Focus.

Focus.

Focus.

“Hey, you! Yeah, YOU! FOCUS!

“It’s just you and me here.

“Leave everything else. Out. There.

“I’m all you need right now.

“Give me your attention.

“And I’ll come to liiiiife.”

This was me a few years ago when I wrote this post, my story and I joined at the hip – or the heart, rather – inseparable, like brand new lovers, only we’d been together for years. My mantra: “If you have the ache, you have what it takes.” I wasn’t much able to tear my eyes or attention away from the words back then, praying I had what it took, and forever swept up in the creative current. These days I feel more carried than swept.

That’s momentum for you – you toil and grind and obsess to build your book, and at some point, it starts to build you, lifting you to your next level so that you can create your next-level work.

We’re coming up on November, National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that’s helped nearly 800,000 novelists write over 360,000 novels! While I write non-fiction, many of my clients are penning novels and look forward to this time of year with giddy anticipation. You can use the collective focus of November to build momentum for any project. All that matters to our books is that they get written, whether in cracks between the hours over many years or concentrated bursts of focused energy WHENEVAH. It’s about attention, not process. Your processes will change with your circumstances. Your attention is yours to give.

You can focus that beautiful attention of yours more than you know. We’re at the start of October; there’s still TIME to clear space for November. Whether you’re aching to script an entire book or wrangle that one short story, for tips on clearing sacred space anytime, my ‘ole Going Dark to Write post still has my best intel.

Cheering you on, from my desk to yours. Who said 2020 has to be a total washout? Not for you or your ache.

Write on!

Linda xo