Being a Better Writer: Getting in the Zone · 8:11pm Jun 5th, 2017

Welcome back, all, to another Monday! I've got to type fast with this post, as I've got another shift at my part-time today. This time, it's in the afternoon rather than the morning, however, so as long as I keep my fingers moving, you're getting a Monday post! Really quick, however, before I get started: some quick news updates!

Jungle is currently sitting at about 190,000 words (check the "Current Projects" page) and is over 50% done! The only part that saddens me about this is how long it has taken me—now I fully see the effect of working part time and trying to write a book: I just don't have the same amount of time. I've been cutting back personal time, however, and gotten my monthly goals back on a somewhat reduced track ... but it still sucks, because I'd really like to finish up Jungle and get started on the editing for Shadow of an Empire so that I can get that out by the end of the year. Granted, I could just stop writing massive epics ... but what's the fun in that?

Discord Day Care, meanwhile, is almost ready to go up. I'm going through the last stages of Beta right now, giving it the final polishing touches. That just leaves me with a cover to find, and to get it all uploaded and ready to post. The publishing schedule for the story, I have decided, will follow the timeline of the story itself. Each chapter will be published as it occurs in the story, in real-time. The only thing that won't match up will be the dates. I debated back and forth about the best way to do this, but concluded that for Day Care, a publishing schedule like this one should work best. So be excited, it's almost here at last!

Just a bit more, I promise, then we'll dive into this week's topic. First, last month's Patreon supporter post was a pretty in-depth look back on the origins of my first book, One Drink. It's something I've meant to do for a while now, and yes, for those of you supporting me on Patreon, you can expect in-depth retrospectives on each of my other works to make their way to you as time moves on. Those of you who are not Patreon supporters, it's only a $1-pledge to become one, and you'll get access to some behind-the-scenes stuff and previews. Plus, you get the satisfaction that your dollar helps support content like Being a Better Writer!

Now, last, I swear, and then we'll be on topic: The Rolling Sale. No defined date on this one yet. I'm still working out some details. But the general idea is that it will be a month-long or so event, starting with One Drink and stretching up to Colony. The general idea will be that the first title in the chain will go on sale, alongside an announcement of tiers for the next sale. The more copies go out, the deeper the discount on the next book in the chain. Ditto for when the sale shifts to that title. Kind of a "the more people take advantage of this, the better it gets for everyone" angle.

Right, that's all the news. Now on to today's topic: getting in the zone.

So I'm fairly certain that some of you may be scratching your head over this title ... and that's partially my fault. After all, there are a lot of "zones" authors tend to get into when writing. There's getting in the character's heads. There's getting into the world so it feels like we're living and breathing it. And there's even just hitting our stride and typing out endless chains of smooth sentences that come together to build the perfect paragraph. Technically, there are a lot of zones in writing.

But today, I've going to talk about the most general ones. This is, actually, a requested topic from a reader who wanted a bit of advice on this matter. I don't recall their exact, word-for-word question, but it went a little something like this: When you sit down in the morning and get ready to write, how do you get yourself into the mindset to write? How do you clear your head? How do you pull yourself away from the rest of the world and immerse yourself in whatever fantastical world you're putting together?

And ... the truth is, this time, that there's actually a magic bullet.

Get in the zone at Unusual Things!