Peripherals

Being a writer isn’t always glamorous. In fact, it’s not glamorous at all, at least not while you are actually writing. There are many components to writing besides the actual narrative you write. I call these components peripherals, and they are just as necessary as your written works, not very unlike the peripheral vision one has in the eyes; that part of your vision that sees things coming, of which you now have warning and instantaneous defense because of its view to the sides of your direct focus. To name a few here, let me explain how a few of three components are as necessary as writing and must be honed as well.

1. Strategic planning Your writing, whether a series of, or one novel, a lecture, or whatever it may be, must be finished at some point. It should be laid out in such a way as to be deadlined and ordered, however, if for no other reason than you decide to create timeframes for which you have set yourself, for future projects. This means intricate planning, yes, meticulous, yes. Some may say this is the hardest part before the actual written work. I might agree, except, I enjoy planning and plotting, and utilizing those plans and plots to create a masterpiece well written.
2. Without distraction. Depending upon the deadline or timeframe by which you have set for yourself, you must keep distractions at bay. For example, if you plan on writing a novel, and it must be done within six months, figure out how many pages (or words) you will be writing (according to your strategic plan), the content of your work and the research time it will take to employ verisimilitude to your fiction, and your own known energy output before waning into non-creative rhetoric, add up your pages and/or words a day you must create then plow through.
3. Financial Support. There is that… the physical (financial) and emotional support, (not to ignore the spiritual) yes, all this must be harmonious, or at least kept from chaos until you are able to finish that tsunami of creativity that must be expelled, for the most part, all at once. For many, maybe most, writers, creativity comes in tsunamis, like while washing the car, or waiting in line for a meal, or taking your pet for a walk . For someone to be able to CREATE a work of art, life around that someone must be at peace and without the stress or anxiety of a loved one or bill collector breathing down the neck. If you have a significant other, they must have known what living with a writer would be like; they will (hopefully) be willing to be of help (dinner, dishes, pets, etc.) when you are in the middle of a plot block or climactic finish.

These three little points seem trivial, but they are not. They are so important to a novelist, an author or writer of any kind of work that must be impeccable to be submitted with the writer’s own integrity. A good work of art takes true focus and energy to the task. Only a true believer in the writer/artist will understand what I have just said.