Thoughts on a Thursday – Unpacking the Brain Bag

I’ve been really busy this week with life stuff, the writing’s going a bit wonky, and although I started a few Thursday posts I couldn’t really get going with them because my mind was all over the place and focus was a bit of a stretch.

My head feels like this:

It feels like there’s too much stuff going on and I can’t keep track of it all.

We all have it, at some point or another: the feeling that there’s too much stuff in our head.  Sometimes I also feel there’s nothing there, but I’ll leave that for a different post 🙂

The reality of life is that most of us juggle multiple activities and responsibilities.  There’s a saying in the UK, ‘If you want something done, ask a busy person’ and there’s some truth to that. The more you have going on, the more people reliant on you, the more you have to be on top of everything.

But even when you normally are, there are times it all becomes too much.

For me, this is when I need to regroup.  I use my to-do lists to make sure I do everything I need to do.  I write shopping lists of birthday cards, presents, groceries.  I set writing targets.  I try to organise my time to fit things in where they’re needed.

Also, I try to find some quality alone time.  I know how hard that can be, especially if you work long hours and go home to be a parent or carer, and I appreciate it’s much easier for me than for many people.  But it’s essential to find a few minutes for yourself – and if you only take one thing from this blog, take that thought. We all need a moment to ourselves sometimes and even if it’s just ten minutes sitting in a quiet room with a cup of coffee and a book, take that time out.

When I’m getting back on track, I know because my brain starts to feel more like this:

 

I can live with a little chaos, but isn’t it nice, sometimes, to feel that everything is in some sort of order – and you can fit it all in.

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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Week 136 – Filling in some blanks!

This week, I’ve tried to fill in some blanks in my to-do list; it goes back a while so am feeling a little better for it, but I am a bit frustrated not to have finished off more!

Firstly, I chased my outstanding responses from agents.  It’s always a bit unnerving – there’s a comfort in not knowing – but I also want to make sure I have explored the options in full.

Then I prepared some more submissions to go out – I had intended to hold off due to the competition but decided that the likelihood of winning was so small that waiting was simply a way to waste a few months.

Unfortunately the requirements are a little different so I have had to re-work my synopsis, but at least it’s done!

I’ve also been revisiting some early writing exercises.  This might seem a bit weird when I’m supposed to be planning my next book, but I wanted to try freewriting my story line to see if it would help me answer a few questions I have.  It’s a work in progress but if it works I’m going to try this approach for my characters too.  I know who they are and what they want but I need to make them live a little.

This idea came about when I was looking for exercises for the next writing group; I hope the group find the exercise as useful as I always have…

So that’s a start of my to-do list being done; here’s hoping for another few ticks next week!

In other news – I missed book 25 (Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat) of the list – I haven’t read it but it sounds light enough to try after the one I’m just finishing off so I’ll see if I can download it.  We’ve now reached book 26, The Sign of Four, by Arthur Conan Doyle.  Again, I haven’t read it and I’m not convinced I’ll enjoy a full-length Sherlock story but I have got it and I will give it a go sometime soon.

Also – Recently one of my cousins posted a link about speed-reading, and then I saw this article, and I felt obliged to talk about it!  The purpose of the various bits of software is to get you through a book as quickly as possible. Now, I generally read pretty fast, but the speed of these things is ridiculous and I don’t understand the purpose for most people – why rush a good book and finish in an hour or two, and not have taken on board the ideas, concepts, motifs etc…  It might be useful for people behind on their deadlines I guess – but maybe not for people who read for pleasure and like to linger in a comfy chair with a packet of biscuits and their latest tome!

And finally – I’d like to say hi to all my new followers – well, all my followers actually!  I really appreciate your support and encouragement as the blog undergoes another round of changes 🙂

I hope you are all enjoying the new Thursday posts and the more in-depth challenge updates on Tuesdays – please do let me know what you think!

Until Tuesday,

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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