Let's do a check in · 10:54pm Sep 10th, 2021
It's been a little bit and I need to make my fingers start pressing keys so that progress might be made tonight, so here we are! Progress check.
I've been struggling to make meaningful progress over the last month or so. Seems the burnout I pushed myself to in the first half of the year ran a little deeper than I thought it did. I've been pretty lethargic lately. The time I spend at my keyboard is usually spent wasting hours on youtube videos or just sitting in a voice call with friends and playing some random game that I don't care all that much for. I've at least made some strides on my physical health, resuming a regular workout schedule and stricter diet to maybe kick some of the excess weight I picked up the last few years to the curb. Have I ever mentioned that I'm a stress eater? When it's crunch time, the part of my brain that advocates for moderation turns off, and so I munch. You can probably imagine that would become a problem when you have a 6 month stretch with maybe three days off total the whole time.
So yeah, diet and exercise! I'm not doing any sort of crash diet or anything, just increasing my activity level while managing my intake, and I've dropped five pounds in the last month! Slow progress is sustainable progress. I gained about 40 pounds during the course of college, and I'd like to get back down to where I was eventually.
So yeah, writing news is probably what you want to hear if you're actually reading this blog. Is anyone actually reading this? I guess it doesn't matter so much. This is very much a stream of consciousness thing to help me get the juices flowing. If you are reading, I appreciate you! You're a wonderful person and I hope you enjoy my brain vomit. Anyway yes, writing news.
Not a ton to report, really. I've been slowly chipping away at the next chapter of Set Sail. Slowly is the important word. Right now the draft is at 4700 or so words, with one of the four scenes I have planned completed. The remaining three are giving me a bit of trouble. Several new characters or ones I hadn't put a ton of thought into before now, regaining my bearings on where we are in the story and where it's going from here, all of it is slowing progress. The chapter itself is at about 4700, but I think I've lengthened my story and character notes by about the same amount in the last month. It's pretty fun getting to bring new characters to life and weave them into the story, but it takes time and doesn't contribute to advancing the word count. I guess progress is progress, regardless of whether or not it directly results in more content to release. But dammit, releasing the content is the best part! I want to get there and share what I've been working on with you, but unfortunately, my perfectionistic tendencies are amplified when it comes to Set Sail. I care a great deal about making this story the absolute best it can be for all of you, and sometimes that also gets in the way of progress. Sometimes I struggle with allowing myself to write poorly. Rough drafts are supposed to be rough, but I often lose sight of that and get stuck on minor details until it depletes my time or creative energy. That's the goal of this blog, I guess. I'm allowing myself to write a not-so-tightly focused piece here. I'm rambling, and that's okay. Burning the gunk out of the brain engine so it can run more smoothly.
I think I've rambled on for long enough. This felt nice! Maybe I should do it more often. And those of you who were looking for news on how the story is coming along, I hope this was what you were looking for. Now it's time to go write! To close, have a Ty. Appreciate his handsomeness :)
Wow, I clicked on my notifications at the right time!
Great job bud, always feel good to start exercising and eating more healthy, glad to hear you're feeling way better as a person! Don't stress about the words, we know they'll come eventually
gotta stay fwoofy!
always got my support!
He is a handsome lad
Awesome work want to the health stuff dude, know how much of a struggle that can be.
Yeah, I can relate to that. My personal solution to that problem these days is to just wait to start posting the story until it's totally finished, that way, it means longer gaps between new fics getting posted, yes, but also means I don't have to worry about problems like that and can just reliably post it at a set rate until finished.
...not that telling you this really helps you at the moment...
Point is, though, take what time you need to get it worked out as good as you want it.
Good to hear from you. I hope the diet and exercise regiment helps. I'm all too familiar with burnout, so I know how unpleasant it can be. I'm sorry to hear you are struggling with it.