Tuesday, August 09, 2011

In the Mood

My friend, Debra St. John, and I were discussing writing and editing our manuscripts. We both agreed we  get a lot more accomplished if we're in the right mood.

Some people may consider it a copout, but if I'm too tired or too rushed, I can't give my manuscript the focus it deserves.

But what if I'm never in the mood?

Sometimes it's not easy to psych myself up to get back into the mood once I'm out of it.This started to happen after putting aside my work in progress to clear the basement after the recent flooding.

I wanted to get the editing of Forever Young-Blessing or Curse started again, but part of me said I didn't, mainly because I'd gotten out of the habit of being in the mood.


After setting aside a block of time with no interruptions, I went to the manuscript and began editing and kept at it. Soon I was back in the mood, getting into the flow where I wanted to be.

I'm not done yet, but I'm getting there. I used some trickery to get back into the mood, but it worked.

What about you? Do you have to be in the mood to write or edit? Do you sometimes trick yourself into getting back into the mood?

6 comments:

  1. Hi Morgan,

    Saw my name and had to pop in to comment...(g)

    What you say is so true...sometimes even when we're not in a writing mood, sometimes making ourselves do just a little bit, sucks us in and gets us back into full blown "author" mode.

    On that note, I should pull out my lap top!

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  2. And I should go and do some editing!

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  3. LOL~ I prefer to want to tackle the writing or editing, but I've found if I tell myself I have to hit such and such a deadline before I can say- go online-then I'm able to get more done.

    Hugs to you both! Cheers~

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  4. Got 15 pages of editing done today, which is a good thing, since it takes me a while to do that! It's almost like re-writing the story.

    Morgan Mandel

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  5. Rather odd, but I don't have to push myself to edit other people's work, but when it comes to my own...I can always find something else that needs to be done.

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  6. A writer's work is never done!

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