Writing A Novel On Your Lunch Hour
- Posted by Essays Blog in Essays Blog |
- November 15th, 2008 |
- Comments
Okay, so I didn’t really compose a entire novel on my lunch hour. But I did develop a lot of the characters, locations and plot by action a half-hour out of each day to adumbrate any ideas. You’d be amazed with what you can get done in just XXX minutes a day.
First, a little background. I had a job that was driving me crazy. Corporate priorities at the company I worked for changed on a weekly basis. Projects I managed got cancelled halfway finished development, blew abreast the launch pad, or went on indefinitely without any measurement of achiever. My job had become more about shuffling papers and schedules than creating great activity. I was frustrated. My thoughts turned thereto novel I’d never managed to compose.
But how was I going to compose it? I never had time. When I got home from activity every day, it was late. I was beat and cranky, ineffective to do much but eat dinner and go to kip. Weekends were filled with action care of the house, doing laundry, perception family. I needed to come up with any kind of plan if I was going to get anything done. I began by promising myself I’d accept a half-hour break each day at activity, pick up a notepad and pencil and expense whatsoever came into my head.
Any days I went out for lunch, sat by myself at the juice bar or taco booth and wrote as I ate. On days when I’d brought lunch from home, I’d drive to a distant parking lot or broadside street and guard in my car, making notes. And on days when I couldn’t get out for lunch, I’d make careful to reserve a private half hour interval in the corporate calendar so no one could agenda me for a meeting. At the appointed time, I’d pick up my notebook, find a cubbyhole in any corner of the building where body rarely went, sit and start writing.
At first it was difficult to put aside thoughts of activity. But presently enough, by implementing any simple strategies, I was able to compose at least a couple of pages each day. Any days I just scrawled out lists of phrases, adjectives, names and on others I managed a few paragraphs of bearable prose. But the more I did it, the easier it became. After III months I’d filled cardinal notebooks with ideas for characters, situations, locations. My novel had attribute. Rough attribute, to be careful, but attribute nonetheless.
Thither were other benefits, also, ones I hadn’t expected. Writing in my notebook for half an hour gave me a meaning of spirit that helped alleviate the accent of my job. My afternoons became lighter, less dreary. I dare have I developed a become in my block that hadn’t been thither before. It also gave me the confidence to look for a new job, one with less time load, so I could dedicate myself to completing the activity.
So if time is a problem for you, here’s ten suggestions on how to start a lunch-hour writing routine, including any tips to keep you on belt.
1. Character sketches
Pick a character you’ve cerebration about. Or invent a new one on the attack. Start with a name. Is the character male or female? How old? Single, attached or married? What color eyes? What color hair? What do they do for a living? Where do they live? Start with the city or townsfolk, so add details. What does their house or apartment look like? Details make a difference. Keep adding as many details as you can. What kind of car does your character drive (if they drive)? What do they eat for breakfast? What kind of clothes do they act?
2. Location sketches
Again, start from the general and activity your artifact down to the details. You can start with a real location or imagine one, or start with a real one and move to an imagined one. Is the location outside or inside? Who’s thither? If it’s outside, what kind of plants and animals might thither be? Once you’ve come up with the idea, accept a circuit of the location in your mind. Walk finished it, pause, look around. What do you accompany? Block finished your senses as you look around. How does it aroma? What does it look like? What do you hear?
3. Mix it up
Once you have a dozen characters and locations or so, attempt putting them unitedly. What would happen if character A and character D met at location C? Why would they be thither? Are they meeting thither for the first time or do they already know one another? How does each respond to the meeting?
4. Agenda your sessions
Put it in your calendar group. It’s easier to make yourself compose when you affect the process like all your other business meetings.
5. Get out of the cubicle
There’s also many distractions in your workspace. How are you going to be creative with all those responsibilities staring you in the face?
6. Cut your cell phone
There’s nothing so important it can’t act a half hour.
7. Get a pad of paper, and a pencil or pen
Computers are great for making things look nice. They’re not great for brainstorming. A pad of paper allows you to compose in the margins, write anywhere.
8. Pause, but don’t act
Don’t drop bill minutes deciding if your character prefers donuts to bagels. That can come later. Just pick one and accompany what happens. Writing things down, anything, pushes you forward.
9. Don’t anxiety about “writing”
This is not the time to critically assess the quality of your prose. In fact, you may not deprivation to “write” at all in this first phase. Make lists of character qualities or location features. Make lists of names for characters. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to start writing, either. Go with whatsoever feels right that day.
10. Don’t anxiety, period.
If nothing much happens at first, don’t anxiety about it. It’s just a half-hour out of your day. At bottom it was a quiet break. And you get to come back again tomorrow.