Writing the Past in the Present

I’m opening up to you on this one, dear reader.

Yes. Lately I’ve posted about archaeological sites, points of history and legend, things ancient and medieval. However, this blog is called ‘Writing the Past’, so occasionally I should talk about the actual writing of my historical fiction.

A lot of you e-mailed me to say how much you liked the blog tour post on ‘My Writing Process’.

Well, today you will be on the other side of the confessional wall.

The post on my writing process highlights all of the different balls that I have in the air, how I write whenever I can, ‘in the cracks of my life’. And all of that is true.

But it isn’t all roses. Oh no. More like a dodgy box of chocolates.

I don’t bound out of bed at 5 a.m. to pound out 700 words before nancing my way to work, happily alert and gathering the details of life for my next novel or blog post. That scenario is about as trustworthy as an Ostian fishmonger.

In the mornings, I’m more like a slow-moving zombie from Shaun of the Dead – bones cracking, scary bed head, and shuffling feat, whilst I moan about it being too bloody early. After all, I did stay up late to edit my own literary demons.

I’ve developed the ability to sleep standing up on the subway, eyes open. I don’t like being one of the cattle in the train car, same old same old. I suspect I’m not the only one. What I dislike more is stepping over pools of vagrant urine and frat boy vomit on the sidewalks downtown as I drag my chain to my 17^th floor cubicle. Oh, and at this point in the day, there has been no writing.

But I’m always mulling things over, formulating. The gears of zombie Adam’s mind are turning in the background, working on a subconscious level… all the time.

I actually like that. I love writing, and I love history. As long as I am connected to them in some way, shape, or form throughout the day, I feel human, alive and imaginative.

Lately, however, I'm overwhelmed. There are not enough hours in the day, and there is so much that I want to write. Actually, there is so much I AM writing and working on that my head is beginning to spin.

I’ve always been rather good at time management, but I think I’ve hit the shield wall. Too long in the front ranks, pushing ahead, and swinging my sword. I’m flailing in battle, wasting energy and leaving my flank open to attack. And you know what happens to the legionary who loses focus in the heat of battle?

He gets a spear through his guts, and is then useless. Or he becomes a zombie.

I suspect that many of my fellow writers might feel like this at times.

I confess that I’ve been trying to do too much at once. Here is the list of my current writing to do’s:

1. Finish final edits Killing the Hydra
2. Finish writing Author’s Note for Killing the Hydra
3. Finalize book cover copy for Killing the Hydra
4. Create e-book files for Killing the Hydra
5. Planning release schedule and events/competitions for Killing the Hydra
6. Finish writing Carpathian Interlude Part II – Lykoi (check!)
7. Edit second edition of Carpathian Interlude Part I – Immortui
8. Cover design and e-book files for Carpathian Interlude Parts I and II
9. Edit new short story
10. Work on second draft of first Alexander the Great novel
11. Continue to write Warriors of Epona (Eagles and Dragons Part III)
12. Remain present on social media
13. Create some fantastic products to accompany the Eagles and Dragons series
14. Keeping up my weekly blogging schedule – and hopefully keeping it interesting

You know what? This list is exhausting. And I could add more. Then there is that little thing called, you know, LIFE – family (the most important thing), exercise, reading, work etc. etc.

I'm not the only one
with a messy desk!

In a way, I love the creative madness. Weird, I know. Ideas and projects are always bubbling inside, but unless I cut a deal with Chronus, there is no way I’m going to change Time itself.

I have to find a way to manage it. It’s imperative.

Alexander the Great was a master of tactics and strategy because he could adapt easily and quickly to any situation in the field.

The Persian arrows are raining down and I definitely need a new strategy if I want to move forward.

Releasing Killing the Hydra is my priority right now. I know I need to focus on that, but I also don’t want to rush it. The deadline for that has been pushed again and again. I was hoping for a Christmas release, but at this point I’m not sure I’ll make it. I prefer to delay a bit longer so that I can give my readers a great product. That’s much better than rushing it and releasing rubbish. It’s a great story and I need to do it justice.

But I have to keep writing, and thankfully I have just finished the first draft of Lykoi. I try to always have a writing project on at the same time as an editing project. If you don’t write constantly, it just becomes harder to do so when you do sit down. 

Alexander riding into battle

I’ll just have to decide how to deal with the other items on the list. Just as there are stages in a battle, there are stages from the initial spark of an idea to publication.

