So Secret Project Alpha is proceeding quickly, and taking so much of my time that I’ve barely managed any writing-related work this week. But we’re almost done with it, and it’s going to result in a major upgrade to my writing ability.
There’s been more gaming than I’d like to admit, but I needed the mental break from Project Alpha and the usual day-to-day grind.
And there’s been some minor progress, too. Don’t count me out yet. We’ll be ready to write in earnest this fall for sure!
…from work, that is. It’s actually been a fairly productive week.
First, I’ve finished revising Book the First. Still need to punch in my revisions (and this includes rewriting a problematic scene) but it’s one big, daunting task removed from my to-do list.
I’ve also started on drawing up my final-try for agents for Book the First. I want to get fifteen names on that list… and I’m at four. But that’s for later anyway.
I’m also working on my writing tools: I want to try and write more efficiently now that free time isn’t as available as I’d like. I want to try the method suggested by Karen Wiesner in First Draft in 30 Days. Unfortunately, that means reproducing an awful lot of worksheets – a fantastic task when I’m feeling mentally exhausted.
I’ve also taken the edge off the worst of my fatigue, but honestly right now I’m not in a great place for writing. It’s really hard to get the serenity I need, but it seems like that’s going to get better too.
We’ll see!
Well, I took an unannounced vacation. I was exhausted, and my son hit a more demanding phase to compound the problem. So yeah. I didn’t accomplish anything of note lately. I did complete that EU4 World Conquest… which was fun but mentally exhausting.
I’m back at work now, however. And it’s time to the final edit push on Book the First (excluding actually entering the corrections, of course, but that’s easier than reviewing.) So that’s one of my goals for the week.
Beyond that, let’s try to get to writing again. Every word counts!
Well, this was a low-productivity week if I ever saw one.
I ended a long work week exhausted, and between much-needed recuperation and uncontrollable urges to relax, I’ve barely been keeping ahead of my non-writing life.
I even managed to have a no-writing-or-editing day, which is frankly embarassing. Editing a page takes about 10 minutes if I do it very, very slowly, and somehow I managed to fail at that for a day.
Hopefully, things will get marginally better. It’s a light work week (although I have some obligations as well.) I kind of want to set myself an ambitious goal for the week… but I’ll wait until Wednesday.
Not much to say, or to complain about lately. I’m progressing on editing, on writing, I’ve got a solid lead on a major life improvement… the works.
It’s all positive… but the kind of positive that’s a bit of a mental challenge. Everything’s going well from a process point of view, but of course there’re no results to show for it. An unfortunate consequence of long-term projects.
Still, I have no right to complain. So let’s keep going, shall we?
Well, it’s not as bad as during my early-year hiatus, but I haven’t been as productive as I would have liked in the last few days.
Editing Book the First is on target. Reading is progressing faster than expected.
But I’ve missed several writing goals, and that’s what bothers me. I did all the easy stuff, but whiffed on the tougher objectives.
I have good excuses but it’s really just a case of not finding the serenity I need to write. I really need an hour completely of interruption-free fucking around (and the guarantee that I’m not going to be bothered afterward) to get into the writing zone. Lately that has been a bit harder.
But hopefully that’s temporary. We’ll see. And I’ve still hammered out a significant amount of words this week, just not as much as I’d like. Onwards!
Well, the year is 25% finished, so let’s see how poorly I’m doing at keeping my resolutions:
1-Read twenty books.
What I’ve read so far:
Altered Carbon, The Crown Conspiracy, The Prince, Sworn to the Night
Currently reading: The Art of War
So behind by a few pages. Good enough.
2-Fifty-two blog posts.
I haven’t counted them, but I must be behind. On the other hand, if I stick to my current two-posts a week schedule, I’ll catch up quickly.
3-Get Book the First out of my head.
Editing is progressing steadily. I’d say I’m on track or even ahead of schedule here, and I’m certainly approaching the “One Final Push” stage. I’ll probably take a breather from editing in a week or two to build a list of final-attempts-at-queries, and I’ll probably manage to send those out by the end of June.
4-Work on the actual, not abandonned Book the Second.
I’ve finally found the energy to return to steady writing. The wordcount is at about 6500, meaning we’re at about 10% of the first draft. Below where I should be, but positive trend so let’s take it.
5-Make progress on improving this site.
Progress has been done, so that’s a technical win. Realistically, I still need to work on a lot of things, but that’s not plausible for now. I’ll keep going with the small improvements but don’t expect anything visible.
So there we have it. Not too shabby considering the long hiatus I took. Let’s keep those trends going!
Somehow, I’ve managed to turn a very busy week into a very productive one.
Lots of editing. Lots of writing. And I’m not exhausted.
Next week is looking bad, however. My real-life Secret Project is generating tons of anxiety for me right now, and I feel I’m going to run into a stress-wall soon.
But if you’re having trouble managing your life, do try Habitica. That part is a bright spot.
The last week and a half has been something quite rare: it’s been productive.
In part, I think that’s because I switched task management systems, going from ToDoist to Habitica. I won’t pretend the gamification features don’t help (I HATE losing HP) but the real winner for me is the organization (and the fact that missed deadlines don’t necessarily stick around in a Late Queue of Despair.)
Regardless of the reason, I’m actually progressing quite switfly on editing Book the First, I’m slowly adding words to Book the Second, and I’m keeping on top of my other obligations and goals for the year.
It’s not always easy (and in part, I’m succeeding because I’ve set the bar quite low in terms of wordcount-per-day and pages-revised-per-day) but the I’d rather hit easy milestones every day than repeatedly fail at harder ones.
I still have quite a few non-routine challenges on the menu right now, which makes further progress difficult, but I think I’ve finally managed to get some forward momentum going.
So what’s up next? Well, I have a Just my Opinion post ready to be written. I’m probably going to torch all my EU4 saves in order to attempt an easier challenge. And maybe some cool news soon, too. We’ll see.
I’m having trouble getting over the last few shots life has taken at me.
The writing career isn’t progressing. I’m not enjoying my current job situation. And as mentioned, my personal life has been hell lately.
So for now I’m going to go easy on myself. The goal for now is to make small progress every day, no more and no less. A page of revisions, some work on a synopsis, minor improvements to the blog/site… that’s enough for now.
Reading-wise, I’m not being super-ambitious this year. Another Proust book, a pair of current-gen fantasy author… that’s pretty much it. We’ll see how I feel in a week or two.
Vincent D's Blog 