This Laid Back Stuff is for the Birds · 7:29pm Jun 11th, 2017
The good news is that I feel like I've been in a decent writing groove these past few weeks. The bad news is that I'm not confident it'll remain that way unless I take some new measures. I'm constantly trying to figure out what it is that I lost a couple years ago that has made me less diligent in my writing. It's not enthusiasm, and it definitely isn't a lack of ideas. I've come into these blogs and repeatedly stated theories regarding why I haven't been producing as much as I used to.
Well, now I've got another worth trying: organization. Any of you who have so much as glanced at my reading schedule for my review blog understand that I am a very organized person, and some would (appropriately) argue that I'm a little too attached to my lists and schedules. When this year began, I decided to cut back on those significantly and eliminated a great many of the methods I'd been working on for years.
And it worked, at least in the sense that I am far more relaxed these days. I'm not afraid to sit back and goof off with video games or go out once a week and do something outside my apartment. But at the same time, I feel like I lost something important, one particular tool that may have been instrumental in keeping me going: wordcounts.
No, I'm not going full Twilight Sparkle nutty on you all (well, anymore than usual). I just realized that one of the driving elements of my reviews, which I have consistently kept up with for years, is an ongoing sense of progress; the feeling that I am getting things done, advancing towards a goal, etc. With my review schedule, I always have a target point: a long story to be concluded, a specified date to reach, a week of reviews to be completed. At any given time, I can go and see what I've done, where I'm going and what I'm trying to achieve. These are vital motivational factors for me.
I don't have that with my writing. Oh, sure, I know I'd like to finish Bulletproof Heart, and I know I want to get through a book of Order of Shadows. But I have no clear indicator that I'm progressing towards those goals. It's a nebulous fog of ifs and maybes and somedays. I don't have something to tell me how far away I am or what I have left to do.
So I've reinstated my old daily wordcount schedule. It's very simple: I want to achieve an average between 1,500-2,000 words a day, with weekly deadlines for completing tasks (i.e. finishing a chapter). If I can maintain it and track it every day, I may finally be able to get back into my old groove. It won't be quite so fast at updating as my older methods – I'm not killing myself with overlapping schedules or anything – but if it works then I'll be able to produce regularly, which is my Holy Grail.
What, 1,500-2,000 words a day is too much, you say? Absolutely not. I know from experience I can achieve that. In fact, it's a significant reduction from what I was doing for over a year back when I was in my heyday.
But I'm also going to have to make some sacrifices. It should have been obvious from the beginning that juggling so many stories at once was a mistake, and so I've decided to cut back. No, I'm not canceling anything, but some of my stories will be going on hiatus. From here on in, I'm only going to work on three stories at a time, and all others will be set aside for later. I've decided to make Bulletproof Heart my primary story, as it has my attention the most. The goal is to finish a new chapter rough draft every two weeks. I've already run the numbers, and even if I stick with my new weekly delivery method, this puts the rough draft of the first book not being completed until May of next year. Yeah, that's far away, but just imagine how much farther away it would be if I can't keep this new schedule.
My secondary priorities are the Caballeron book of Order of Shadows and the Celestia-centric story Songbird. They will alternate weeks between Bulletproof Heart updates, which translates into once-every-four-weeks updates for each. At that pace, the Caballeron book should be done in early November and the rough draft of Songbird should be ready for editing mid-late December. All other stories are on hiatus for now.
I know it might seem like I'm putting pressure on myself again, but honestly? I don't think I am. As I said, there was once a time when I was generating 4,000-6,000 words daily for weeks in a row. 1,500 words/day feels like small potatoes in comparison. And besides, I'm going for an average, which means if I want to skip a day or three I can always recover later. Plus I have contingency plans in place for when I go on vacations or whatever that prevent me from writing.
The only real question is whether the creation of tangible, easily-viewed and tracked goals will give me the motivation I need to get the job done. I have a lot to write and it feels like I've not a lot of time to write it – having a limited lifespan and all – so I'm eager to find something to keep me consistent. Only time will tell if it works.
So, Twilight. How we doing?
Bulletproof Heart
Writing Chapter 3 - Draft due 06/17
Order of Shadows: Cruelles Caballeron
Chapter 5 pending - Due 06/24
Songbird
Chapter 4 pending – Draft due 07/08
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some family to visit.
Sounds healthy, attainable, and valuable. I've also been less regular with certain writing goals this year, and I don't know if I'm really satisfied with the overall result. Granted, I've released some stuff this year that I'm happy to have out, but I've been a bit aimless as well. Or at least less-aimed overall.
I've already started trying to bring myself back around toward some tangible goals. Hopefully I'll be able to sustain those and help keep lower-priority ideas from overshadowing higher-priority stories.
There's just never enough time.
I'm pretty sure this is the second (maybe third?) time I've seen you say you have been trying to juggle too many stories at once and need to cut back to just three. I mean, in the last few years anyway.
Good luck getting back to happy productivity!
I'm sad that NH: Life of Pie is on hiatus. It teased more of the timeline that got me hooked on your writing. I do have to remind myself that I bindged those books though.
But new Celestia? Yay, I'm stoked! Get your mojo back, PA!