For me, every day begins with excitement and expectation: a sense that it’s going to be another great writing day.

The day starts with a little tension, perhaps I want to get to the end of a chapter, or I want to put down ideas that popped into my head during the night. Even when I’m not writing, I’m thinking about it. It’s sometimes hard to turn off, so I keep a note book beside the bed. Everyone needs to sleep occasionally.

I try to keep the process ticking over at around one to two thousand words a day. Every day. Of course, it doesn’t always unfold like that. Writers’ block happens from time to time, or I’ll suddenly see holes in the plot and need to revise it, or occasionally I just feel unwell. Writing is a double-edged sword: it’s a discipline as well a passion. It doesn’t feel like work, because enthusiasm and inspiration keeps it fresh.

I like to start early as that’s when my energy is highest and the coffee is kicking in. I write in the same place: my study. It’s calm, it’s familiar, and it’s detached from the rest of the world. Sometimes I put on some music, but mostly I write in silence. Everything else is blocked out.

I begin by reading through my outline. It keeps me focused on where I want to go with the story. Of course, it has to remain flexible as sometimes the story evolves while I write. When that happens, I cross out my notes, revise my outline and add any new characters to the character outline. I like to add a brief description. If my plot outline has too much scribble on it, I rewrite it. Having an outline gives me a destination. I believe it’s possible to write off the top of your head, but I still feel a need for direction.

I also reread what I wrote the previous day and do a brief edit. After that, I start writing and I stay there for the next four to five hours. Occasionally I have to get up and stretch, and release the tightness in my back. But I won’t leave my study until my writing goals are met.

At the end of a writing session it’s either a feeling of elation, exhaustion or disappointment. But that day is done and the next day will be different. I just keep focused and obsessed for the next four or five months, knowing that by the end of it, I’ll have a book.


About the Author

I was born in the Australian outback and raised on family cattle stations ( ranches). I was a Registered Nurse for many years before writing my first book in 2011. The book was about a hard-living Aussie reporter, Peter Clancy, who does nearly anything to get a story. The book, Homecountry was an Amazon best seller as was the follow-up, Thornydevils, which again featured Peter Clancy. I have since written a further two books featuring Peter Clancy. The latest is Dark Water which is set in the outback.



About the Book

Dark Water (Peter Clancy #4)
by T.W. Lawless 

Peter Clancy is back. Back in Queensland's Far North, that is - the place he's spent a lifetime trying to leave. Clancy couldn't refuse his 'uncle' Sam's insistence he 'do something' about the destruction of the family graveyard and the threat to the sacred sites of Sam's ancestors from the new mine operations at Clarkes Flat.

And when Clancy discovers his old nemesis Max Hillard is in deep with the mining company, he's more than keen to use his journalism skills to stir up bad publicity for the mine.

But two grisly deaths at the local crocodile farm are followed by murder at the protest camp, and Clancy realises something else is at play. Soon Clancy and Sam are running for their lives ...