Yeah, so, on the writing front, this was a rough week. No ifs-ands-or-buts about it…but…
I had a good day today. A great day, in fact. I halted the anxiety spiral, I took a deep breath, and I really thought a lot about what causes my process to break down, how I can pull myself out of those kinds of tail spins, and keep moving forward.
I set some goals for the rest of the year, and goddamnit…that shit is my focus moving forward. This year is the transition year to me actually making a full-time living as an author. I actually feel ready now. There’s a blueprint stretching out in front of me, I just have to follow its instructions. And I *can* do that. One chapter at a time.
So, that’s my new measuring stick: chapters. Slices of my books. Little contained nodules of story, with a beginning, a middle, and an ending (which is almost always a cliffhanger).
I thought about why I was so successful with Starstuff. What was it about writing that book that was so easy…and it was my daily goal being so clear. It’s not that I was perfectly consistent with it. Quite the opposite. I started writing it in July, and 100 days later would have had me finishing in the middle of October, when I *really* finished it on December 23rd…but because my daily goal was so simple, so clear, and so easy to reach, I wrote that book in less time than it’s now taken me (already) to write this book. So, there’s clearly something to that method.
A chapter, for me at least, is around 2,000 words. I can definitely do 2,000 words a day. 100%. No question.
And, guys…I will not be perfect. I sketched out an entire year’s worth of books today, and I will almost certainly fall short of that perfect schedule…but, man, I can get A LOT closer to those goals than I have recently. A lot.
So…yeah. One chapter a day. Easy. Simple. Not too much. I *can* do it.
Oh, and here’s the other slight adjustment: I don’t get to do any other work until I reach my daily goal. No narrations, no podcasting, no playing on my Nintendo Switch or the PS4…I have to finish my pages. We’ll see how that goes next week. But I feel energized. I feel on track. This week was definitely a rough one…but it’s just one week. It’s not worth dwelling upon. We move forward.
I have a set of scenes I’m working on at the moment that are difficult. They set up a lot of what’s to come, and right now, they’re not quite working. Fixing those scenes is what I tackle starting Sunday. Tomorrow is an actual, PLANNED, off day.
I have a plan.
It feels good 🙂
Lastly, I watched Dunkirk tonight. It was fine. Not great, but fine. I’ll do the write up for it tomorrow, along with 13th 🙂
Good night! I’m going to read for a bit.
Artwork tonight is from Boris Turano.