Thursday 13th May 2021
I’ve noticed that this book seems to want smaller scenes.
I’m in one of those lulls where work is out there and you’re waiting to hear back. At those times I try and keep myself busy so I’ve been using the time to really get some wordcount down on The Accursed.
The plan is for lots of little sessions. Write a bit, go do something quick on Warcraft, then come back. Obviously procrastination gets in the way, but often that’s my brain just not being ready to punch out a scene. So I’ve got a few things on the go, each little bits of work that individually might only move the needle a fraction but over time, should amount to a lot of work.
The trick here is to not get disheartened. It’s great when you work on something solidly for a couple of weeks and have a thing – whether it be a novel, an edit or an outline – to show for it. I’m trying to build some habits here, and not just in my writing.
I’m not feeling particularly organised. I’ve not felt too bad about it as things are getting done. As much as I might stress about all the things I’ve still yet to do, I have managed to get quite a bit done this year.
There’s a lot I’m waiting to hear back. On things like the script, it’s probably going to be a no. But there could be bits of work come my way in the weeks to come. But as everyone knows, you never hear back about something you’re actively waiting for.
To be fair, I’m not too focused on stuff that’s out there. The Accursed is my focus at the moment and I’ve been trying to move that forwards this week, even if it’s just writing a couple of hundred words at a time.
What I’ve found is that scenes are seeming much shorter. My first drafts are often very description lite – to the point of almost being a script – but even so, I’ve usually been someone who writes 2000 – 4000 word chapters that consist of a single scene.
This books feels like it’s filled with lots of 500 – 1000 word scenes.
Maybe that’s a product of me writing in smaller increments. With other books I have sat down for an hour or two at a time to get that first draft out. But it may be that since the pandemic I’ve found my concentration span change from around 40 minutes to around 20.
Either way, it’s always a bit exciting when a novel starts to find it’s shape, and The Accursed is starting to find it. I’m still having fun, and all those writing sessions of 500 words here, 700 words there mount up. I remind myself there are plenty of professional authors who only managed 500 new words a day.
My plan isn’t to lengthen my writing sessions. I’m fine with shorter sessions, so long as it means I put more of them in a day. I’m going through this mental exercise that if words pop into my head, not to delay it as a task that needs to be made time for, but to just whip out a couple of hundred words over a ten minute period.
It’s certainly a different way of working, but it’ll move the progress bar forwards, even if only by a fraction, and encourage me to develop positive habits in more things than just writing.
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