The Wheel of My Year- The Writing Life

by Joanne Rock

Hello from sunny Florida...

I’m at the end of a long book contract right now and it’s interesting how different my writing days are now versus when I’m at the start of a long book contract. Or in the middle. Or when I have a no contract at all!

As a creative endeavor, writing can be a challenging way to earn a living. It starts out as a passion and, if you aren’t very careful to protect the art from the income, it can quickly become a chore. I was warned about this as soon as I sold a book. I would bubble with enthusiasm when I spoke about all the projects I couldn’t wait to write and more experienced authors would exchange wry glances. I was warned the “honeymoon period” with my writing wouldn’t last.

Like so much advice from those who have tread the path before me, they were spot on. It gets hard to stay excited about your creative passion when it suddenly becomes your means of support. You need to set dependable hours and produce pages regularly. There’s no more sweet-talking your Muse until she’s ready to cooperate. She has a job and she’d better show up daily.

My latest release! 

But over the years, I’ve found ways to keep my creativity flowing in spite of the more rigorous demands on it. One trick is to mix up my schedule so that I’m bouncing back and forth between kinds of story. For a while, I would write historical stories in between my Blaze books to give myself a break from the same style of novel. Or write a few short books, then a long one. The different demands of different story styles helped me to stay engaged and excited about what I was doing.

As my readers have asked for more contemporary stories, I’m often writing books in similar genres, close together. That presents new challenges. Lately, I’ve found it helpful to write fast and furious while the Muse turns cartwheels at the start of a new contract. Chase the ideas fast, write like a madwoman, and get lots done before the creativity wears off a bit. Then, I slow down. Recharge more often. Read a lot in between writing a little. It helps me to feel like I’m taking more downtime, and really, I am. I focus more on scenes and less on the big picture. I research little snippets of a story and that jazzes me up to fuel more pages.  

Coming Soon...

Really, I play a lot of mind games. Like any self-employed person, I have to stay disciplined to get my work done. But since the work is creative, I know better than to crack the whip too much when my brain is churning at a different speed. Right now, my pace is leisurely. I think a lot and stare off into space. By the time the contract is done, I’ll take a few weeks off and forget all about writing.

Funny how when I ignore my Muse how impatient she gets. After a few weeks of quiet, she’ll start pinging ideas around. I won’t listen. She’ll talk even more. Then, the frenzy to create starts all over again. A new phase of writing mania begins. An all new honeymoon period. The wheel of my writing year turns.

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Speaking of “all new”… I’ve got fresh-off-the-press copies of Little Secrets: His Pregnant Secretary available this week! You can win one by sharing with me your favorite way to recharge after a big project. One random commenter will win their choice of print or digital book. And if that doesn’t work, go enter the contest at Goodreads where I’m giving away five more copies!

CJ Carmichael: Rise And Shine

Some people wake every morning with a smile on their face, anxious to start the day. Others take a little longer to ease into a wakeful state. But we all need a reason to get out of bed each morning. What is it for you?

Children or pets who need you?

Your job?

A commitment to exercise?

Or maybe just the allure of breakfast and that first cup of coffee?

When you’re self-employed—as I, and many other writers are—the motivation to rise every morning and attack “the work” has to come from within. There is no child that will cry until you start writing, or boss to tap her watch and raise her eyebrows at you.

And sometimes it’s hard.

We work because bills must be paid, but we also want to feel that our labor is fulfilling a larger purpose, whether it’s helping others, keeping the peace, making the world a healthier, cleaner, more educated place.

Throughout my career as a writer I have struggled with the question of whether my stories matter. Will they make a difference to the lives of the people who read them? Perhaps more crucially—will people read them? Stories have no impact if the words lie unseen on the page. If they don’t win prizes—the Pulitzer Prize, the Booker—were they still worth writing?

The one way I can clear my head from these worries, is by heading out to the mountain to hike, ski or snowshoe. Sometimes you have to climb the peaks, to rise above the fog in the valley.

Unfortunately I don’t come home from these treks with new wisdom and insights about the world. But I am refreshed and healthier. I realize that my stories must contain my truth—what I care about and what I believe. Sounds pretty, but what is that, exactly? What matters to me?

Sure, there’s chocolate. Good coffee. And pretty shoes.

More importantly there are people. My family and friends. Neighbors, colleagues, and Molly at the grocery store who always smiles and asks me if I’m having a good day.

I care about my city, and my country. Yes, I worry about the economy. But also, is constant growth sustainable? And is it possible for humans to ever live in peace with one another and the natural world around us?

Turns out there are so many things I care about that making a list isn’t really helpful in deciding what I should write about. I can’t tackle everything.

I’d love to write an epic, world-changing novel. Something that would make the entire literary community shake their heads with awe and wonder. But I don’t know how to do that. So, I start small. I pick a place. A couple of people. A small, fictional world begins to form…

And it turns out that what I really care about are relationships, all the nitty gritty problems that are part of living and loving. I’m fascinated by the good and bad in all of us. And the struggle between these powerful forces.

So, if that’s what I care about, what do I believe in? If you’ve read my books you already know: The power of love and truth to resolve conflicts.

The message is simple, nothing you haven’t heard before. I’ll have to leave the Pulitzer Prize winning literature to others. My stories may be small, but when I receive a review or email from a reader saying they stayed up all night to finish, that they cared—laughed and cried—that the story felt so real, then I know my message may not be original. But it’s something people need to keep hearing.  And believing.

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I love connecting with my readers and fellow writers. Please tell me what gets you out of bed each morning. I’d really like to know!  One random commenter will be chosen to receive a $10 Starbucks Gift Card.