Accountability - An Indispensable Tool

by Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson

There are those who say writers must write X number of words every single day, including Christmas and their birthday. There are others who say that to rigidly schedule your writing is to kill creativity, and writers should write only when their Muse whispers in their ear. We all know several of each kind.

I kind of agree that doing exactly X number of words every day can easily start producing lifeless and mechanical prose, but waiting until your Muse cooperates can be a lengthy and unpredictable experience. Neither one is a real asset to a professional writer.

My solution is far from perfect - is there really a perfect one? - but it works for me. When I start a new book I have a rough idea (within 5K) of how long it is going to be - though that can and sometimes does change. I always have a deadline, even when I'm self-publishing. Then it's a matter of simple math to figure out how many words I want to write each day... or each week. Even though I record my totals daily I find weekly goals are more flexible, because life does happen. An emergency trip to the vet because the dog ate something unwise. Plumbing disasters. A 24 hour bug slaps you down. Family obligations. Sometimes it does seem the world conspires to keep us from writing, doesn't it?

Years ago I made an Excel spreadsheet with all the data on the book on top (title, start and end dates, genre, target length, etc.) , then below columns for Day (of the project), Date, Word Count Finish, Total Words Done, Daily Projected, Daily +/-, Projected Goal, Projected Goal +/-. In a different spot I also have a chart for chapter number and start and end pages. I made a blank master file and whenever I start a new book I copy it into the new file for the new book (you do keep a new file for each new book, don't you?) and fill out the pertinent information - dates, targets, etc. It takes me less than an hour and it's pretty much set for the duration of the book.

It sounds cumbersome, and I'm sure to many it might be, but it keeps me on track. Every day line is filled out, even if I have to do several together after an extended hiatus. This isn't an exercise to shame myself or make me feel bad about myself - there are some things that can't be helped, after all - but it is to keep me accountable. Am I writing? Am I staying near my goal? If not, why? Sometimes I put notes in the blank area to the right - Meemaw hospital, for example, or Grandpa here. Once in a great while I have to put something like Goofed off, or Family picnic. Remember, this is not a feel-good thing so I can see I'm 6K ahead of my projected goal, either. This is an exercise in accountability.

So whether I'm ahead of my goal or behind it, this is a record. Not a brag, not a punishment. Am I writing? Am I meeting my daily/weekly goal? No one ever sees this sheet but me (and the cat who loves to sit on my shoulder while I work, but she won't tell anyone) and it is I for whom I do it. It makes me accountable about my writing.

And we all know that if we're going to be a writer we must write, don't we?

Writing Schedules and Other Fictions

by Janis Patterson

There are those who say that the success to writing lies only in following a strict schedule. So many words per day, every day, or writing X number of hours without deviation, or... whatever. On the other hand, there are an equal number of equally fervid writers who are convinced that no good writing ever comes from being forced. One should wait for the magic touch of the muse, as anything which is worked at, which happens without fiery and flowing inspiration is unnatural and bad writing. 

Give me a break. Or two.

That said, I will admit that my writing is easier when I am in the throes of inspiration, and that I do try to write a certain number of words every day. Keywords here are 'easier' and 'try.'

Like all of life writing is uncertain. You can vow that you will write a minimum of 5,000 words a day, every single day without fail. If you can, good on you. The rest of us have lives. We have families, cars, homes, jobs... all of which seem to go maniacally wonky just at the worst times. There are things in life that should come before writing - family comes to mind first.

So - you've set a schedule and stuck to it pretty well, then something overwhelming happens and until it is resolved the writing goes out the window. Then what? Your rhythm is off. You haven't kept your word, and if you're so unreliable why go on? Obviously you aren't a real writer unless you .... whatever.

Yes, there are people who actually believe that. I look at writing schedules sort of like I do at a diet. They can be wonderful things from which you can benefit greatly. Depending on your attitude, they can also make your life miserable. If you break a diet, you don't just give up and wallow in a slough of chocolate (however delightful that might seem), you admit what happened, then pick up and go on. Or at least you should. At least, I do. Most of the time.

Being a writer is a life and career choice - it shouldn't be a sentence. Yes, we have deadlines, and yes, if we've given our word that so-and-so will be done by such-and-such a time, we should honor it, no matter what it takes. That's a sprint, though, not a way of life.

So am I advocating heedlessness, hedonism, laziness? No. If you are a writer, you must write. But... if you are a human, you must also live. As the Facebook meme (am I using that weird word correctly?) says, Eat the chocolate, drink the wine, smell the roses.

It's all about balance. I am a firm advocate that family comes first. Yes, you owe dedication to your craft, but you also owe dedication to your Self. And your family. And your life, however you choose to live it. But you must also be disciplined and productive in the way that is right for you.

