Reentering the Work

Life has a way of interfering with the execution of art (I am using the word in the broad sense of all artistic activity). Blame the cut-throat nature of the artistic world, or perhaps the fact that the gap between poor artists and rich artists is much larger than for any other section of society. Either way, this nasty thing called needing to earn a living and the other mundane things like taking out the trash and cooking dinner (and driving around the kids!) take out a big slice of time.


These nasty things really put a dent in the working flow. Like most writers I find it pretty hard to tune back into the work. Ideally I would like to write for a minimum two hour block each day. That's about how long it takes me to tune into the story, the characters, chip through the usual layer of ice and start to get the words flowing again.

Life is a little like torture at the moment. I just get started, just break through into the story and I have to stop and help with the groceries, or run for the bus, feed the llamas etc. The worse thing is when you are forced away from the work for a number days.

Getting back in can be a real challenge.

My way back in is always through the story itself - in the flow of the plot - and through the characters. If the break has really been a long one, I might have to first review the plot and do some thinking about the characters then start re-drafting from a few chapters back, or even from the beginning to get back into the feel of the piece and understand at a gut level where I had been coming from.

How do you navigate your way back into your story when life gets in the way? Or can you pick up the threads easily?

Synergies

Like 99.99% of authors on the planet, I need to go out and work to bring in the bacon.

For me its applied process engineering, specifically looking at process integration to reduce the energy demand of a shale oil production process and assessing a range of carbon offset and renewable energy projects – call me Mr. Greenhouse. Its interesting work, and I find myself at the forefront of global research and practical application, and I have always had a keen interest in science. Its also nice to be part of something. But again, like most authors on the planet, I wish I could somehow invert my life and actually Work my writing with a capital ‘W’ instead of shoving it into the cracks and make engineering the enjoyable pastime (not that I regard writing as a hobby, and friends have learnt through harsh experience not to suggest it is one! Something about that word, ‘hobby’).

I have spent so much of my life remonstrating at the competition between ‘work’ and writing, that I have never really stopped to think about how they complement each other – or could work in some sort of synergy. Sometimes I feel like I have put myself into so many ‘compartments’ that I’ll never get myself together again, but maybe its time to start trying.

I guess there is the obvious one – that is that the science and engineering directly inform my science fiction. I guess the whole structured approach that I have been trained in also comes out in the way I approach designing a story arc and plotting my work. Mind you I am far from a typical engineer, and am definitely on the outside of the curve in terms of how they think and approach the work.

It goes the other way as well. I think my writing has made me an outstanding communicator in my career. And the effort I’ve put into learning how to network at conventions has flowed effortlessly into doing the same thing at technical conferences.

What sort of work do you do? And how has that enhanced your creativity and your writing, or inspired you?