March

Mastering Your Writing Routine:
Tips and Insights

Every Writer develops a routine uniquely suited to their life. Mine is shaped by coffee, music, and a pair of watchful dogs. My ‘think drink’ is mocha coffee, to which I add ice multiple times during the day.

I have two dogs who can be pretty distracting, but only when someone comes to the front door or anywhere near the house as they’re staring out a window. (They really dislike the postman and the trash removal truck!) They take their role as protectors very seriously. Aside from those incidents, they are devoted couch potatoes, literally asleep on the couch in my office.

I often listen to non-lyrical music during the writing process, but it must inspire the kind of narrative unfolding. Music helps set the emotional landscape and keeps me connected to the story.
Making a habit of writing at least several pages per day is an excellent goal but sometimes life gets in the way of the best laid plans. It’s important to concentrate on the story itself and generally it will fall into place. I rely on a simple structure that keeps me grounded called The Triple Threat: a beginning, a turning point, and an end, which happens to be one of my books.

Once I have established this structure, I create a loose outline that confines itself to those anchors. All the rest comes out as the story progresses. I believe that like life, you can’t dictate what happens with every twist and turn. Spontaneity is the spice that makes a better book.
I create characters that are based on people I know. The familiarity makes the emotions more forceful and the descriptions more vivid. Most, if not all the stories I have written came from distinct dreams, sometimes complete with plots, sub-plots, and titles. I try not to worry about how long a book should be or how many chapters, as it interferes with what’s most important, telling the story.

  My writing space is an office with a rather large desk and an oversized, wall-mounted monitor which gives me extra space on the desk itself. That leads to clutter but somehow translates to a higher level of inspiration. I guess that makes me a slob, but a highly inspired one!

If I were to give any advice to writers just starting out it would be this: don’t Fixate on how much time it will take to write your book. Don’t force long writing sessions every day. Discipline matters, but what works best for me is to write each day when the inspiration is flowing. Take frequent breaks and don’t let anything derail you from finishing. Life will take its toll along the way but never quit. The book will be finished when it’s ready.

One thing I have learned is considerable patience. If writing teaches us anything, it’s that persistence - not speed - is what turns stories into legacies.

Solitaire
www.solitaireparke.com