One of the disadvantages of being a full
time writer (apart from the details of never knowing whether or not you’ll have
an income this year) is that it’s easy to slip into the trap of simply jumping
into the story each day, whatever draft it’s in, and letting it meander where
it will without taking the time to reflect on it in between. I used to mull
over the story on the drive to work, and actually make notes on my thoughts in
my work diary during long staff meetings. (I know, bad work ethic, but I worked
in a separate clinic and I did pay attention to the rare items that were
relevant to me. So that’s not what we’re discussing here!) On my precious
writing days I knew exactly what I wanted to do and could barely stop for
lunch, let alone procrastination.
But last week I had to fly to Canada
unexpectedly for family reasons. By the end of 28 hours travelling my brain
isn’t good for much, but it’s a shame not to work in those early hours when you
can think. I can fiddle around with a typescript nearly anywhere, café or
waiting room, but I’d just tidied up the first 10,000 words enough to send to
my editor, so there was no point in editing them any further right now. And I’m
more of a princess about first drafts; I need peace, physical and mental, to enter
into the story’s own world, discover what happens next and find the words to
describe it.
So I returned to my staff meeting days. I
held the story in my head, the bit that I’ve done and the parts that come next,
and wrote several pages of notes on them. Several things were suddenly obvious:
missed opportunities, missed symbols, strained logic. I wrote out both sides of
an argument about one question until the solution was clear; made notes of facts
to check when I had the chance.
Now, although the priority of these few
weeks is family time, when I have a spare hour to write I can focus on exactly
what I want to accomplish. The notes have given me achievable tasks rather than
having to fight through the murk to find the story’s next step. I’m definitely
going to be scheduling some regular note-taking time when I’m home again (ie in
a more organized way than the mulling over ideas on the daily dog walk, where I
so often get sidetracked by sights, sounds and friends!)
But now, I’m just about to leave for my
sister’s home and Thanksgiving dinner - and yes, that's something to be thankful for!