Besides, there is a extra - if rather naughty - benefit to having a writing schedule. When something comes up that you should do, but don't really want to, but can't say no gracefully, you can always say, "I'd love to, but I haven't made my word count for today." Works every time.

Now for something that has nothing to do with writing - I wish all of you the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years!

Finding Inspiration

Sometimes all I need is to step outside and view my everyday world like an explorer. A simple walk around my neighborhood can start my creative juices flowing. I collect images, sights, and sounds of things I see everyday. Somehow all these things fall into place and my imagination gets back to work.

Other days it's more complicated. Today was one of those more complicated days. I could blame it on the 13 hour shift I worked the night before my trip to San Diego. Getting up at 5:30 and driving an hour to MIA for my flight did not make my muse happy. And I had a blog to post. 

Five hours later my husband and I arrived in San Diego. Our son met us and drove us to the beach. We hiked up a hill for a better view. The temperature was cooler than back in Florida and the terrain definitely more hilly. There were palm trees just like back in South Florida, the sky was blue just like back home, and the people we passed were friendly just like the people we pass on our morning walks. Maybe it wasn't the change of scenery or location that inspired me - it was the similarities. 

Sometimes inspiration is just around the corner.

Coffee and Tea: Servants of the Muse?

by Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson

I don’t get it when someone asks “Do you like tea or coffee?”

I like them both, and drink both, but it’s amazing how different they are, both in perception or actuality.

For example, I can’t face the idea of a morning without coffee, and that means coffee made my special way. Liking my coffee fresh and hot, I have a single serving coffeemaker that actually uses regular ground coffee (French Roast brewed to industrial strength is my favorite) instead of those abominable little cups. If the sad day ever dawns that there is no such thing as a single serving coffee maker that uses ground coffee, I will either go back to my trusty French press or abjure coffee forever. Those horrid little cups are too inflexible, too limited and far too expensive!

Usually I prime the coffeemaker with water and grounds the night before, so that in my semi-conscious morning state all I have to do is push the button and allow the elixir of life to pour into the cup. Once that’s done, I add one packet of sweetener and a goodly dollop of flavored creamer. At the moment I’m in love with Vanilla Caramel, though French Vanilla and Caramel Macchiato are not far behind. Once my 14 oz morning mug is about half empty I am reasonably awake and functioning. By the time I reach the bottom of that first mug , the animals have been fed, The Husband’s lunch made and him sent off to work. Once he leaves, I can go to my writing.

By the way, my coffee mug is an ancient one purchased years ago from my local RWA chapter. It is bright blue, and written on it in large white letters is “Warning – what you do may end up in my next novel.” Sometimes I think it as much as the coffee keep me focused on the project at hand.

Usually by lunch I have had two or three mugsfull and that is a sufficiency unless it is brutally cold outside, in which case I will drink it all day. (My office is the coldest room in the house in the winter, more’s the pity.) Then I will switch to water, or sometimes a Diet Dr. Pepper or iced tea. Both Dr. Pepper and iced tea are pretty standard afternoon/evening drinks in Texas!

I don’t drink as much hot tea as I do coffee, but I like it as much or more even though to me it doesn’t have the same caffeine-jet-propelled pick-me-up as coffee.

I would never drink tea out of my big morning coffee mug. That would seem vaguely uncivilized. My late paternal grandmother bequeathed me her cup and saucer collection when I was just a baby. She began it not long before her wedding in 1899 and by the time I received it the collection totalled nearly 50 cups. My mother used it for years, during my childhood and well into my grown-up-with-my-own-apartment life. She even added to it – and she should have, because being a total klutz she broke almost a third of the original collection.

When, long after my majority, I managed to coax it out of her hands, I melded it with the collection I had started for myself. Trust me, I have lots of teacups and saucers. They’re all pretty, but only a few of the old ones are really valuable. Still, I get one or another of the collection out and use them occasionally just for the pleasure of it.

My tastes in tea are much wider than in coffee. A bag or two of English Breakfast or Irish Breakfast or Jasmine or Assam or Golden Darjeeling (my favorite!) in the pot, a pretty cup, a little sweetener and just a bare splash of milk is a recipe for sheer delight. There are no flavored creamers here – nothing should mask the distinctive flavor of the tea.

If I am feeling particularly decadent around break time, I make up a pretty tray complete with shortbread fingers and jamprint cookies and if it’s warm take the whole thing out to the pergola or if it’s winter, into my early Victorian parlor. I tune the radio to the classical station and for a half hour or so simply enjoy life. It’s invigorating and restorative. Somehow a cup of tea taken while working at the computer simply does not taste the same!

These are silly little rituals, true, but they are part of my daily writing life – and is not writing itself a ritual? It is with me, something I do every day, rain or shine, well or ill. Silly, perhaps, but the coffee and the tea and the work all balance each other and – Heaven knows! – we writers need all the help we can get!