Doing Things Differently

Recently I read that it is good to do something different every day. When I googled that line just now, I couldn't find exactly who had said it. But I did come up with a similar thought from Eleanor Roosevelt, who advised: "Do one thing every day that scares you."

Lately, I've been thinking about doing things differently. Not so easy for me since I am definitely a creatureof habit. Usually, when I start a new book, I just start -- like a horse on race day. This time, life -- and my publisher -- have forced me to take a more gradual approach. As you may know from recent entries, I've begun researching a new book that will involve guard dogs, and though I'm eager for race day, I've got to take my time to get the research done. Also, I am thinking about taking a new approach to the actual writing. For this, I credit several writers: Hadley Dyer (who was my editor at Lorimer, and is the author of Johnny Kellock Died Today); Susan Juby (prize-winning Canadian YA writer, whom I heard speak in Toronto last year); and Sophie Kinsella (author of the wildly popular Shopaholic books, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing a little over a year ago). All three of those writers work by PLANNING OUT SCENES before they begin the actual writing process. So that's what I'm going to try this time. It means slowing down -- which is definitely scary for me. So Eleanor Roosevelt, if you're up there, I'm trying it your way. Will let you and the readers of my blog know how things go. In the mean time, blog readers, maybe you should try following Eleanor's advice, too. Hopefully we'll all make some interesting discoveries.