Week 4
Brief post this week. Still not on good terms with computer screens. Logic therefore dictates very little progress has been made.
Week 3
So I’m on my third week in. I have a confession to make. While I have made progress, I haven’t made as much as I would like. Towards the end of the week I suffered a sharp decline in word counts. I’m just lacking a little inspiration.
The story is in a kind of twilight zone at the moment, an in-between space where the start has ended but the end has yet to begin. I’m struggling to figure out how to get it through this little rough patch.
Even though the daily word count dropped off, the overall word count is still on target so far. I’m taking heart in that. Hopefully this coming week will bring some sort of divine revelation and things will pick up again.
Week 2
Week 2 has reached its end and it’s time for me to report in. As word counts go, I’m keeping up nicely. I don’t think that’s a mark of any particular cleverness on my part, I think it’s just a sign I may have somehow managed to set an attainable target for myself.
I’m wondering whether I’ve caused myself unnecessary problems by giving myself such a small cast of characters. Compared to my last little project, where I had a whole continent’s worth of people to draw on if need be, now I only have five, six if you count the somewhat split personality of one. I question my ability to build a whole book out of so few people. But I persist.
The story itself is taking shape as I had hoped. Unlike the last project, I gave myself a rough outline of what I wanted to achieve, more of a guideline than anything else. It’s helped much more than I expected. I am, at heart, still fond of winging it but I can definitely see the advantage of giving myself an idea of what the point of the story is.
So all in all, I’m still ticking along smoothly.
Week 1
I’ve decided to keep myself honest by adding an all new feature to Neurosis Central, the weekly progress report. I may put my own spin on events at times but I would think twice before all-out lying, so it seems like a good plan. We’ll see how long it lasts, shall we?
Right, so, the progress report. I started on Monday with my plan to have my first draft finished by mid-September. To do that I want a minimum of 2,000 words per day. I’m pleased to say I achieved that every day other than Friday. It all balanced out because I had gone over on Monday and Wednesday.
The characters’ personalities are already starting to come through. Later on, when I’m editing, I’ll have to take a serious look at how much description I’ve put in though because I know I can gloss over that a little in favour of more action. It’s a fine balance because you don’t want to slow things down too much but at the same time I can’t stand books without a clear setting.
That said, I’m loving the story which is important. As I’ve said, if you don’t like the story there’s no point in writing it. I’ve set out to write the book I want to read and go from there.
Also on Friday I started work on a short story. I’m not much of a short story writer to be honest. I’ve got too much of a habit of thinking, “oh, wouldn’t that be cool” and next thing you know, the damned thing has exploded out beyond even the most generous idea of a short story. That little project is pretty fun. I’m indulging my taste for noir and even if it’s the worst story ever it was a good way to end the week.
So all up, I’m on track so far.