Welcome to The (Writing) Fool’s Journey, a tarot themed log of my creative process as I work on a new novel.
The Magician: willpower, concentration, manifestation
Oh, The Magician. There could not be a more fitting card for this past week.
As April kicks off, I’m about to start going out to events to promote Where Lost Girls Go (which you can preorder here). In fact, when this post goes up, I will be in Minneapolis attending the Public Library Association conference, speaking at the Audiobook Publishing Association luncheon and signing galleys for librarians. Sometimes, travel leads to more productivity - an empty hotel room in the evening and a handful of hours at night to work - but sometimes it becomes incredibly difficult to work because my brain is in a million other places.
This past week, I got a better sense of how travel might impact my writing when I took a trip back to Kentucky to visit my best friend and attend Lexington Comic Con. Because, yes, I’m a huge nerd. Plus, a few members of the Baldur’s Gate 3 cast were there, and I cannot put into words how much that game has meant to me. (Astarion and Shadowheart are my favorites, in case you were curious).
(Meand Neil Newbon, voice of Astarion in BG3. Also my Astarion plushie)
(Me and Tim Downie, voice of Gale - a magician! - in BG3)
(Me and Devora Wilde, voice of Lae’zel in BG3. I got brave and gave her a signed galley of Where Lost Girls Go after she mentioned enjoying a YA drama on a panel.)
Anyway, my best friend and I had a great time, but I got very little work done while I was away. Which I somewhat anticipated, which is why, in the days before I left, I buckled down on dictation.
This is where that willpower and concentration of The Magician comes in. While I was at work, knowing I had this trip and my Minneapolis trip coming up, I dictated at least one chapter a day, because I didn’t want to get behind on my progress. I now have about nine chapters fully dictated and seven and a half of those are edited. The rest is still raw transcription in need of clean up, but that’s fine. That’s something I can easily do from my hotel room, even when my brain is a little fried from travel.
And when I return fromMinneapolis, I’ll be refocusing my efforts on keeping up a steady flow of dictation, banking up raw transcription to work on during my next trip, which will be in mid-April.
On top of all the other keywords I’ve listed, my own personal interpretation of The Magician is tied to creativity. He uses his magic to make something new. In some ways, I see it as a card of artists. And right now, it’s inspiring me, reminding me of the magic of writing, the ability to take words and weave them into something new.
For now, I’m leaning into that magic. I haen’t hit the wall I so often do with first drafts yet, and I’m reveling in it. Let’s hope this momentum can be maintained!
Have questions about the writing process? Ask in the comments! And join me next Wednesday for another installment of The (Writing) Fool’s Journey.
If you want to read more of my work, you can preorder my new novel here!
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