Journey to my Writing Process.

On the heels of the editing of my first - and hopefully Debut Novel - The Cambion Strength, I find myself asking; what is my writing process? I'm not talking Plotting vs Pantsings, which is a blog of its own. I mean, like how Steven King gets up at 6am, goes for a 3 mile (about 6km) walk, has breakfast and sits at his desk no later than 8:30 in the morning. Reads the last page or 2 of the pervious chapters and write until around 1 in the afternoon, ensuring that 6 pages of story has been written. Every writer out there will have their own process.

So what's mine?

Having not written for a number of years, I don't have that answer anymore. This means I need to rediscover what it is, that gets me at my desk and writing. Granted being at my desk isn't the problem. The problem is staying off YouTube and Netflix, and filling my brain with video content. What's stopping me from opening my word processor and making my keyboard make noises?

The big one is habit.

My habit is to watch YouTube videos until I can't find anything that catches my attention, then switch over to Netflix and binge what I'm currently watching - Which happens to be Grey's Anatomy. (Season 16, Episode 11). Then my evening is spent hanging out with my friends online, playing video games, watching movies; stuff like that. The most productive thing I do, is make my family dinner.

Its so hard to admit that.

My other barrier is my brain. I'm Nero-divergent (Nero-Spicy). Typically that means ADHD or Autism, or a combo of both (AuDHD), I'm undiagnosed, and honestly, I don't feel the need to be diagnosed. So, how does that effect things? Complicatedly, its following the passion, or the current obsession. Time-Blindness is a bitch and I 'hate' Wait Mode.

Time-Blindess is 'hey, I have 3 hours until this thing… Let me do something in the meantime' (read a book, play a game, watch some TV; whatever) next thing you know, you're late or missed 'the thing' all together, because you were doing something you were really engaged in. I know people who'll set dozens of alarms to ensure there's no being late, but it still happens

Wait-Mode is 'Okay… I have 3 hours until this thing. I have no time to do anything, so I'm going to do this mindless activity so I can keep an eye on the time.' For me that mindless activity is watching something.

I have Wait-Mode and its bad. Its the main reason I always struggled to work a 'real job' and keep up with my writing.

For an example. I work 9-5. But my commute is 30 mins. Which means I gotta leave the house around 8:15 because I 'have too' be there at least 10 mins early, but you still gotta find a parking spot and to walk to your station. First up… I'm probably up 7:30 because driving tired is a hazard, so I need to wake up, but I'm never hungry when I first get up so at most I'm eating toast. Well, I can hear you saying, just get up sooner, so you can write before work. Hear you; few things. 1. Wait-Mode. I can't be late for work, so I have no time to do any writing2. Honestly, even if I didn't have Wait-Mode, an hour and 15 mins really isn't enough time to do any significant writing in. 3. I am someone who cannot function on less than 8 hours of sleep; I'm sorry.

Fast Forward to the end of the work day.

Drive 30 mins home - That's 5:30Cook food - That's 6:00 - About 6:30 when you're done eating I need to be in bed no later than 11:30. Shit that's 5 hours right? Its honestly an amazing amount of time to write. But here are my 'excuses' why that doesn't work. Again, Wait-Mode. Need to make my lunch, have a shower, and have enough time to relax so I can actually sleep.

So really, I only have about 2 hours, because I gotta start doing that no later than 9 because I also gotta make sure my hair is dry before I sleep. This isn't something you're going to understand if you're an extrovert, but for introverts like myself, interacting with people 'all day long' is exhausting for us. Like bone deep, brain fog exhausting. Brain is mush; there's no words going down.

I know this all sounds like wonderful excuses not to write or whatever I'm putting off, I've been told that time and again. It doesn't make it any less true, that what I explained is my reality.

My obsessions on the other hand!

I wanna write my next novel so badly. Kobold King has been rattling around in my head for a little while now. Its gonna be Dark, sexy and a lot of fun to write. Thalric is living in my head rent free and its time he pays up.

I've been playing Elden Ring. Its a dark and gritty game, and while I'm getting my ass kicked and constantly dying, I'm having a lot of fun, but its feeding the want to write Kobold King.

I'm also trying to lose weight, 60lbs in total. Started taking it seriously start of the year, and I'm down about 15lbs.

Why is all of this interfering with The Cambion Strength? Editing isn't as much fun as exploring new worlds, and I was thoroughly singled minded with my fitness. The fitness obsession is waning, and I've been plotting Kobold King most of March and April. The editing is feeling like its taking forever, and that's because I'm a slow reader.

Ultimately what does this all mean?

Balance.

Also finding my writing process to get that habit back in place. So what are my steps?

My health is important, so my activity is happening in the morning, shortly after I get up. Exercise - 10:30. I'm home around Noon, so between making and eating lunch, I'm at the computer about 1pm. I edit 1-2 chapters which can take me until 4pm. I make dinner for the family, then I typically get my groove back around 7 and can get at least one more chapter in if I edited 2.

The hard part is not getting into watching YouTube videos. But one of the most important things I need to write is music. If I don't listen to the music best suited for what I'm writing its gonna be a massive struggle; but that means opening YouTube. So instead of opening my word processor, I'm gonna use an online program Ellipsus. I can set the colours, the text and the like so its more appealing to write. It'll be ported over to my word processor to make sure my grammar is good, because Ellipsus only seems to track spelling.

Lets mark this as the start of my Writing Process Journey. Relearning what it is, that I need to start writing and keep writing.

Once I've finished editing The Cambion Strength, I'm going to go straight into writing Kobold King. Once That's finished, I'm gonna go back into working on Cambion Strength again. I'm noticing… things. Things that require a different mindset and fresh eyes to catch. So writing my next project will help with that. Then I'll be editing Kobold King.

Thinking about that is short circuiting my brain and I need to get into edits.