My first novel, Business As Usual, was a different experience to my others because I wrote it in small chunks. At the time, like lots of other writers, I was working full time and had to snatch whatever time I could to write. Consequently, it was written over a period of about two years in small frenzied writing spates. For the rest of my novels, I had the luxury of time and found a rhythm that seemed to work. If I wrote two chapters a day, I was happy.
All that changed, however, in January when I found myself once again in full-time employment. At first, I was amazingly disciplined and, even if I couldn't keep up with the two chapters a day quota, I spent most of my weekends writing. Somewhere along the way though, it's all gone horribly wrong and I find myself looking for reasons not to write.
Creating this blog has been the final nail in the coffin of my current novel as I now focus on writing this instead. It's not hard to figure out why; it's easier. For a start, it requires less words but it also allows me to let myself off the hook. I convince myself that it still counts because it's writing. The problem is, the more I ignore the novel, the less inclined I feel to pick it up and I worry that I am not going to be able to regenerate my enthusiasm for it.
Maybe I'm being too hard on myself, after all work is hard. That doesn't cut it though when I consider how much time I seem to spend on the computer being busy doing nothing. It eats away at my time like a vampire, literally sucking the very life out of me. I can sit for hours mindlessly playing Bejeweled Blitz or trawling the internet endlessly reading inane trivia.
You can see then why I might be worried that my life is in danger of coming off the rails. I have just had a week off work and done no writing whatsoever - not a jot. It's just not good enough and I need to take some kind of stock before my bad habits become a permanent lifestyle.
I've got a little over five weeks of employment left and then I can fully engage with my writing. Before then though I need a plan. I know myself too well and, if I'm not careful, the little slacker on my shoulder will overpower his more industrious twin and my writing ambitions will be over before they even began. So, from now on there will be no more playing on the computer, I will produce a blog post and try for at least one chapter every day. I am going to set myself the target of having my current novel finished before the end of summer.
There is nothing worse than languishing in a sea of self-indulgence and I have done it for long enough, my friends. Writer's block be damned, I am going to give myself a figurative kick up the backside and get myself back on track. There' s going to be no more time for excuses, I am back to business as usual.