Structured Freedom

The moment of truth… my first true progress update. This month saw early advances on the high-level content and overall flow of my planned manuscript. I have twelve chapters all laid out with titles and at least an idea or two attached to each one. As I noted in a previous post, many of these chapters came from my previous collection of writing content but will in most cases need to be repackaged to fit the new book concept. Once again, I found myself in a place similar to my previous efforts and luckily elected to perform an honest review of what happened during those efforts. I’ll return to that in a moment though.

I often receive questions such as, “What is writing like?” or “how do you manage your day?” My target for Monday through Friday is to be at the library by 10:00 AM, take a lunch around noon and then return to the library for an additional two hour session. This time is reserved for a few focused writing intervals and any associated directed research that might be relevant to the current topic. Clearly, this is a pretty lax schedule, not even half of what a normal work day would typically entail. I’m embarrassed to say that if I were being paid by the hour or punching a time card, I’d probably be fired already! My point in sharing that piece of information is to acknowledge and pay homage to the typical comments on how difficult writing can be. I also do a lot of reading outside those times and try to embrace any inspiration that arrives outside my work day by quickly finding my way to a pen and paper or keyboard before the ideas get lost. I even have a special document labeled “Miscellaneous” so if an idea comes I don’t even concern myself with where it fits into the book and keep myself out of editor mode before the words even hit the paper.

Fortune has always been kind to me and in this case I find no exception. Part of the plan to increase the structure around my efforts includes the incorporation of a weekly writing-partner meeting to review goals, progress and sound off potential ideas. The good fortune comes in the form of my long-time friend Maureen, who has graciously agreed to fulfill that role and assist in what we mutually consider to be “accountability sessions.” While Maureen certainly does not wield any authority or attempt to do so, the understanding of someone that knows the trials and tribulations of working as a writer along with personal experience down this path provides both a guiding light and encouragement that persistence makes all things possible.

Returning to my review of previous efforts, it became obvious how quickly I was able to arrive at my high-level chapter outline of the new book concept as compared to how not-so-rapidly I produce content within any of those chapters. The realization that I had proceeded in this fashion previously and ended up with some valuable content in each chapter that had no flow or cohesiveness, indicated that unless I wanted to once again find myself with an incredible amount of rework and editing to render it even readable, I probably needed even more structure. So I’ve opted to progress with a greater level of detail in sub-chapter organization before just trying to write as though I could spew a chapter onto a collection of pages without any other planning. One analogy I’ve tried to use for myself is the storyboard concept used by screenplay writers, making sure that I’m “telling my story” in an effective and compelling way. Additionally, while I have mental concepts that I hope to embed in this book, I felt it was necessary to formalize the “mission statement” of the book and revisit that objective frequently… if not on a daily basis. All of these ideas boil down to maintaining focus on the objective and breaking that objective down into manageable pieces. Hardly a revolutionary concept, but certainly required for me.

My goal is to have major progress on the polished version of chapter one around the time of my next blog update. I’m enjoying a few days of family visiting as I’m writing this entry, but it will be full-speed ahead as the days grow shorter. If I feel the blog needs something more before I can achieve “Chapter One” I’ll include my thoughts on the tone or approach that the book will have, something Maureen suggested that I decide consciously at the outset. Perhaps I’ll throw in an entry regarding meditation while I’m at it.

Best wishes to everyone and enjoy the fall colors!

Ready, Set, Write!

After nearly two months of moving, unpacking and arranging our new living space while simultaneously detaching myself from my previous employment, I finally feel like I'm back to being a writer again. This venture has a much different feel to it than the last trip I took down the writing path. Even though the last trip started with a move (of much greater distance I might add), my sense of purpose is much more firmly established this time.

Our new home includes a den that I’ll use as my writing office, but for now while the weather is nice and I’m establishing a routine, I’m going to the library to write. For now I’ve been settling in at the Bedford Library but I also stop in Manchester on occasion and plan to visit the Hooksett library as well. You’ll notice that there’s no desktop computer and only the laptop resides here. Even though I might do some dictation (that requires my main computer) I wanted to have this area separate from where I spend my “computer time” as that often includes time-killers like reading e-mail, sports related nonsense and other pastimes.

When I originally returned to this writing project, I assumed that I would just pick up where I left off and progress with the original book concept that I already started. Then after a conversation that oddly enough was about potentially hosting my own television show on local access cable (was more of a goof than anything serious) I came up with a format for the show that I thought would work and realized that I’d found the “real” title and format of my first work. While some of the material will transfer over from my original manuscript draft, the concept is different enough that if all things progress and I make a career of this my original concept could become my second book.

For now, I’m going to keep the details “on the down-low” but any of you that are totally in the dark about what my topic is will infer quite a bit from the list of books I’m currently reading. The list is a little long at this juncture as so many different books are in play and I wanted to include some that were recently finished, so normally there won’t be this many titles. While I’m certainly not planning on cliff notes on anything I read, if something strikes you or you have questions about it, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Just finished:

Code Name God: The Spiritual Odyssey of a Man of Science - Mani Bhaumik

8 Minute Meditation: Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life. - Victor Davich

The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything - Bryan D. McLaren

In the process of reading:

Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook - Ajahn Brahm

The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief - Gregg Braden

Learn to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Self-Discovery and Fulfillment - David Fontana

Essential Zen - Kazuaki Tanahashi

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book - Don Miguel Ruiz (actually rereading this one)

The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World - Lynne McTaggart

Miracles of Mind: Exploring Nonlocal Consciousness and Spritual Healing - Russell Targ

Pain Free at Your PC - Pete Egoscue (no, I don’t have perfect posture, thanks for noticing!)

About to start:

The World's Religions - Huston Smith

Reincarnation: The Missing Link In Christianity - Elizabeth Clare Prophet (reread and review)

Next post, more about writing, my process and current progress.