Putting It All Together

My *Year of No Excuses* has turned into, well, a year of detours. After my mom came home from the hospital earlier this year, I still couldn’t get myself back into my writing routine. I took a detour to do taxes and my son’s FAFSA (where do they think you’re supposed to get all of this money, huh?), but still wasn’t ready to write. So over a week ago, I took two actions I hoped would get me back to work.

1. I bought a timer. It’s just a simple wind-up timer I got at the grocery store, but I can use it to keep my non-productive web time under control. An hour to check and answer mail, look up any burning questions, and search for whatever goofball thing I’m hunting now should be ample.
2. I decided to make a purse.

Okay, let me tell you upfront that I have NEVER in my life made a purse. But I’ve been searching for a new purse since the longevity of my Vera Bradley microfiber bag was relatively short and the only bag I found that was the right size, the right shape (I like east-west crossbody bags), the right color, and had the compartments I like was over $150 and it was far too pretty to use everyday. So to end this madness and get on with my life, I decided to make my bag.

Putting the pattern together

I used to sew all of the time so I had all of the equipment I needed. I just needed a pattern, which I found was not that easy. So I ended up cobbling together instructions from blogs, a purchased pattern, and handbag craft books. I improvised on the way. When one pattern didn’t do what I wanted, I jumped to another one. When I didn’t think a fabric strap would hold up, I borrowed a heavy duty strap from a bag I wasn’t using. Along the way, I figured out a million things I would do differently if I ever did it again. But I also had time to think about my MG novel that had been in hiatus and eureka! I figured out something wrong in the plot, and also got the idea for the follow-up novel that I didn’t even know I would write. Sometimes getting the creative juices flowing with one endeavor can benefit your writing.

Besides giving me a purse, a plot fix, and a sequel, the whole process reminded me of more than one important thing about writing. The most significant thing was a reminder to take my time. Haste makes waste in sewing and a similar thing happens in writing. Taking the time with the little things can pay off big time.

The other thing is that there is no formula for good writing, just as I didn’t have a pattern for my purse. A lot of newbies will come to conferences and programs looking for the template to publication. There is none.

My Asian-influenced quilted patchwork crossbody bag!

How one person works is completely different than another. Make it up as you go along. Don’t get upset that you don’t write a quota of pages every day. Don’t get upset that you write your first draft long-hand and not on the computer. Don’t get upset that someone in your group got published ahead of you. Take the time you need to put it all together–your vision, your research, your genre reading, your character studies, your rough drafts, your critiques, and your revisions–to make the best book you can.