When Writing Takes SERIOUS Time

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. Well, the good news is that I have been writing. And outlining.

Since outlining is such mind-numbing work at times, I decided to let myself write 8-10 pages of any Shiny New Idea that comes my way. This might waste a couple hours a week, but it keeps my writing muscles primed without being a complete distraction from the real work of re-outlining a failed project. It's a project I'm just unwilling to let go.

I was encouraged by the dedication in the front of The Maze Runner, which is by anyone standards an amazing book.

For Lynette. This book was a three-year journey, and you never doubted.

 Wow. I get so caught up at times in the stories of fast writers making it big in record time, that I forget how many incredible works took years to create. It doesn't make me think less of James Dashner to know The Maze Runner was a three-year journey for him. It makes complete sense, given the complexity and consistent mystery through to the very end.

I realized after reading that dedication that my book idea is no less complex. It's a whole other world I'm meshing with our world, and I need to give myself time to flesh that all out, to explore every bit of it, and to craft an introduction that is both compelling and mysterious.

That's a tall order for six months, or even the 10 months I spent writing the first draft. It's been sitting long enough now, so I really feel it's time for a new look at it.

I've got other projects almost done and some just beginning, but I keep coming back to this one. Like I said, I'm not ready to let it go. Maybe someday there'll be a good reason for that. For now, I'll just keep working and hope for the best.

What's keeping you busy these days? Have you ever spent more than a year on one writing project?


p.s. I'm at Operation Awesome today talking about trends and the universal psyche we can't escape.

The Road to Eye-strain is Paved with Good Intentions

Sigh. 

Go ahead. Ask me what's wrong.

Why, how nice of you to ask. (Okay, I'll stop doing that.) It's eye-strain. I seriously need to cut back on my hours in front of this bright, backlit screen. This is tough because I'm totally addicted to tumblr and twitter and facebook (and the news). I know, I need to suck it up and do what's best for my eyes. Turn. it. off.

Picture from this site

The truly tragic thing is that it's affected my reading time. By the evening hours, when it's finally quiet enough to critique for my partners, edit my own work, or read my latest favorite book, my eyes are already bugging out my head. And my response time for critiques and reviews has gotten. really. really. really. slow. As painfully slow as reading that last sentence probably was for you (if you observed every mid-sentence period).

So I'm faced with a dilemma, or rather, a choice. I can keep doing what I'm doing and go blind in the next decade. Or I can cut back on screen time and save it for my reading/writing pursuits which are my only real non-familial goals these days.

It's a no-brainer.

I know what I really want, and it's not a plethora of random tidbits from distant (though cherished) friends and the mass media. It's quality family time and quality writing time. This will require self-mastery.

Sigh.

But it's going to be tough, as all new habits are.

Have you ever struggled with a technology addiction (iPhone, video games, web-surfing)? Or if that's too personal, how do you keep a healthy balance in your life?