Since my last blog post, I've been very busy at my day job...which, incidentally, is also my night job since I am a tax accountant and we are in the final days of tax season!
I have managed to carve out 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there during each workday to jot down some writing project ideas. Now that the floodgates have been opened, I have had ideas pouring out of me like a waterfall! I became concerned at one point about how I was going to focus on a topic and really turn it into a completed writing project. I no longer have that concern.
My fingers are whizzing over the keyboard every time I open my Google Drive to write. It doesn't matter where I am, or how few minutes I have to spare for a little writing. I have managed to obliterate the writer's block I had in place for so many years, and now I just write about anything. The reason I am not worried about focusing on one project is simple: the variety keeps the gate open. As long as the gate is open, I can keep adding to my various projects. I remember a long time ago reading a post from one of my favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon, who described a similar way of working that she used, especially in her earlier days while still a university professor.
I started out with plenty of topics listed out on that first page. That was all I did for one writing session.
The next day, I had been thinking about the list, so I just added a few sentences to one of the ideas.
The next day, I added bits to another topic on the list. These bits have been growing each day.
Sometimes I will stick with the same topic for a few days in a row, sometimes I hop all over the place. Once, I started with the intent to work on one topic, felt hesitant that I didn't know what to add to it, and quickly transitioned to something else...which ended up getting the flow going so well that I developed ideas for and was able to go back and add to the original topic. I had some time, so I ended up writing quite a bit that day because the flow was so good!
Since I have been using this writing method for the last couple of weeks, I have seen my writing fluency improve, the word count increase, and the creativity abound. I am now confident that when one of my topics gets close enough to require more attention to editing/formatting/finalizing, it will be easy to focus on those chunks in between other things and still be able to complete the project.
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