Like I've said regularly in recent blogs, I write because I
have to. I write for my income, yes, but I'd do it even if I didn't get paid.
For many years that's precisely what I did. My work wasn't read much back then
either but it didn't matter because I had
to write. I write because it's part of me and it has to come out.
This week I've been on holiday up in the Lake District. More
accurately, I've been to Center Parcs near Penrith. To some it's a place where
you can get access to nature while still retaining central heating and other
home comforts. To others it's little more than Butlins for eco-warriors.
Whatever, I love it there. It's calming for me, a place to slow down and
reflect. And it's also a brilliant place to write.
What's not to love? Log (style) cabins, no cars, clean air.
And lots of trees, birds an furry creatures to lower the heart rate and
increase the word count. Bliss. I find that this kind of atmosphere is
excellent for writing, for freeing my mind from the cares and worries of
'normal' life and allowing my muse to take me where it will. But probably more
importantly, it's the best place that I've found for editing my work (and
sometimes that of others too). The calmness of it all somehow frees me to
improve a manuscript and make every word count.
It's the process of cleaning, correcting and tightening the
work until it's the very best that I can make it, like polishing a newly-completed
piece of furniture, that I find much easier in this kind of atmosphere. I can
write almost anywhere if I have to and don't mind telling people to give me a
minute on my own to scribble an elusive thought into my notebook but editing and
rewriting are entirely different beasts, needing much more concentration. I
think that's why the proverbial cabin in the woods is such a good location for
it.
So that's what I'm doing - tidying the first draft of my
next novel in preparation for more serious rewrites later. As holidays go, I've
had worse.
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