writer who likes long stretches of time to write. Though I am getting better at producing in one- or two-hour increments!
According to Tess Gerritsen- these are the qualities needed to be a novelist:
"A fertile imagination. A love of reading. Sheer persistence. Insatiable curiosity.
If writers were cats, we'd all be dead."
I had to share her quote because there is more to a writer than "butt in chair". :)
"The book that won't let me lead a normal life until it's written..." Love that, D - M:)
The writer herself... Oh yeah, her... Wait! That's me.
Excellent reminder, m'dear.
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