Lindsey Sablowski: Writing Breakthrough

Monday, September 21, 2015

Writing Breakthrough

September has been the month that has saved my writing and me (from myself). About a week ago my cover designer (for Thicker Than Blood), Alivia Anders, invited me into a writing group. I do want to credit the group because I believe they have also given me the proper motivation and determination I needed. Before I was relying solely on myself, but in the writing group we share our word counts and our accomplishments. We even share on the days when we don't do our best... and I've learned that's okay.

In July Bloodline Inheritance released, so it's been about two months since the release day --it will be as of this Thursday. As soon as I completed the Magicians series I wanted to dive into something new. I spent years working on my series, and with it complete I knew it was my time to move onto something new. I still to this day miss my characters from the series... At first it was definitely something that blocked me from feeling motivated for my new novel. I've said that word a lot over the past two months... "New novel." It has been intentional because I have not directly shared the specifics with anyone about Clara and Claire. (I've dropped some hints on Instagram if you've been following along.)

This month I finally decided to do something about my lack of writing --or poor job of it for that matter. Since Cursed With Power's release in 2012 I have managed to release a book every year. It's not as much as some authors do --and the ones who do, more power to you. But for me a yearly release is what works for me. Sometime in the future it might change, and I'm sure it will, but for now that is what I'm comfortable with.

For me, I think what started it was seeking out motivation on my own. You can read more about motivation techniques on my previous post, but I think that was the beginning to it. I started finding quotes and pictures to remind myself "you can do it." And once I joined the writing group I'm in it pushed me to my full potential.

If you follow along on my Instagram, you have probably heard about the "Writing Journal" app I use. I want to post separately about it later this week, but that app has done wonders for me. I use it daily and any time I write. Even if it's a 20-30 minute session... log it. I'm no longer ashamed of sharing my word count because I have been pushing myself to new limits.

Every day I come up with a manageable word count. It's different for every writer, but for me it's usually anywhere from 2-3k, depending on what kind of day I'm having. Tonight, for instance, I started out slow, but then reached over 1k words. That's not a huge amount of words for one night, but for an hour long session I'll take it. It's better to set the goal small that way you can reach it and achieve even more --if you want to.

My point of this post is that this month I had a breakthrough with my novel. I realized several nights ago after a long writing session that this is novel is the one. It's the one I want to release to my readers in 2016. It's one I can be proud of and want to pour the time and effort into. The story and characters have been following me everywhere, and I love having that feeling again. (Sorry, Leal. I know you were hoping to keep my full attention.) It's amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it... even if you have a kitten who wants to jump on your keyboard.

Regardless of where you are now in your writing adventures, I wanted to share this with you to remind you that anything is possible. And if you're writing a novel that is meant to be you'll feel it. I'm glad I can share the good and the bad with my writing in a more positive light now.