I know a lot of people who have very specific agendas for their writing schedule and stick to them. Every hour of the day is spoken for, though a degree of flexibility is required. I’ll give that a go. Why not?

Some of you may have some ideas for time management that you would like to share, especially if you are a writer, parent, day-jobber, generalissimo, or president of a large country. If you are one of these, and you have some ideas, do share!

Basically, I know I need to reign in my war horse and take in the lay of the land. The barbarians are at the gates and I can’t afford to let them take me.

Whatever the outcome, forward motion and a series of small victories is my goal. If I can make that happen while keeping my calm, the laurel wreath will be within my grasp.

Thanks for being my confessor today and, as ever, thanks for reading!

I refuse to end up like this guy!

Back from the Dead – Fever Dreams and Creativity

'The Scream' - feeling like
rubbish

This is a bit of an odd post but one that I thought was worth sharing.

This is the time of year when many of us, or many we know, are laid low by that inevitable mid-winter cold or flu. We all go to work or school or are close to people who do, and that means exposure.

Anyone who takes public transit to and from work is going to be surrounded by an array of sneezers and coughers who, despite their best efforts, are going to end up showering you with potential sickness. 

If you have kids going to school, the odds are more steeply stacked against you.

Before last week I had been doing pretty well and had managed to stay healthy for about a year. Well, that changed with the onset of three days of fever and cold. I felt like I had taken a Dacian battle axe in the head and contracted Pontine malaria at the same time.

I’m back from the dead now and have been thinking about the experience.

It’s all a bit of a blur really but the one thought that I remember coming to me at first was that all my creative plans for writing etc. were totally shot. I knew that I was in for a few completely unproductive days.

In a way, I was wrong. I found that sickness (the non-life-threatening kind of course) can sometimes be useful and help the creativity. Let me explain.

For many writers who are going it alone, juggling the tasks of writing, publishing, family life and day jobs, there is little time to stop and focus. We flit from one task to another, on down the list without taking a breather.

I say that sickness can be useful because for some of us, it is one of those rare times when we let ourselves do nothing out of the necessity to heal.

During those wintery, bed-ridden days of sickness, the time is ripe for thinking, formulating and letting the mind wander where it will.

One of the most interesting things for me are the ‘fever dreams’. Nobody likes having a fever and frankly, I’m surprised I still have all my teeth after all that shaking. However, during my overheated odyssey, my unconscious mind was hard at work.

Alexander the Great on his deathbed

As I’ve mentioned previously, I am writing a trilogy of Alexander the Great and had yet to write the battle of Gaugamela. Just before getting sick I was just about to get stuck into writing the Companion cavalry charge in the battle. As it turned out, I wasn’t writing when sick but images of the battle and how I envisioned it were flashing behind my lids. When I was feeling a little better later in the week, I finished the scene and hence, the first draft of Book I.

Also, on the third day when the fever broke, I woke up, sat at our dining table and scribbled out ten pages on Alexander’s last days in Babylon, including his death. Now I won’t need this material until Book III but the effects of fever certainly contributed to that scene. One of the theories is that Alexander died of a fever of some kind so, with a little first-hand experience, I was able to write a few pages which I feel are rather good.

I know this sounds utterly bizarre but don’t discount it.

I have a friend who is a psychotherapist and I told him about this experience, the odd clarity and workings of the mind in fever dreams. He said that that was not surprising, that when he had been sick previously he had been able to work out problems that had confounded him when not sick. The mind truly is amazing.

I’ve found the mind focuses itself in this less scattered state simply because it is not bogged down with tasks. It absorbs whatever I’m watching or thinking on before sleeping. The thoughts can be a bit obsessive but there is an untapped creativity there that can be of benefit.

Even one of my short stories, THEOI, came out of a fever dream.

A person who has done some research along these lines, how the brain functions and how that place between asleep and awake is where creativity is born and thrives, is Phil South. There is a great podcast on The Creative Penn where Joanna Penn interviews Phil about how the brain works and where and when creative genius is born. It really is fascinating and you can listen to it HERE.

I’m not saying my amateur theory of fever dreams applies to everyone and obviously we all prefer to stay healthy. But, if you are laid low by a cold or flu this season, just go with the flow and don’t beat yourself up about getting through that to-do list.

You never know, when you are seemingly back from the dead, some of your best ideas may come to the surface and time will not have been wasted.

Now, where’s that vitamin C…