By The Time You Read This…
By the time you ready this I will be in a country far far away…
No, not really, at least not one you and I can see with our eyes.
I’ll be in story land. You know — that place that at first only exists between our ears (okay, between my ears.) And then if I do my job right, the story world will sputter onto the page for you all to read, eventually.
It’s the Labor Day Weekend holiday, and while my friends are off at Burning Man or Tahoe, I’m in a cafe, or in my home office, or out on the sunny patio with cats, writing.
I’m nearly done with the first draft of the next book about Henrietta and her friends. Tentatively called The Dragon Stone, this book picks off quite soon after Henrietta The Dragon Slayer ends.
I don’t want to say too much about what I will be writing as you read this, specifically.
But I can tell you that I’m getting mentally prepared. In the days ahead of sitting down to have my writer’s retreat, I will have prepared like this…
I’ll have been asking myself:
- What does someone have to believe in order to write 3,000 words a day for three days?
This question comes to me from my NLP training, and gets me to imagine that future me who is writing now. I see myself sitting there confident, involved, questioning the story, being in a curious state. I see myself taking breaks as I need them, stretching like a cat, maybe kicking the punch bag for a change.
- How can I make this a pleasurable experience in just the ways I know how?
Good pens come to mind! I like to journal as a warm up for diving into my story world. I address my fears and concerns and face the inner dragon of “I can’t” and “This is hard.” Tools I develop in depth in my book, The Writer’s Adventure Guide. I will find just the right ways to tell myself that I CAN and I KNOW IT’S HARD. THAT’S WHY WE LOVE IT.
- What preparation will best serve me?
I have journals and notes of backstory. I review them and get clear on what I’ve already dreamed about for my bad guy and other story aspects.
- Who do I need to ask for support?
Ah! A good one, and another tool from my book, The Writer’s Adventure Guide. My husband is my biggest supporter, and great person to brainstorm with.
As you read this I will be in a place far, far away… in my mind, working on the second book in The Five Kingdom series….
What can you do to prepare for your writing time? How can you make it a pleasurable experience?
If you’re curious about how to get to your writing, and learn more about what it’s like to work with Beth Barany and her team, you can go here. Thanks!
Beth,
I am looking forward to one of these days soon getting Hennretta but can’t at the moment It looks very inviting from what I have seen of pieces here and there.
At present I am only writing poems. personal poems and i have been told by people who have read some that they can feel the emotion.
this would be like your painting the picture with words of a world only seen inour imaginations I believe. I paint feelings with what i have writen in some of my poems. What would be a good prodution of words for me do you think if you are going to do 3000 a day ?
Vicki, As a poet maybe a good push goal would be five to ten poems a day, depending on the length of the poem. Good luck!
Beth:
Good for you for making such a powerful commitment to your work! Yay! Isn’t it great there are so many ways to do that, here, there and in other lands both actual and metaphorical? Ialso spent the weekend replenishing–and so, recommitting–to my work, by heading off to the wild farthest reaches of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, where I sat on a beach empty except for me and my honey. Soaking up warm sun, vast sea and sky for hours on end soothed my soul and reminded me that yes, I can do this thing that can feel so hard, which, of course, is to publish my very first book. Congratulations to you on yours and all the ones to come!