So it’s been quite some time since I updated this blog, but it’s time to get back to it.
Since I last wrote on this blog, my kids have gotten quite a bit older (6 and almost 9 now), and I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to write more and more. Whether it’s the occasional time at home by myself, during gymnastics or other kids’ activities, or when I actually get to leave the house for a couple of hours to do some serious writing, it’s been great. I’m currently 55,000 words into the first draft of a novel, and I’m really liking it.
But the writing is hard work.
Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love writing. When I have good writing session, when I am able to really craft the story and move things along, I feel great afterwards. Energized. Excited. I can’t wait to do more.
But I’m also exhausted.
A good writing session leaves me mentally exhausted. Fiction has never been my strong-suit; I always feel like the real world is strange enough. Blogging, press releases, my memoir, even the non-fiction education book that I started last year (and I’m not giving up on), are not nearly as tiring as this work of fiction that is hooked in my head.
But when a story gets stuck in your head, the only way to get it unstuck (in my opinion), is to get it out on paper. A story just wants to be told. And this one, absolutely wants to be told.
It’s speculative fiction with a touch of fantasy. So while I don’t need to do major world-building (no Tolkien-esque language crafting thankfully!), I’m still creating the real-world that my characters are living in. I’m still building the way they and their, for lack of a better term, powers, interact with the outside world.
And while this building is not the same kind of physical exertion that building something out of wood might be, my mind feels like it just ran a race after a good writing session. It’s a good exhaustion though (unlike normal exhaustion that I get from having two children that don’t sleep much), and the story needs to be told.
Blogging, however, isn’t nearly as exhausting. So I’m going to set a goal for myself to blog more frequently. Maybe blogging about the writing process will help me work through any challenges and get more stamina for when I’m telling the story. The goal is going to be incredibly modest — such a low bar that I’ll be lucky not to trip over it — but I’m hoping to write a new blog post at least once a month. If I do it more, great! But once a month should be a good goal to start with.
Now, back to the hard work of world building. Thanks for reading!
Howard Wolke -- Author 