Although I am still getting up and writing my 1,000 words every day (and fulfilling the goal of my challenge) I am being less strict about the planning and editing aspect of things and accepting that there are some days when I can’t do those.
That’s working out pretty well for me. Today I sat down and worked on planning The List (that title is going to change really soon) for a lot longer than 20 minutes. I got a lot done and now think I’ll probably be ready to start work on it when I finish the first draft of The Storm (which will probably also have a title change).
It’s not working out so well on the editing side because I don’t love doing that so it’s easier to put off. I might need to figure out a daily goal for that again, just so I can keep publishing stories.
Giving myself more flexibility around this stuff is really helping in a lot of ways. Most importantly though is I’m feeling less stressed out about it all. That’s important because there are a lot of other things going on in life at the moment and although I am still trying to follow my five lessons and the sixth I have to accept that writing is an entirely voluntary thing right now so it can’t be the number one priority every day.
Another thing that’s probably contributing to my sense of calm is that I have decided to do a digital detox. Basically that means that I am avoiding all non-essential online activity. So no reading the news, no scrolling Reddit or any other social media, no YouTube, nothing. I’m only a couple of days into that, but it is already making a big difference to the amount of time I have for things like reading and writing.
I think a relaxed approach is generally better. A bit like driving 5mph under the speed limit. Over the course of a whole journey, it doesn’t make that much difference to the time you arrive, but it’s way less stressful and more enjoyable.
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Latest release: The Last Outpost
Currently Writing:
- The Storm: a cozy apocalypse novella. Today’s progress: 1,077 / 12,419
- The List: a dark fantasy novella. PLANNING
- Son of Mars: a science-fiction short story about the construction of a colony on Mars. EDITING