Have a schedule and be passionately engaged in physical activities. Writing a novel is hard work, and it 's going to take time and effort, but you can not live in a bubble. Your imaginative mind must have time to decompress and getting your blood flowing is the way to do it.
I. GET A SCHEDULE
When you turned 30, did you say, I & # I am told that you have more than a decade? Be honest. 39: m really going to do it this this time? Sure you & # 39; d read Twilight or the Lord of the Rings for the hangover the morning after your 33 birthday you still had nothing to show. 50-ith time, but you have not put two words together on your novel.
DO NOT TELL YOURSELF THAT YOU CAN NOT WRITE A NOVEL BECAUSE YOU HAVE A JOB OR A FAMILY - UTTER Are you willing to wake up at 4:30 am and write? Are you willing to go to a coffee shop alone with your laptop instead of the gym for 6 to 9 months? Are you willing to quit drinking alcohol? Time to get serious! Make some sacrifices! Tell yourself that you can can do this! You can write a novel!
Of all the steps of the Mimbrez How to Write a Novel, having a schedule may be the most important (next to getting some chutzpah).
1. QUIT DRINKING ALCOHOL (AT LEAST UNTIL THE BOOK IS FINISHED)
Do you do not drink, skip this. The problem with alcohol is that you & # 39; re pretty much You do not try to compare yourself to Hemingway. You & # 39; ve already one drink, and you surely go shinola are not going to get up before dawn to write after drinking the night before. re not him. And frankly, he probably would have been better if he & # 39; d given up wine.
2. TAKE INVENTORY OF YOUR SCHEDULE AND CUT SOMETHING OUT
You may think that you & # 39; you just need to weed some things out.
(Hello! We & # 39; re serious here! Did not you read Part 1? You 're engaging in one of the most important endeavors since the lunar landing! So make a real commitment! Once, you are waking up at about 4:00 am and dragging your butt directly (well, okay you can make make coffee first) to your writing desk. They do not check or email or instagram accounts. They do not feed the cat, fetch the paper, or peek on on your children sleeping. will not bother you. So take advantage of this secret vortex of solitude and weave your tales of wonder.
Just do it, is is not it? ___ ___ ___ 0 ___ ___ 0 ___ ___ 0 All I can say. once you have it a few times, you 're going to realize just how much time you & # 39; s no way you & # 39; ve ever done this otherwise .
Do you go to the gym? Do you go? You can be a letter carrier or a brain surgeon on call at 4:00 am; writing before dawn may not be an option for you. Going to the library? Give something up for 9 months. Stop going to the gym, stop cooking for your family, give up Sunday school, or cut out Rotary Club for heaven Write a few paragraphs and take your family out for dinner. Just do whatever it takes to spend time writing and working on your book.
3. WRITE OUT YOUR SCHEDULE AND STICK TO IT
Like going to write, stick to it like a fanatic. Like something that must be done NO MATTER WHAT. Like Pavlov & # 39; s dog, when it & # 39; s 4 am you should wake up automatically with a burning need to create!
II. GET SOME EXERCISE
"Yes, you and even fancy, if you think," What the hell? Did not you just say give up gift so I can write? "Yes, and frankly, if But I still think that it is, pulling teeth as it is, then okay, you can skip this part. But I still think it 's nearly critical to keep your creative brain flexible and in shape by moving your body.
You are creating a consciousness goes away to another creative process of writing yourself out of the world. Get some space between you and the imaginary world that & # 39; s flowing from you. When you do this, you will have a new New ideas will come and you 'll also notice some things in the story that need to be fixed.
How do you decompress? When I was writing The Morning Tree, the main characters were studying Kendo. I studied Muay Thai and Kali when I was younger, but never Kendo. So I joined a local dojo. You may do other things like as taking, I was attending regular classes, and have been studied Kendo for 3 and years years at the time of this writing. Whatever it is, do something else besides writing that gets the blood flowing and the mind distracted.
III. ALTERNATIVELY - GET A HOBBY
I realize not everyone can make it to the gym. When I was 15, I had Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which partly paralleled me. After two years of physical therapy and effort I recovered. Not everyone has the luxury (and it is a luxury ) to run, life weights, do martial arts, or even mow the lawn. But if you can not engage in physical activity much, then I would suggest unplugging with something like sewing, drawing, model building and the like. By the way, mindless activities like watching TV or fooling around on an iPad do NOT count. We need to unpublate from writing and let your mind wander with some other activity to give Room for the creative side of your brain to heal, like a runner needs time to recover after a marathon.
Whatever you do, STAY COMMITTED, FOLLOW YOUR SCHEDULE, DO NOT GIVE UP, AND BEFORE LONG, YOU & # 39; LL HAVE THE FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR BOOK.
YOU CAN DO IT!
