Momentum

by

Scott D. Parker

For any project we writers write, there's always that moment when you reach a certain point in your story and momentum takes over. I think there are actually more than one spot. It's at the beginning, of course, when you are all excited about this new tale and you are bursting with enthusiasm. There is also the end one where all the events of the story have built to the big giant conclusion.

But what about the middle ground, that iffy time after the one-quarter or one-third mark when the long slog kicks in? That part is where many writers--this one included--often falter. It's happned to me in the past and it has been my greatest challenge. So far this summer, with this new work ethic, it is a challenge I'm overcoming.

How do I know? Well,  for one, I'm a chronological writer. Once I settle on a story, I write it from beginning to end and I don't jump around. Some authors do that--and, admittedly, it's easier for non-fiction--but I don't. I like to see the little nuances come up as I move forward. It allows me and the story to breathe. As such, if there are scenes I'm looking forward to writing, I have to wait until I get there. In this current story, I'm at one of those points. I have a central conceit in this story and, after actual months of waiting--and about a month of current writing--I'm finally there. And it feels great to be here.

Another way I know I'm on a right track for a story is when I stop wanting to read other people's material in favor of reading my own. Now, in order for me to 'read' my stuff, I need to write it. I write in the mornings so, I tell myself, I can leave the evenings for other reading. But, the deeper I get into my own story, the more I want to read it. So, little by little, I'm actually getting two writing sessions in per day. That tells me something.

The promise of favorite scenes. For nearly a month now of daily work on this book, I've been waiting to get to the scenes I wrote Thursday and Friday. By the time this post goes live, I'll have written the next scene on Saturday morning. It's a nice reward to finally be here, living in the scenes I've only imagined in my head for a long, long time.

Then there's this one and it is a direct result of me keeping statistics on my writing. I'm really loving the current novel, but other influences are spurring me on to write some short stories. But when I look at my analytics and my writing streak, I don't want to break the novel-writing streak (worked on the novel every day since 9 June). There's but one of two ways to overcome that: have more than one writing session a day with one devoted to the novel and another devoted to short stories. Not bad, but then the evening session with the short stories will always have the longing for the novel.

Well, that leaves only one alternative: finish the novel, as soon as possible. That, more than anything, is what is driving me this week. I know I'll have to re-read this thing and, revise/edit, revise/edit, and revise/edit over and over, but I'll be doing that on a *finished manuscript.* And it was the realization that, if I bear down and hyperfocus on the novel for the next month, I can have a completed manuscript by mid-August, just in time for my son's return to school (and the elimination of my wonderful 6am writing time).

So, there it is. Done by August. Given the variances of life, I can settle on Done by Labor Day. Barring something dramatic, I see no reason why that can't be accomplished.

That, my friends, is a great feeling. And a fantastic piece of motivation.

What types of motivation drives y'all?

Sliding Headfirst: Momentum and Writing

Sliding headfirst is the safest way to get to the next base, I think, and the fastest. You don't lose your momentum, and there's one more important reason I slide headfirst, it gets my picture in the paper.

Pete Rose

By Steve Weddle

There's a story we've probably talked about at some point.

A professor asks the students how they define themselves. One says she's a fighter. One says he's a learner. This is a creative writing, by the way. So he gets to this one dude who says, "I'm a writer."
Everyone kinda nods, looks down at their cups of coffee, maybe wishing they'd thought of that. The professor says, "OK. It is now 3:15. What have you written today?" The guy says he hasn't written anything that day. The professor says, "And you think you're a writer? Not today you aren't."

I can't be a writer every single day. I've tried. Doesn't work for me. I'd have to get up at 4 a.m. to write. I've done that before. I'm not going to be able to do that every day.

Then you're not a real writer. 

Yeah, OK.

You don't want it bad enough!

Um, I think you mean "badly" enough, but whatevs.

I can write 5,000 words a day, but it's a one-and-done kind of thing. Or there will be times when I can crank through 1,000 words a day for a week or so at a stretch. But I don't write every single day. My bank account doesn't depend on it. My sanity doesn't. The happiness of my family doesn't.

I've read posts here and elsewhere about the difference between being an Author and just being a writer. An Author has obligations from contracts to conferences, from agents and editors, and on and on. Page proofs. Revisions. Sequels. Cover approval. (Ha. Joking about the last one.)

I don't have a clock in my head for writing, and I generally don't have deadlines.

I write what I want, when I want, like that sad, drunk man at the other end of the bar softly singing to himself.

Recently, and for a brief time, that all changed.

I had five stories due in a matter of a couple weeks from each other. Now, I am, by trade, a newspaper guy. Before that, I taught college. Before that, I was a college student. I know from deadlines. If you tell me that something is due at noon on September 23, I will count back from that time. If I owe you a 2,000 word story, I'll figure how long it will take me to write it and how long after that I will need to work on it further -- beta reads, edits, etc.

If you tell me that you'd like a 10,000 word story from me by March 23, there is absolutely no chance that I will think again about that story until March 1, at the earliest.

Of course, when you have five stories due right next to each other, that changes. And that's where momentum comes in.

See, once I write one story, I kinda fall into another. I get the feeling, you know? Get "In the Zone" or whatever. I'll get the idea down, get the sentences shaped the way I like them, get things layered in there, see how the various images work out, and so forth. Maybe "On a Roll" is better than the zone idea. I dunno.

Writing every single day doesn't work for me. Writing in frantic, flailing spurts does.

I have work in Beat to a Pulp: Superhero, Both Barrels, Feeding Kate, Protectors, and Off The Record 2 -- all either out right now or about to be out. (PS - Many, many talented folks involved in these books)

And having that momentum is great. You're writing. Stuff is falling in to place. You're connecting with it all.

But then you're diving into that base, which is an extremely dumb move. Because now I'm kinda just lying here, spent.

The trick to keeping your momentum, I can tell you, is staying on your feet.