How do you focus?

[december2020]

I'm hoping to write my first book.

I have a lot of thoughts, ideas and characters but really struggling to focus and get started. It's all still just abstract concepts swirling in my head.

I'm still working, but now that I no longer have the long commute I've got no excuse that there isn't time.

Please give me some inspiration with your routines, tips and tricks?

I often start with a small scene, and a couple of characters.
I'll spend time mulling the scene over and planning how they get there. Gradually it becomes clear, and I'll start writing. Other characters appear as wanted-sometimes they then fall by the wayside when I edit.

But I do need to start writing for it to fall into place. I don't have a full story falls into my lap and I write it.

Well, why do you want to write a novel straight off? It sounds like zero to 100 in a very short time if you haven’t been writing much before now to flex your muscles. Start with a short story involving a couple of your characters in a situation that interests you in order to crystallise things?

@Witchend I think I'm the exact same, I need to start writing and see where it takes me! Thank you so much for sharing your tips! I think I'll try that approach and see where my writing takes me. Currently I think I'm being too "clinical" with it and then starting to procrastinate.

@Viragoesque good question. I've never thought about it before. I think it is because in my head it's always been a novel, which could be based on a lot on the type of books I read, all skewed to novels and non fiction. I never considered writing anything else.

If you want to be a planner then choose which stages if any before actually writing prose:
write each idea in a notebook;
write your synopsis;
plan your chapters;
write your main characters' biography;
do more planning.

Good luck.

It is strange how people look at "writing" as an activity more than a profession. Being a writer is similar to having a job, except that you have the freedom to work (write) when you feel like.
It is, I suppose, this very freedom that kills the progress of writing a book.

Many top established writers advise aspiring writers to maintain a fixed schedule of writing everyday. Say 7-11am and then 9pm-12midnight. Just whatever suits you. If you can devote lesser time, no problem, but you must do nothing else in this slot, other than work on your book.

As soon as you start treating this journey as a job, and become your own supervisor, boss (a strict one), you will see quantitative growth. And don't stop till you achieve your goal, just as you wouldn't in any other profession in any industry.

You might start with a working title, or even a series of titles. I had just decided my new genre, and picked a random title, then suddenly I saw it could be the first in a series, much like this:

A Garden in January... hey, I could do A Something in February, March, etc. And as I planned the titles in the series, ideas started flowing... what if the Garden in January represents a sad lonely time in his life, and he's actually a garden designer, but has a problem in his family life and one in his professional life which cross with each other... (this isn't my actual series)

I'm still at the planning stage - I decided I wanted to write a set of separate stories around the same place, rather than a series about the same character, so I started a spreadsheet to ensure my characters are different in more ways than just hair/eye colour - personality, social class/job, family situation, how the two MCs met... and then these gave me some more ideas for plots... not all of them are gold, but if I can get one good book idea out of it, I'll write that first and the rest will come.

I currently have a novel plan for NaNoWriMo which starts tomorrow at midnight, and by the time that's finished, I'm expecting to have at least one book planned out properly for my new series.