My First Week as a Novelist

I wish I could say it went well

After one week of living life as if I was a novelist, one fact has become abundantly clear - I am capital-A-Addicted to distractions. Even more so than social media or television, I’m distracted by my own dreams and ambition.

My brain all week:

Oo this could be a fun strategy! What if I tried this routine? This would be a good Substack note. Should I learn more about writing novels before I write my novel? Let me change locations so I can really focus. I want to build my life outside of writing too, so I can’t give up on my other ideas and commitments. How can I do this more efficiently (flawlessly)??

My mind was playing a perpetual game of Plinko this past week. Ideas kept popping in and bouncing around until they landed anywhere but someplace productive.

If I am going to actually write this book, I need clarity.

Last week, I wrote about my plan to study routines of famous writers, find advice columns, nurture my creativity, etc. I was SO convinced that was the best way to produce good writing.

I wrote..one paragraph this week. Lol (although, that is better than zero paragraphs)

I have to accept that I cannot do everything all at once (brutal, I know) and I have to block out the noise.

I need to remember the objective and start eliminating the fluff

What is the objective?

• My ultimate objective is to build an interesting life and inspire others to do the same.

• The current building block is to write a novel (something interesting to me) and document the process (a way to inspire others that it is possible).

What is NOT the objective

• Perfection.

• Developing the most efficient routine ever

• Writing the entire book in one month

• Creating 100s of posts or videos to document the process

What can I eliminate

• My ego.

• My expectations

• Studying niche writing concepts*

• Searching for answers during “writing time”*

• Thinking about what happens after I finish writing the book

• Access to my cellphone during “writing time”

*At this point, learning new information is a form of procrastination. I’m not saying that I know everything I need to know about writing (farrrrr from it), I’m simply saying that I know enough to put words on a page and that needs to be the focus right now. If I have questions as I’m writing, those questions go directly onto the page and I’ll come back to answer them when it’s time to edit. If I keep stopping to look things up, I’ll never make it more than ten words without shifting gears.

As the saying goes: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

I need to write one sentence and then the next without worrying about the book as a whole.

Action Item (singular) for the upcoming week

Protect the writing time!!! I honestly don’t care how long writing time is, but when I sit down for writing time, I am only allowed to write for my book. No strategizing, no reading articles, no googling, no phone, no snacks (beverages are allowed).