Working Full-Time and Writing
(or for any busy writer)
A note from Camy:
Well, it’s been fun for the two years I’ve been doing this column, but life (in the form of a debut novel releasing in September) has a habit of getting in the way of things. This will be my last column. Thanks for joining me these past couple years. Write on!
As always, remember that these tips won't all work for everyone, so pick and choose what's right for you.
Learning to get into the writing zone
I talked about left and right brain roles for writing in a previous article.
Left brain is more analytical, right brain is more creative. It's often very difficult to switch between the two completely. Usually when you switch from analytical to creative, you're not 100% into your creative mode--there are vestiges of analytical thinking going on.
That's why it's often difficult to be as creative when writers switch between editing and writing, editing and writing. The analytical side--editing--doesn't fully relinquish brain energy to the creative side for writing.
However, switching quickly--and more importantly, more completely--between sides can be trained, to an extent. This is especially important for busy writers who juggle different duties and tasks.
Set an alarm clock (your watch alarm, phone alarm, PDA alarm) at odd hours during the day. When that alarm goes off, drop everything and write for 8 minutes. Grab whatever's handy--pen and paper, computer, word processor. Immerse yourself in some scene in your current WIP.
It will be really hard, at first. If you have to write nonsense or the same words over and over, then just do it. But eventually you'll shift into right-brain creativity. And the more often you do it, the faster you'll be able to automatically switch.
Keep writing!
Camy Tang
lives in San Jose, California. She previously worked in biology research,
and she is a staff worker for her church youth group. She runs the Story Sensei critique service, and her Asian chick lit novel, Sushi for One?, releases in September.
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