Stephen R Donaldson was the author who introduced me to fantasy with his The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series many years ago. I then went on to read the wonderful Mordant’s Need series – Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through (Vol. II) – and loved them but I never liked The Gap series because I had outgrown the science fiction genre at that time.

Some twenty odd years later, Stephen Donaldson has released the first book in The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Today, I got my copy of the book from the library. I’ve already read the “What’s gone before” and was surprised by how much I remembered, and I look forward to reading the next installment of the series.

Will this book hold my attention like the previous books? Time will tell but I hope so.

It’s 10.15pm and I’m calling it a night. My final word count for today is 4850 words. I’m quite pleased with myself.

I managed to finish the chapter and to keep the mood rolling, I have started on the next chapter so that tomorrow I don’t have to face that blank screen of death again.

Tomorrow, however, I do have to go out so I won’t get as many hours to sit and write but I will write when I return home by mid-afternoon.

Until then…I’m off to indulge in some internet stuff!

You have listened to my whining long enough. I promise that this post will be more positive.

Last night, I was chatting to a few people in a chatroom on my message board and I mentioned that I was having problems writing. A dear friend of mine, Firle, asked me lots of questions and then asked me to make a promise to her and keep it.

Let me say at this time that I don’t make promises lightly.

Firle asked me to promise that I would write 500 words this weekend. 500 words. It’s hardly anything really but I had to think about it because I wouldn’t make a promise unless I felt I could keep it. We didn’t have much planned for the weekend so I knew time wouldn’t be a problem but could I make myself do it? I decided that I would try.

I made the promise (in front of witnesses too).

The promise weighed heavily on my mind this morning. I wouldn’t feel good if I had to contact Firle and give a reason (or should I say … excuse) for why I couldn’t or didn’t write a meager 500 words. At 11am I told my family that I was not available for any reason for an hour an a half and then I opened the latest chapter of my novel.

It took me an hour to get started. No, I didn’t do anything else except look at the document. I re-read what I had already written and made some minor editing changes and then I typed a word…followed by the next words…and presto, I was writing.

Here it is nine hours later and I have written 3533 words! Isn’t that brilliant?

I’ve allowed myself a short break…as a reward for my hard work…but I will go back to the chapter right after putting this post up and continue writing. Hey, I might even finish the chapter!

As this topic is something that has been bothering me lately, I thought I should do some research and hopefully find some inspiration and/or encouragement.

Writing Discipline by Michael Bavota has some simple advice that should be common sense but sometimes it does us well to be reminded of these things.

I read somewhere years ago that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. So today is the first day of that journey. I intend to write for an hour every night for 21 days. It doesn’t matter how much or little I write as long as I sit at the computer and write.

I might even go as far as setting an alarm. The alarm will go off at the nominated time and I will have to stop whatever I’m doing and turn to my writing. Another alarm will go off an hour later allowing me to stop writing and return to something else if that’s my wish.

These are drastic measures, I know, but at the end of 21 days I’m meant to have formed a new habit and this habit isn’t a bad one. I challenge you to do the same thing if you are not writing every day.

Surprisingly, this was a short chapter but it took me a week to write. Yes, it had a bit of a battle scene in it and anyone who knows me, knows I hate writing them.

I wrote it then edited it, then tried to make it active instead of passive. I think I did OK. Sounded good to me but it’s the first draft and I guess we can liven it up a bit if need be in the rewrite/edit.

The good news is – I finished my chapters and have emailed them to Ali, which means I can now return to my novel. Yay!

Yesterday, I didn’t write a single word. No, I didn’t have writers block – I just gave myself a day off. Sometimes it’s important to do other things and let your brain have a rest and that’s how I felt yesterday; I felt mentally exhausted.

This morning, I woke up and found the characters from two projects having a party in my mind. Now, I have to shove them into separate rooms so I don’t get their stories mixed up. Should be interesting.

Today, I really got into the groove with this story and wrote 1467 words. It happened easily and quick, and I felt proud of myself when I realised what I’d done.

And to top it off, it hardly needed any editing! Once the story is finished, I’ll give it a proper line edit but for a first draft I’ve done especially well. I wish all writing days could be this good.

I came across this site – Warnings and Cautions for Writers–Literary Agents – and thought the information found on the page should be known by all writers.

It reinforces the fact that an author should NEVER pay money up front.

Yes, I’ve been quiet for a few days. It’s not that I’ve been particularly busy, or slack, it’s because I had to allow my brain to simmer the next two scenes of the Collaborative novel. One day wasn’t enough.

Last night, I actually completed chapter 21. It’s only a short chapter but it gives some back story that will pivot the story into the next sector – the climb to the climax.

Today, I started chapter 22, after much procrastination in the morning. I had planned to get up early and do some writing while everyone else was still asleep. That plan didn’t happen. I got caught in the “I’ll just do …….. (insert any number of odd jobs around the house from having breakfast, washing up, doing the washing, feeding the animals)” and before I knew it, it was 11am and I hadn’t written a single word.

I promptly decided that I had to change that because I didn’t want the day to disappear and still have nothing written. So I sat at the computer with a blank screen and I typed a word…then another word…and another. It was like having teeth pulled but I managed to write a little under a 1000 words (but it took me all day to do it).

It’s a start, and I’ll allow the scene to simmer some more between now and my next writing session tomorrow. But for now, I think I’ve done enough and it’s time to relax and do … whatever!