Nov 3, 2024
It’s not the end of the process, but this morning I finished my first read through of Sisterhood. Tomorrow I will move onto a pass using Pro Writing Aid.
The writing on The Lottery is going well, although I think it is going to be another long one. Possibly the longest so far, based on the number of words I’ve already written, and where I am in the story. I’m enjoying it though.
We were out for most of today, at my nephews birthday party. They played laser tag and we sang karaoke. It was a fun day.
Tomorrow Oscar goes back to school, and Tamzin goes back to work, so I’m going to lose some time in the mornings. I think I will still be able to manage everything though.
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Pre-Production
Stories planned (total): 19
Production
Words written today: 1,066
Words written total: 38,076
Plus / Minus target: +3,076
Currently writing: The Lottery
Post-Production
Minutes today: 23
Minutes total: 73
Plus / Minus target: +13
Currently publishing: Sisterhood
Oct 28, 2024
Most people probably wouldn’t think it to look at me, but I suffer from an all or nothing personality. No idea where I got it from, but it’s mine to deal with.
It comes out at times like when I try to improve my relationship with the internet. A sensible approach would be to reduce the amount of time I spend online, but I find myself jumping straight to not using the internet at all.
And it snowballs. I go from not using the internet at all to trying to reduce all my technology useage, until I’m ready to sell my phone and computer and go and live off the land.
This writing challenge is a good example of me trying to do the opposite of that. But it wasn’t until yesterday that I realised it.
The first writing challenge I set out to do was a million words in a year. Which I failed. To be fair, I got something like 800,000 so I failed well, but even if I’d managed it, I couldn’t have sustained it. This time things are different. 1,000 words a day is a goal I can hit pretty much every day. It’s not an impressive number, but it’s something I can do consistently. And that’s what I’m looking for.
The same is true for the planning (one story plan a day) and the editing I’m going to be starting on Friday. And now that I’ve realised it, I’m looking at other areas of my life where I can apply this simple goal of being a bit better.
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Pre-Production
Stories planned (total): 13
Production
Words written today: 1,048
Words written total: 31,787
Plus / Minus target: +2,787
Currently writing: Son of Mars
Oct 20, 2024
I now have five stories planned, one of which I am currently writing, all of which I like. It might be hard to pick between them when the time comes. That’s not a complaint though, it’s what I wanted when I started this habit.
The idea process is straight forward. I have a little template in Obsidian that looks like this:
IDEA:
A CHARACTER:
THE CHARACTER WANTS SOMETHING:
BUT SOMETHING PREVENTS THEM FROM GETTING WHAT THEY WANT EASILY:
SO THEY STRUGGLE AGAINST THE FORCE:
AND EITHER SUCCEED OR FAIL:
SETUP:
MOVE INTO ACTION:
THE PROMISE IN THE PREMISE:
SHIT GETS REAL:
FINALE:
I start with a vague description and then I work through each step. The last part (SETUP to FINALE) is the actual plan. Usually I go through it in order, but this morning the ending was the clearest image in my mind, so I started there.
It usually takes ten minutes to fill it in, but that’s ten minutes well spent if I avoid floundering around when writing the first draft. And I don’t know, although I suspect, the editing will be quicker as well. So all in all, it seems like time well spent.
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Pre-Production
Stories planned (total): 5
Production
Words written today: 1,159
Words written total: 23,070
Plus / Minus target: +2,070
Currently writing: Son of Mars
Oct 16, 2024
I would like to be one of those people who can write without a plan. When I read about authors who work that way, I envy them. But I don’t think it’s for me.
The other thing, is that I enjoy planning out a story. I like the back and forth of changing my mind about things, coming up with details that might never appear in the story, building a world. That’s fun for me, and I think it makes my stories better.
So starting today, I am planning stories. It’s not a 1:1 plan it, then write it. I am going to make a habit of coming up with a short story idea every day and coming up with some structure around it. It doesn’t have to be much. Then, when I come to start a new story, I will have a few to pick from.
I am just about at the end of The Last Outpost. The writing went well for the most part, and I really enjoyed writing a story set in the future. I think I am going to do more of that.
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Words written today: 1,151
Words written total: 18,805
Plus / Minus target: +1,805
Currently writing: The Last Outpost
Currently publishing: n/a
Latest release: n/a
Oct 14, 2024
I’m not sure why but this morning felt like a slog. I got my 1,000+ words, but only just made it before I had to stop and get on with other things. Tomorrow will probably be better.
On the editing side of things: I am thinking about kicking it all off in November. I’m not sure exactly how that’s going to work, but I think I need to find a similar approach to what I’m doing with first draft stuff.
It’s not that I don’t want to edit, but something else always seems to get in the way.
The simplest thing would be to make a daily commitment to an amount of time, and maybe increase that gradually, as I am doing with reading.
At the end of the day, I got my words done, so I am counting that as a win.
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Words written today: 1,037
Words written total: 16,493
Plus / Minus target: +1,493
Currently writing: The Last Outpost
Currently publishing: Sisterhood
Latest release: n/a
