Happy Monday.

I’m still working on the design of the blog.  Forgive the WordPress default.  But here’s some fun writing info to make up for it.

In honor of spring, I decided to do throw the windows wide and let in some new, fresh air to circulate with the familiar furniture of my imagination.  So for the next few weeks, I’m going to read a few books on writing that don’t look like the sort of thing I’d normally pick up.  For instance, no books on story structure for the next two months, since I love that stuff and read it all the time.  No, I want to bring in something different.  Then I thought I’d share what I read, and the good things I learned, with you.  Not book reviews, really.  More about sharing the good breezes . . .

So, for starters, last weekend I picked up Kenneth Atchity’s A Writer’s Time. Revised Edition. NY: Norton, 1995. Atchity himself is an interesting resource for writers and other creative people; his blog is worth a look.  Anyhow, this is a book for writer’s on time management.  Not what I’d usually read–time management . . .  which would make sense if you watched me go through a day wasting time!

Anyhow, I gotta admit that Atchity’s approach to writing projects really grabbed my imagination.  As you might imagine, the book spells out a clear working calendar for projects of any length and gives great tips for staying on task in manageable daily chunks.  But what really captured my attention was his emphasis on pre-writing using index cards.  That might sound awful to many of you (it does to me too, since I’m a discover-as-I-go first drafter), but this is just what I was looking for!  New breezes!!

Atchity says that when he teaches, he doesn’t let his students write a word on their papers until they have accumulated enough index cards of ideas (and research if needed) to write the entire work.  He encourages them to gather more than they need to allow for flexibility.  Then when they sit down to write, they never face a blank page.  Your working calendar develops from your deadline and targeted manuscript length.  You write through only the number of cards you need to on any one day to stay on task, thus avoiding burnout.  And best of all–he balances work with “vacation” time so that the writer’s creative well is constantly being refilled.  Check out the book for the interesting details.

This reminded me a lot of the index card for pre-writing method I remember reading in Elizabeth George’s Write Away some years ago.

I decided to give it a try, as I had a short article I needed to write for a workshop project.  So instead of opening my word processor, I gathered the number of index cards I figured I’d need for a 1000 word essay plus a few extra ideas.  And I walked around jotting ideas, one per card, for a few days.  I fussed with those cards off and on all the time, even jotting something at red lights.  Rearranged while eating breakfast.  Looked up a quote or two.

My biggest surprise:  I loved the tactile aspects of manipulating ideas.  That really engaged my brain in a new way. 

Anyhow, I wrote the article on time and I think it was richer than it might have been.  I liked the method though I’m skeptical about how well I’d do with it when writing a novel.  Still, I might give it a whirl sometime.