What I Did:
I wrote!
I repeated to myself the idea that I am not just a neurotic writer who pokes things with a stick, I am a creative professional who shows up to work every day to professionally poke things with a stick.
I'm trying not to force the writing times too much, but I hope now that I've settled on a time that is late enough to allow me adequate wind-down time after work but is also early enough that I have time to play around and write slowly without crashing and burning when sleepiness sets in, and of course, early enough that I'm well rested. I've learned the hard way that skimping on sleep just to write doesn't work so well at this age than it did when I was younger. Now, lack of sleep causes on the next day lack of brain activity, lethargy, grumpiness, and lack of writing.
The golden time seems to be somewhere between 10PM and midnight.
Now, the stats.
Yesterday's word count: 1259.
Current word count: 2040.
Words written today: 781.
Time taken: ~60-90 minutes. I didn't really count. I took breaks to check Twitter and otherwise get distracted. It's really an exercise in stamina, and everyone starts off as weaksauce wimps who get winded.
Still, even at its worst margin (likely the actual is better, as I wasn't writing for all 90 minutes), that brings the average to almost exactly 500 words per hour, which was my exact goal.
What I Plan To Do Next:
I plan to try writing like this again tomorrow. Roughly the same time. 1 hour ass in seat, 500 words.
I also need to flesh out and organize some of these newly emerging scenes. I have the vaguest glimmer of a story-level conflict that actually involves character factions rather than some vague epic.
Obstacles:
It did not flow so well today. I kind of did guerrilla writing today, adding words here, inserting a placeholder for a scene there. I have a lurking fear that I'm going to end up with NaNo-like slush on my hands. I don't mind the story changing direction, but I'm afraid I'm going to lose track of things. Here's where it would be awesome to know how to plan when the plot direction keeps shifting. Meep!
Guilt. Panic. Anxiety. Oh, such causes there are.
Guilt - Guilt that I didn't begin exactly on time, because I failed to account for settling-in time. I guess in a way that's not procrastination, because even when I go in to work, I have a routine that I go through before I actually begin. I guess it's the same with writing. I need to just account for the time, and not feel guilty about it. Live and learn.
Panic - Panicking because I am afraid that I'm going to
Anxiety - Anxiety that I'm going to end up with a slush pile. I guess there's no real way to solve this yet. I can only accept it. Let it be. I DO feel anxious, but I am not my anxiety. It's okay to feel this way.
I wrote!
I repeated to myself the idea that I am not just a neurotic writer who pokes things with a stick, I am a creative professional who shows up to work every day to professionally poke things with a stick.
I'm trying not to force the writing times too much, but I hope now that I've settled on a time that is late enough to allow me adequate wind-down time after work but is also early enough that I have time to play around and write slowly without crashing and burning when sleepiness sets in, and of course, early enough that I'm well rested. I've learned the hard way that skimping on sleep just to write doesn't work so well at this age than it did when I was younger. Now, lack of sleep causes on the next day lack of brain activity, lethargy, grumpiness, and lack of writing.
The golden time seems to be somewhere between 10PM and midnight.
Now, the stats.
Yesterday's word count: 1259.
Current word count: 2040.
Words written today: 781.
Time taken: ~60-90 minutes. I didn't really count. I took breaks to check Twitter and otherwise get distracted. It's really an exercise in stamina, and everyone starts off as weaksauce wimps who get winded.
Still, even at its worst margin (likely the actual is better, as I wasn't writing for all 90 minutes), that brings the average to almost exactly 500 words per hour, which was my exact goal.
What I Plan To Do Next:
I plan to try writing like this again tomorrow. Roughly the same time. 1 hour ass in seat, 500 words.
I also need to flesh out and organize some of these newly emerging scenes. I have the vaguest glimmer of a story-level conflict that actually involves character factions rather than some vague epic.
Obstacles:
It did not flow so well today. I kind of did guerrilla writing today, adding words here, inserting a placeholder for a scene there. I have a lurking fear that I'm going to end up with NaNo-like slush on my hands. I don't mind the story changing direction, but I'm afraid I'm going to lose track of things. Here's where it would be awesome to know how to plan when the plot direction keeps shifting. Meep!
Guilt. Panic. Anxiety. Oh, such causes there are.
Guilt - Guilt that I didn't begin exactly on time, because I failed to account for settling-in time. I guess in a way that's not procrastination, because even when I go in to work, I have a routine that I go through before I actually begin. I guess it's the same with writing. I need to just account for the time, and not feel guilty about it. Live and learn.
Panic - Panicking because I am afraid that I'm going to
Anxiety - Anxiety that I'm going to end up with a slush pile. I guess there's no real way to solve this yet. I can only accept it. Let it be. I DO feel anxious, but I am not my anxiety. It's okay to feel this way.
No comments:
Post a Comment