Anatomy of A Novel: Part 7: When Life Gets in the Way

One of the greatest joys in my life is to be able to sit down and work on my current novel. I like nothing more than to have an empty day stretching ahead of me, plenty of tea and a few tasty snacks to nibble. I love to huddle over my computer with two cats nudging each other out of the way for lap space, and my head in another world for hours on end as I take my characters ever closer to the final page’s sail into the sunset. Sheer bliss!

Unfortunately, reality intrudes. Life gets in the way for all of us, and while that’s not a bad thing, it can be frustrating when you’re trying to keep track of a tenuous work-in-progress.

This is one of the reasons why I like to have my novel’s working outline constantly close at hand. Even if I haven’t written anything in weeks, all I need at the start of a long-overdue writing session is a few minutes to glance over the outline and read my notes about which piece of it I worked on last time, then I’m back in the hot seat, fired up and ready to go.

Sadly, that hasn’t happened for a while now.

Before April started, I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo, in a determined attempt to add to the word count of my as-yet-unfinished first draft. All I had to do was find time to write about 1000 words a day. Halfway through the month, I had to reduce my target to 700 words a day, but I have still failed. We all have our excuses, and here are mine:

First, the job I supposedly got back in March was snatched from me at the eleventh hour. I still don’t know what happened, but it seems to have been a combination of bureaucracy and a faulty message system. Suffice it to say that I had to start all over again from scratch, looking for a new job. Disheartening to say the least!

Second, a writing contract that I applied for back in January came up at last. Ten small articles online, but it’s quite fun and a good chance to stretch my writing muscles in new ways. (Plus there’s a little bit of money to be made, which is very welcome.) So instead of writing anything else, I have spent the last two weeks searching for material for the client’s business, and each article I write takes me about a day longer than it should. I will get faster, so they keep telling me…

Third, in answer to my ever-lengthening quest for a job, I have been given the chance to prove myself in a busy fresh food store, with a few casual shifts per week to bring in some much-needed money. I trained today and will start officially tomorrow.

Suddenly life has got in the way of writing. I’m very grateful that at last I can start to get my life back on track and move forward. But where does this leave me, writing-wise?

No need to panic. I’ve got this sorted. I’m going to carry on as before. I’m adaptable. I’m a writer, after all. It will just take me a little longer.

While I can’t always stay glued to the computer, that doesn’t mean I have to stop thinking about my story, its characters and their situation. I will always remain open to new bits of research that serendipitously drop into my lap from time to time. I believe in synchronicity with writing. Whether we attract things to us, or they find us by chance is not important here. What is important is that odd ideas pop into the heads of writers all the time, particularly when injected with the stimulation from a new work environment.

My blog-writing and my newsletter-writing have been halted as well as my novel-writing, but I’ll get back on track just as soon as I can sort out and adapt to my new schedule. And I’m sure my writing will be the richer for it in the long run.

Bear with me. I will return…