Staying focused

Hello my friends. I’ve been doing a lot of writing lately, as you might know. I’ve actually finished the first book in my Human Nature, Thriller series. It is a true first draft. It’s ugly, but the bones are there. I just have to clean it up, a lot. 

I’ve been so excited with this series that I started immediately with book two. But then, the strangest thing happened, which never usually happens. I started getting ideas, and scenes for future books of this series started flooding my mind, and I found myself jumping back and forth writing scenes from different books. It was like all writing inspiration I’ve been lacking over the years came rushing back all at once and I went into a writing frenzy. Sometimes writing 8 hours a day. Losing lots of sleep, but the writing had to get out of my head. It was flooding my brain and I couldn’t focus on anything than these books. 

Because my depression and Fibromyalgia (despite which I am permanently on medication for) plays havoc on my short term memory, I didn’t want to take the chance I might forget anything so I wrote it down immediately. Upsetting my nearest and dearest, but I had to get it out. It would play havoc with my sleep if I didn’t get it out. But I got most of it down. My sister wanted me to dictate most of my thoughts, and I will do that from now on, but then I forget the emotions and possible dialogue I had in my mind for a specific scene. 

So now I have a half written book here, a few scenes there and so forth. But I won’t give this flood of inspiration up for anything. The quiet and isolation of the extreme South African lockdown and that of the world did wonders for me. It rebooted my brain and made me whole again. It gave me a reprieve of all the noise (figurative) that I’ve been experiencing over the years. The human race were all just trying to survive. Nobody focused on war, or which celebrity was sleeping with whom. People all around could relate what was going on with one another, as we were all experiencing the same thing. It’s just such a relief for the mind and soul.

I’ve decided that I’ll try and do such an isolation once or twice a year. Even if it’s just for a week, or a few days. I just need this to survive in this crazy over crowded world with all its insanity, and new technologies popping up all the time, for the long term. I’m deeply introverted, so this type of Isolation suits me perfectly. Do all my shopping online and avoid most people all together sounds like a dream.

How do you recharge your batteries? Does your senses get overloaded quickly? How do you focus in this noisy world?

Music speaks to my soul

Hey friends. I don’t know if I ever mentioned this little fact about me, but I love music. I can’t live without it. As in my previous post, the lockdown had me fall in love with music all over again. For some time I’ve been so stressed, that during work the thought of playing music to help me cope, didn’t naturally occur to me. I just though it’s a personal pleasure, I can’t possibly listen to it when working, like when we are working on orders, or stocktaking and so forth. I don’t know why I thought that way. I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.

 But like most things, I like various types of music. From rock and metal to classical and non-lyrical music. I will listen to most kinds of music and each moves me in a different way and evokes different kinds of emotions. These days I need the mood of music to match that of the book I am writing. I actually did research on which songs were the saddest, so I could write certain scenes in the book, and it did the trick. I actually created a playlist. On it were songs like Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton, Knocking on Heaven’s door by Bob Dylan, and I’ve always found that most of Johnny Cash’s music is sad, so I listened to a lot of him. Certain scenes are gruesome and I needed music to get me in sort of a frenzy, or should I say made me feel bad-ass and for me there’s nothing like Metallica or Marilyn Manson. So I’ve been enjoying my writing again.

 Do you listen to music when you write? What kind of music do you listen to?

Lockdown helped me write

During the lockdown in South Africa (Level 5) the country came to a standstill. The whole world for that matter, as certain countries were more affected than others at the time. It’s still a crisis over most of the world, but those 5 weeks, where everything came to a standstill, was the best thing for me and my brain.

It sounds like a horrible thing to say. But for me it was as if I could think clearly. My senses get overloaded very quickly. I actually had energy for the first time in a longtime. There were less people  around. It was quiet, literally, and figuratively. It felt like I could breathe for the first time in a long time. That my brain and energy levels could recharge.

So much so that the writing started to flow, and I could actually start working on my new series. It will be a series of crime thrillers focused on catching dangerous serial killers on New Eden. A world where the remaining humans had to relocate after we killed Earth. It is like nothing I have ever written before. But it is exciting. I am a huge fan of crime fiction, mystery, as well as thrillers. I read various genres so it is in my nature to want to diversify on the genres I write. And these books are where my heart and focus is right now.

I felt like all was right in the world during that time. I could focus. My senses were alive again, and able to function as they should. And pouring my imagination and emotions out on the page. It felt so natural.

How are you doing?