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Today's Score
Apr. 13th, 2011 06:07 pmRight around 5,000 words. I had some minor disruptions to my routine midday, but I shall not dwell on them as 5,000 words is a good haul for anyone.
I continue to learn lessons in flexibility. Originally my idea had been to write straight through chapter 5 and then plow on through the start of chapter 6, but I found myself with much firmer ideas for the Magisterion story than for chapter 6. So when I got within spitting distance of the end of chapter 5, I switched gears and started the OT instead. The OT is more than half finished, and the biggest part of what it needs now is the other perspective of the last seen of Vera's story.
( Potentially spoilery musings on the OT story. )
Chapter 5's not finished, but what's left to do is not worth giving an hour block of writing to. I'll steal some time Friday before I post it to blend in what needs blending.
I've got a better handle on Chapter 6 now, too. It will be a real treat for people who like the worldbuilding stuff.
Edit For Further Musings:
These chapters are going to be getting shorter. Not terribly shorter but closer to 3,000 words more often than they are close to 5,000 words. I'm reminding myself of this because I keep trying to do the maffs in my head and going, "Wait, why did I think I'd be able to do three chapters and change in two days of writing?" and it's because I was thinking that having ~10,000 words between those two days would give me three chapters.
That's what I'm working towards: two days a week on MU to produce 10,000 words to give three updates a week... I could keep doing it as two larger updates but more smaller updates means more flexibility... one chapter can be shorter if it needs to be and one can be longer if it needs to be and it averages out more smoothly, plus there's never the dreaded Monday/Friday cliffhanger. The other days? That's when I'll be turning out Other Things. I've got a lot of stuff that's more or less in a holding pattern while I get the House of MU in order, and it really is closer to being in order than it has been since... well... ever.
Edit For Even More Musings:
The most incredible thing to me about this burst of productivity that I'm having is that it's not a burst. I do not feel manic and frantic. I am not completely unable to sleep at night or forgetting to eat and drink. I feel normal. I've had nights of poor sleep, but I'm not just so full of creative energy that I don't sleep and don't notice.
I'm also not in some perfect optimal writing place right now. I've been writing through moderate fatigue, physical discomfort, and cognitive fog. I've been writing while I'm irritated or distracted. I've been writing while it's a bit too warm in the house.
Part of this has to do with the exciting new project energy of Volume 2, which I was consciously counting on cultivating when I made the shift... but, well, again, this doesn't feel "bursty". I think the new project energy helped me get into this frame, but I think I'm going to be able to use that energy for longer than I would have otherwise. And the idea of dividing Volume 2 up into discrete individual books from the get-go means I'll be catch a boost from time to time anyway.
The important thing is that I'm not riding a high. There will be days when I crash physically or mentally because that's just the fun thing my body and brain like to do, but I'm not going to be crashing from this.
A year and a half or so of brain and life hacking is starting to pay off.
I continue to learn lessons in flexibility. Originally my idea had been to write straight through chapter 5 and then plow on through the start of chapter 6, but I found myself with much firmer ideas for the Magisterion story than for chapter 6. So when I got within spitting distance of the end of chapter 5, I switched gears and started the OT instead. The OT is more than half finished, and the biggest part of what it needs now is the other perspective of the last seen of Vera's story.
( Potentially spoilery musings on the OT story. )
Chapter 5's not finished, but what's left to do is not worth giving an hour block of writing to. I'll steal some time Friday before I post it to blend in what needs blending.
I've got a better handle on Chapter 6 now, too. It will be a real treat for people who like the worldbuilding stuff.
Edit For Further Musings:
These chapters are going to be getting shorter. Not terribly shorter but closer to 3,000 words more often than they are close to 5,000 words. I'm reminding myself of this because I keep trying to do the maffs in my head and going, "Wait, why did I think I'd be able to do three chapters and change in two days of writing?" and it's because I was thinking that having ~10,000 words between those two days would give me three chapters.
That's what I'm working towards: two days a week on MU to produce 10,000 words to give three updates a week... I could keep doing it as two larger updates but more smaller updates means more flexibility... one chapter can be shorter if it needs to be and one can be longer if it needs to be and it averages out more smoothly, plus there's never the dreaded Monday/Friday cliffhanger. The other days? That's when I'll be turning out Other Things. I've got a lot of stuff that's more or less in a holding pattern while I get the House of MU in order, and it really is closer to being in order than it has been since... well... ever.
Edit For Even More Musings:
The most incredible thing to me about this burst of productivity that I'm having is that it's not a burst. I do not feel manic and frantic. I am not completely unable to sleep at night or forgetting to eat and drink. I feel normal. I've had nights of poor sleep, but I'm not just so full of creative energy that I don't sleep and don't notice.
I'm also not in some perfect optimal writing place right now. I've been writing through moderate fatigue, physical discomfort, and cognitive fog. I've been writing while I'm irritated or distracted. I've been writing while it's a bit too warm in the house.
Part of this has to do with the exciting new project energy of Volume 2, which I was consciously counting on cultivating when I made the shift... but, well, again, this doesn't feel "bursty". I think the new project energy helped me get into this frame, but I think I'm going to be able to use that energy for longer than I would have otherwise. And the idea of dividing Volume 2 up into discrete individual books from the get-go means I'll be catch a boost from time to time anyway.
The important thing is that I'm not riding a high. There will be days when I crash physically or mentally because that's just the fun thing my body and brain like to do, but I'm not going to be crashing from this.
A year and a half or so of brain and life hacking is starting to pay off.
