This is quite a different post to the others I've put up. It's been sitting in draft for quite a while as I try to make it perfect. Then I realised that it's never going to be perfect, and I'd like to put it out into the world anyway as some of my thinking around writing and being a writer and what goes into that.
As with many writers, I suspect, I spend a lot more time thinking about writing than actually writing. A lot of plotting happens in my head as I do the dishes, walk the dog, pet the cats, and generally go about daily life.
But I also think a lot about the mechanics behind writing, about the processes that go into creating a novel and how that might build into a long-term career where I get to write full time, which has been my dream for many years.
About two years ago I was really starting to focus on how to make the dream come true, and the beginning stages of what I hope will be a long and enjoyable writing career. As part of that, I thought a lot about what I wanted to achieve, and realised that I can't separate out my goals from who I am or what I need to do to achieve those goals.
I am not a natural planner. As soon as I start a plan I immediately want to divert from it, but I am also reminded daily of the old saying that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. So, I needed some kind of a plan.
And I came up with this: Know your Why, Know your Who, Know your How.
Which all sounds great, but what do I mean?
Know your Why
I think this term has been around for a while, but for me it's a great way of focusing attention on the ultimate end point. Why do I write? What do I want to achieve with my writing? What does success look like? What are my goals? (And it's fine to have short and long term goals, probably best in fact.)
Know your Why = know what you want to achieve.
Know your Who
As important as the first part, knowing who I am as a person and a writer will help me see if the goals I've set, or what I want to achieve, is realistic. This is tough for most people, me included.
For example, for years (and I do mean years) I thought I was a pantser. That is, someone who writes without outlines or set plots, and discovers the story as they write.
I must have started and abandoned a hundred writing projects because I wrote myself into corners or dead ends or lost interest or a dozen other reasons. I actually finished at least a couple of novel-length works, but they will never, ever see the light of day in their present form.
Then I had a realisation. I like being organised. I like knowing where my keys are, where my phone is, and so on. So, why was I trying to be so chaotic (for me) in my writing?
After that, I embraced the concept of outlining, and I'm a much happier and more productive writer as a result.
Know your Who.
Know your How
Once I'd worked out what I wanted to achieve, and what sort of a writer I was, it was time to think about how I was going to achieve those goals, bearing in mind my personality and the time I had available.
There's no point in me deciding I'm going to write a novel over a weekend. Apart from anything else, there would be a riot at home if the cats didn't get fed on schedule.
Setting out to write a novel there's so much to learn, and I've absorbed a lot of information of the (many) years I've been scribbling or typing away in breaks from my day-to-day life.
Setting out to publish is a whole other venture, with another lot of things to learn.
And, for me, that means taking things a bit at a time.
Know your How.
Everything integrates here. Keeping in mind what my goals are, and what I'm like as a person, lets me plan how to get there.
This is just the beginning, but it's all be pretty exciting so far.
As I finally complete this blog post it's April 2019 and I have five books in the world, with another to come out over the next few months. By the end of 2019 I hope to have eight books published and I'm getting there by knowing what I'm aiming for in my writing, how I can manage that as a person and learning the tools of the trade of publishing as I go.
