How Do You Write?
I got asked that question recently and it took me a while to come up with a truthful answer. In fits and bursts, mostly, scene fragments one evening and then an entire afternoon spent on writing 6k because everything just flows, because it works.
I sometimes like to pretend otherwise, but I don’t have a writing schedule. Don’t get me wrong, I wish I did. I wish I could follow the standard advice and write 500 words daily, write even if it’s just random stuff that won’t ever see the light of day.
But I don’t. I write on my phone on the tube, during lunch break or when I’m bored while watching a movie. Sometimes I write until 3am with the knowledge of having to get up a few hours later. Sometimes, I don’t write for months.
And you know what that ensures? That I never grow bored of it.
Regardless of whether it’s a week long break or if I’ve just come back from hastily making a tea, my fingers itching because I can feel the next words taking shape, because I know exactly what comes next.
I love the hours-on-end that have me tired and bleary-eyed, just as I love the half-sentences I jot down while waiting in line. When I write, there’s a feeling of excitement, which has nothing to do with the theme, the plot or the feedback I might get. It has everything to do with creating something that clicks into place, that grounds itself in reality in a way even real life hardly ever manages. I truly love deadlines too, both internal or external, because they are what helps me finish a project.
I’m not here to tell you this is effective, or that it will work for you. All I can say is, even if you don’t have a strict writing schedule yet, or if you never will, that’s totally okay. You’re supposed to enjoy yourself, and the rhythm in which you write is entirely your own. The only advice I can give you is to always come back to it, again and again, and let the rest slide into place on its own.
Kara Greenan~
About the Book
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Length: 75k words
Publisher: Ink & Smith Publishing
Purchase Links: Amazon || Barnes & Noble || iBooks || Kobo
Blurb: In the dangerous world of high profile theft, love is often a fantasy the wealthy and naive are sold. Grifter Sebastian Walker sells love like nobody else, leaving a trail of vacated bank accounts, empty champagne bottles and broken hearts in his wake. The one heart he never meant to break was London’s.
Considered by many to be the greatest thief of his age, London favours a minimalist life, devoid even of a surname. He lives for the next job, liberating art from museum walls and prized treasures from collector’s vaults. When he and Sebastian collide in Venice on a con to steal a priceless copy of Michelangelo’s David, the unthinkable happens: they begin to fall in love.
A long, lonely year later, Sebastian emerges as a new member of London’s team of world-class thieves. London knows he can’t trust him. Sebastian lies, better than anyone else, for a living. Sebastian wonders how he could ever entrust something as precious as his heart to a born thief. But as they team up for another perilous heist, they discover the true value might not be in the diamonds they’re stealing, but in each other.
About the Author
A self-proclaimed 21st century nomad, Kara never stays in one place for too long, always looking for greener pastures. So far, Europe, Australia and Africa have been her chosen homes over the years. And while she has to yet experience the feeling of homesickness, fernweh is a well-acquainted friend.
Writing stories brightens her days and can thankfully be done anywhere around the globe. Still, she makes sure to never travel too far out of wifi range. Her debut novel Under Pressure will be available from February 2017, while a sequel is already in the works.
Find out more about Kara at her website, karagreenan.com.