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Wednesday, March 12th
Mar. 12th, 2014 11:23 amThe Daily Report
I have a bit of a dilemma looming at the end of the day today. I've been having a really shaky past 4 or 5 workdays, due to flaring disability at the end of last week and interruptions this week. The result is that it's posting day and I have a chapter that's not past what you might call the tipping point of confidence.
When my system works--as it has been working during this pretty awesome streak of on-time chapters--I wake up on posting day with at a minimum a chapter I'm confident I can finish and be proud of. The ideal is the chapter is already finished before then, but the minimum is a chapter that is past a certain critical point.
Just to clarify, this does not mean specifically the climax of a story. I'm not talking structurally. I'm clarifying because sometimes when I speak of finding the right place to begin a story, it gets taken too literally.
Now, this isn't to say that I won't make it. If I knew I wouldn't make it, I wouldn't be talking about a dilemma. The dilemma is that I might get to the end of the day and have to make a judgment call about whether or not the story is "there" or not.
If it's not, I break my streak. If it's not, then next week ends up brushing up against the same situation since spending even one more day on this chapter means I'll be wrapping next week's up on publication day.
So obviously the goal must be to get the chapter there. But if I end up fudging it a little and posting a chapter that's not really finished in my desire to preserve the streak... well, is the streak really kept? I've never regretted holding a chapter back a day or two. I have regretted resisting the impulse to. The streak makes a compelling argument, though. Streaks are attractive.
Of course, I could end up having a really kickin' day in the writing saddle and end up with no hard decision to make at 6:30 because the chapter is so clearly there. But if that doesn't happen, I'm going to have a judgment call to make.
The State of the Me
Doing well. Bouncing back well. I think I was right in judging that I won't be back up to full strength until the end of the week.
Plans For Today
Most of my morning has been spent dithering about the above, before I realized that I do all my best thinking in writing and I only ever come to a real conclusion when I do. The good news is that my block system actually absorbs the idea that the morning will mostly be wasted in minutiae like waking up, having breakfast, and gathering thoughts. That's why I have three two hour blocks in an eight and a half hour workday.
So block 1, I'm going to be workshopping what I have with Tales of MU. Not trying to finish the chapter, trying to shore it up and find the shape of it better. I could sit here for six hours performing the physical act of writing but that's not the same thing as producing a finished story. Not saying I won't be adding words, just that "write the chapter" isn't the goal for the early afternoon.
Block 2, I'll need to pull away from it for a while and turn my attention elsewhere. Six hours in a row on something ends up being head-on-wall territory. That will probably end up being Adventure Song.
Block 3, I'll finish writing the chapter.
I have a bit of a dilemma looming at the end of the day today. I've been having a really shaky past 4 or 5 workdays, due to flaring disability at the end of last week and interruptions this week. The result is that it's posting day and I have a chapter that's not past what you might call the tipping point of confidence.
When my system works--as it has been working during this pretty awesome streak of on-time chapters--I wake up on posting day with at a minimum a chapter I'm confident I can finish and be proud of. The ideal is the chapter is already finished before then, but the minimum is a chapter that is past a certain critical point.
Just to clarify, this does not mean specifically the climax of a story. I'm not talking structurally. I'm clarifying because sometimes when I speak of finding the right place to begin a story, it gets taken too literally.
Now, this isn't to say that I won't make it. If I knew I wouldn't make it, I wouldn't be talking about a dilemma. The dilemma is that I might get to the end of the day and have to make a judgment call about whether or not the story is "there" or not.
If it's not, I break my streak. If it's not, then next week ends up brushing up against the same situation since spending even one more day on this chapter means I'll be wrapping next week's up on publication day.
So obviously the goal must be to get the chapter there. But if I end up fudging it a little and posting a chapter that's not really finished in my desire to preserve the streak... well, is the streak really kept? I've never regretted holding a chapter back a day or two. I have regretted resisting the impulse to. The streak makes a compelling argument, though. Streaks are attractive.
Of course, I could end up having a really kickin' day in the writing saddle and end up with no hard decision to make at 6:30 because the chapter is so clearly there. But if that doesn't happen, I'm going to have a judgment call to make.
The State of the Me
Doing well. Bouncing back well. I think I was right in judging that I won't be back up to full strength until the end of the week.
Plans For Today
Most of my morning has been spent dithering about the above, before I realized that I do all my best thinking in writing and I only ever come to a real conclusion when I do. The good news is that my block system actually absorbs the idea that the morning will mostly be wasted in minutiae like waking up, having breakfast, and gathering thoughts. That's why I have three two hour blocks in an eight and a half hour workday.
So block 1, I'm going to be workshopping what I have with Tales of MU. Not trying to finish the chapter, trying to shore it up and find the shape of it better. I could sit here for six hours performing the physical act of writing but that's not the same thing as producing a finished story. Not saying I won't be adding words, just that "write the chapter" isn't the goal for the early afternoon.
Block 2, I'll need to pull away from it for a while and turn my attention elsewhere. Six hours in a row on something ends up being head-on-wall territory. That will probably end up being Adventure Song.
Block 3, I'll finish writing the chapter.