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In the last 2 months, real life has totally disrupted my writing progress on Prophecy, my next thriller novel. In this video, I give you an update on my move from Brisbane, Australia to London, England.
In the video, I explain:
So everyone has phases when “real life” gets in the way of writing – for me this has been my move from Brisbane, Australia to London, England in the last 2 months. I left Australia on May 20th but the month prior to that was sorting everything out that end and since we’ve been here it’s been sorting out at this end. It’s amazing how much paperwork and bureaucracy there is when moving countries. I also started a new day job (I’m an IT consultant) and it is seriously time consuming right now. I’m still working 4 days a week but I’m on the phone to Australia every morning for a couple of hours which is when I used to do a lot of interviews for The Creative Penn. Then I got sick, a real British cold, so basically in the last 2 months, I haven’t written anything. I’ve been feeling a real guilt and frustration at not writing but just haven’t had the head space.
However, one of the main reasons to move back was for the inspiration of Europe travel and culture to feed my creative soul and writing habit. Last weekend we went to Paris and in the catacombs I took a lot of notes and had ideas about scenes for Prophecy. We’ve also been to a classical concert at St Martin’s in the Fields and to see David Tennant (Dr Who) in Much Ado About Nothing. I’ve booked to see China Mieville at the British Library and Ralph Fiennes in The Tempest and I’m seriously going to make the most of being in London! I’ve been writing down ideas and plot points. I have daydreamed about scenes and built them in my head, I’ve had good ideas for back story so the creative well is indeed filling up and when I have space to write, I have a lot more to write about.
But what about the actual writing?
The pressure is building, it’s becoming a desperate sense but I need to get my little corner of the world sorted out so I can actually be mentally ready to write. May and June have been write-offs but in July I will get going again. I need to clear my To Do list in order to be creative again. I need to clear the decks, I need peace. I also need to readjust my schedule and learn how to manage the new time differences and juggle a new life, for example, when I will do my interviews for The Creative Penn.
So how do we cope with this time when life gets in the way of writing?
We need to allow the time and space to get real life sorted, but set a time limit and do little things in the meantime. I have been reading in between bouts of exhaustion and now I read with a different mind. I note language and read more as a writer. I’ve also taken a lot of notes while traveling and at the various places and cultural events attended. I have a lot of material for the next bout of writing.
