The End Is Nigh – The Climb #957

Wednesday 6th October 2021

I’m already at 18,000 words written this week, which seems ridiculous, especially since I don’t feel I’ve been particularly focused.

With The Accursed now close to ending the pace has sped up but that’s not the only thing I’ve been writing.

However, I think I have just two more scenes to write for The Accursed. Both of these are flashback scenes that reveal a little about character. I’m not sure where they exactly go, as these secondary characters really haven’t been fleshed out in this draft. Come the next draft I’ll definitely be going in, maybe stealing scenes from other POVs and adding in some extra stuff to flesh these character arcs out.

So weirdly, although I’ve yet to finish, I have written the end. I wrote all the endings today. That amounted to 4 or 5 scenes, but because I’m whizzing through the word count currently, I managed to write them all in a single day.

So it’s likely I could be finished tomorrow, of if not then, Friday, and that provides me with a little problem.

You see, I like this forward momentum I currently have. I don’t want it to end. I’m happy to write something else, but I don’t have anything ready. The book I’m planning to write after this is still in the planning stages. I have a world, a magic system of sorts and a few characters. There’s possibly a few elements of plot in there as well, but I don’t really have a story. I most certainly don’t have one outlined and ready to go.

Ordinarily, I’d give myself time off. Writing a first draft is a HUGE undertaking and one that should be rewarded. You need to leave it some time to essentially forget the book, enabling you to return to it with a fresh pair of eyes. My tactic is always to be alternating books. Write one, then edit another, before writing a third, and editing the first. EXCEPT… I don’t have anything I really need to edit (other than a novella), and I want to keep writing.

I’m seriously tempted to pick up a story I abandoned earlier this year and just continue to write that. At my current speed, I could possibly have the first draft of that completed by the end of the month,

But, it’s not a commercial book, and I really feel I need to be writing things with the intention of selling.

So I have no idea WHAT I’m going to write come the end of The Accursed.

I suppose I have a bunch of notes to myself on where I see the beginning needs to be tightened up to make for a smoother character arc, but that again is a day at most.

If I rushed, I could get my next book, outlined in about 2 weeks. I currently do not have 2 weeks worth of writing.

The direction I’m currently heading in is to take the break, and use the writing time as study time. I’ve picked up a bunch of courses over the pandemic and maybe now’s the time to start learning and taking notes. It’s not going to help my word count, and although I’m not worried massively about the numbers, I do worry that if I take a break, when I am ready to start something new, I fear I will not be back to the sorts of numbers I’ve done this week.

I dunno, I moan for a year I don’t feel productive and then I get a sudden burst of productivity and run out of things to do.