I’m coming back to writing after a long pause – and I’m wondering if I’ve still got it. I picked up some old story fragments – ideas I started but never completed – and one was pretty damn good – I can say that as I was reading it with fresh eyes after something like 15 years.
But for me, it’s not as straightforward as sitting down and banging out 1,000 words. Instead, the creativity takes a bit of a circuitous path.
Over the last few months, I’ve found out I work best having 2 or 3 stories going at once. I write a bit – maybe 10-15 scenes, and then I sit back and let it gel a bit while I work on something else.
Some of my most productive plotting time is in the car – when a song will hit me just right for a particular story. And then the ideas unfold and I have one of those amazing “A-Ha!” moments that we writers love, and I know where to go with the story. How does it work for my other writer friends out there?
One thing I figured out – I do still have it. You may not “get it”, but I do, and for now, that’s all that matters.