The Creative Process

Since flying to the UK a couple of weeks ago to come and visit my family for Christmas, jet lag and exhaustion have been taking their toll. That, and a huge pile of novels I was gifted, books I’ve been reading in my spare minutes, all mean that writing has slipped from my priorities. I’ve done some edits, work which I find easy when I’m tired. Sometimes just looking at a sentence from the foggy perspective of a sleepless night actually helps me see the words as if they were written by someone else. This helps me read the work anew, and is a good way for me to keep working even when I’d rather be sleeping.

The baby seems immune to sleep, despite various sleep training books. In the wakeful night hours, I find myself plotting book after book after book. I drift off in the middle of one novel or another, then start a new story next time I’m up. As I’m up every hour sometimes, the stories get muddled by morning and I’m too wiped out to get words on the page. But I feel like I’m building ideas and I know there will be a time when I’m ready to start work again, which is exciting.

As the year finishes, some of you might be feeling tired and like you haven’t got time for writing. With January arriving tomorrow, use today to think about your writing goals for the year ahead. Perhaps you have a project to edit, perhaps life isn’t giving you much time right now for writings it’s time to build ideas, or perhaps you’re ready to start a brand new book. Whatever it is, I suggest writing down your goals, like I will later today, and then look forward to a creative new year.