CRITICAL THINKING-WRITING
Writing with critical thinking methods is often a challenge for me, especially when experiencing multiple emotional events. However, clients call and projects must be completed. Thankfully, I’ve developed a few steps that quickly get me back on track (usually). My top three are:
DO whatever it takes to get to the office! Sitting myself down in front of the computer and resting my hands on the keyboard brings my focus to the table (as some folks say), and sets my thoughts in motion. I like my office environment. It has a big window overlooking a greenbelt with cottonwood and cloud vistas that always inspire me. My desk surrounds me in a horseshoe shape—2/3rds working area, 1/3rd bookshelf/computer/printer stations. A window-seat is covered with an eclectic collection of blankets to accommodate our two old-lady-cats. It’s MY PLACE to write; my place to connect with the writing flow. If you’re a multitasker, you probably have several projects going at once, so my next “get-organized” step will be an absolute for you.
Surround yourself with your immediate, must-get-done-now projects. I start at the corner of my desk to my left, laying out each file as they come into my hand, and continuing until they are all visible—OR—I’ve reached the telephone (which is the last available desktop space). Now, catch your breath. Didn’t know you had so many, did you? Personally, I combine my client projects AND my personal projects in this grouping. Each one is important to me and my clients, and the simple act of laying them out has already given me an inkling of the order in which they must be completed. Yep—rearrange them in that order. Some will be more immediate than others because of the DUE BY dates. Others will filter to the top because of the client need or expectations. And occasionally, a book project pulls itself up the timeline because of my personal interests—which leads me to the next step.
Allow your writer’s curiosity to move a project closer to the front of the line. Our world and the people in it offer infinite opportunities for discovery and infinite subjects to write about. So whether you’re assisting someone in developing their book, or writing your own, open your heart and mind with the curiosity key that will open new doors. Exploring “where others have not gone before” is exciting; an adventure that will not only enhance the writing of the current project, but will also cultivate seedlings for many new ones.
And, the last step (for today) is to KEEP your sense of perspective. If one of your book projects looms TOO BIG before you, it probably needs to be cut down to size—literally. It may actually be a two or three book series. And, from a personal perspective, projects like that can cause us to become “unbalanced” in time-management. If one client (one topic, one editor, one co-author, etc.) becomes TOO needy, the time needed to actually complete that project can evaporate. SO…do the “scale from one to ten” measurement, with one being your opportunity to watch a sunrise and ten being the outbreak of thermonuclear war because you didn’t get the resolution response written. WHERE do your projects fit along that scale? I’m guessing that none will reach the ten-level.
Now, take another deep breath and relax. All your writings WILL be completed in due time! The old saying that “to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven,” is true. The season for your book to be written and published is right now and into tomorrow!
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ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene Doyle is a Ghostwriter with Outskirts Press, bringing more than 35 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their writing projects. She has worked with both experienced and fledgling writers helping complete projects in multiple genres. When a writer brings the passion they have for their work and combines it with Royalene’s passion to see the finished project in print, books are published and the writer’s legacy is passed forward. |
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