I entered this week excited about how much writing time I would have on my hands compared to last week. I foolishly envisaged myself writing for hours on end. Whole mornings or afternoons would pass in a daze of coffee and brilliant prose. I would ignore the phone and just lose myself in my writing. So why oh why have I struggled to sit my arse down to write? I have even done laundry in an attempt to procrastinate. Why? I am the one who has chosen to write. No-one is making me so why should I have to force myself to do it?
I had a think about it and I think it is because the sequence of things in my WIP is simply not in the sequence I want. I made a brief outline of the order of events before writing but as I wrote I realised I needed to explain the history of the central friendship in some detail but it has taken most of the first 10,000 words. At the moment it is in flash back form but that is a pretty big flash back! I know I want to tweak it. Either break it up throughout the story or split the story into sections one being the past. Now I am past this section I want to just head forward and try not to obsess over the fact the start isn't how I want it to be. I am going to persist with simply getting the words down rather than go back and editing now. I was struggling to sit down as my mind was on what I have already written rather than looking forward. I have made a conscious decision to simply look forward. Fingers crossed.
On Monday I wrote for 55 mins and managed 1,249 words. On Tuesday I wrote for 1 hour and 5 mins and wrote 1,245 words. Today I wrote 927 words in 35 minutes. I also spent 10 minutes making some notes on the new story idea that has been floating around my head. This week I have added 3421 words to my WIP which now stands at 13,599 words. Yay! When I have finally sat down I have been able to write for longer than my 30 minutes day goal. It is just the starting that seems to be the problem.
For the rest of the week to meet my goals I want to keep adding words to my WIP and will post my non check-in post a follow-up NaNoWriMo post tomorrow. Exercise has not happened this week yet but it is only Wednesday so hope to squeeze it in.
I really missed checking out other check-ins last week so guess what I am off to do now! Hope your weeks are going well.
I find that the more I "think" about writing the less likely I am to do it, but if I just schedule it, then it happens. Same with exercise, by the way. All-in-all you are making great progress. Great word count for the times you are writing, which is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week, Em :)
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou're doing awesome! Be sure to really take the time to pat yourself on the back for what you've accomplished so far...it's important to do that. The small steps are important.
ReplyDeleteI do better writing in shorter intervals of time. I've tried to sit for an hour and really only end up with 20 minutes of that time was truly writing - kind of like watching a show with commercials, lol. Now I do timed writing intervals and I've found I write more by doing that. You may want to change things up for a day or two and see if that works for you.
I hope you find a smooth way to start that book :)
Marie
Thank you Marie! I hope I have a smooth way to start the next one too! It sits very awkwardly with me that I am not happy with the start but as I said, I am going to look forward!
ReplyDeleteGood progress! I had the same issues with my beginning, Em, and I tackled them after I had the first draft in place.
ReplyDeleteThen it was easier to see where I needed to go.
Thanks for visiting my blog, and hang in there!
Yeah, I find if I "think" too much about writing, I fall prey to procrastination. I'm a creature of habit. If it is simply something I do every day between the hours of x and y, then I focus on creating instead of thinking :-).
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're still making great progress despite our nasty human natures. Keep at it!
You have the right idea. Keep moving forward. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many times I've rewritten my opening. But it isn't nearly as many times as I wanted to. I've learned the best way to do it is to keep going with the rest of the story and come back later. Once you know exactly where you are going, it is easier to know where and how to start. Maybe it's just me ...
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
I wish I would do laundry to procrastinate from writing. But I procrastinate even more on that.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if your writing is progressing well with an impressive word count.
I'm so happy to hear about your awesome word count! And don't beat yourself up too much for not being able to sit and write for long periods of time -- you've clearly managed to accomplish a lot anyway!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the NaNo follow-up post!
Writing is writing is writing! You can't be upset with another 3K on your WIP that is an awesome effort. I hope the week to come is just as productive (or even more!)
ReplyDeleteI find that when I have more time I spend more of it doing other shtuff instead of writing. Just keep trudging along and you will succeed!!
ReplyDeleteYour word count to time expended ratio sounds really high to me! Sometimes it takes me hours to get over 1,000 words down on a page, so that's really great progress. And don't forget that planning counts, too- outlining is writing, after all. Good work this week!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are doing well with your word count. The hardest part sometimes is just getting to the writing--starting it. Like Gene said above, it's kind of like exercise that way. Once you get going though, it gets much better! I hope the rest of your week has gone well. I'd love some mornings to lose myself in a haze of coffee and prose :).
ReplyDelete