So, I decided that at the end of every month, I would do a writing update on this blog. The idea was that it would help keep me accountable and also keep me on track. Let’s get started with the first update of the year!
A Good Start
So I’m going to cheat a little and start at the end of December. During the 8-hour ferry trip to England, I used the lack of distractions and the floor space of my cabin to roughly plan the outline for Book 2 of The Blessed.
I had taken a pack of tabs and my coloured markers with me in hopes of getting something done and was surprised it worked out that well. I already had some basic ideas for what was happening in book 2 but that quiet ferry ride helped me really flesh it out.
A Stumble
I fell at the first hurdle at the beginning of January when I ended up with COVID. So that put me on my ass and stopped any work happening – it’s very hard to do anything while coughing your lungs up. Instead, I wrote the first week off and just rested, allowing new ideas to bubble up which I always scribbled down in my phone’s note app.
A Steady Start
With the dreaded lurgy finally easing by the start of the second week and while I was tired I still made sure to hit my weekly word count goal of 700. That’s not a lot, but it’s been a while since I wrote consistently and giving myself a too-high goal would definitely just end in failure and demotivation.
I mostly worked on scenes that were already drafted, adding to them or sketching out the bare bones of a new scene or two.
Gathering Notes
During the third week of January, I actually went back to my (incomplete) outline for Book 1 and realised I hadn’t organised the chapters for the latter half of the book. In fact, my scrivener file was so all-over-the-place that it was making me angry every time I opened it! So spent some time sorting the scenes and chapters and highlighting the scenes that were missing.
It also allowed me to see which chapters had weak endings.
The last few weeks of January had me fleshing out more scenes and gathering together all my notes. Most of these notes are printed out because I do better when I can read things in analogue. Now, these notes aren’t scenes, they are the stacks of ideas, dialogue snippets and questions I generate during the brainstorming phase and… all the other times!
When writing my notes, I don’t always tend to separate ideas into different books. As I get the ideas, they go into the document. So I need to go through with a highlighter and start to mark all the notes that are for books 2 and 3. This will then allow me to know what is left that needs to be in book 1.
It can be easy to have some cool ideas but then misplace them or have them buried in the middle of other ideas and then forget to add them to the story.
Maybe this is not the best method of organising my brainstorming notes, but my brain works better this way these days.
~ ~ ~
Overall, I hit my targets for my Writing in January by writing over 3,000 words. Took closer to the end of the month before I felt I was making any real headway with the bigger issues but I’m happy.
Happy writing & stay safe
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Sorry you ended up sick, but glad you reached your writing goal regardless, and got things more organized to help you move forward in the right direction. Go you!
Thanks Tori. It was weird being oddly productive in January while also having covid.
I bet.
Glad you managed to reach your goals despite being ill and I hope you are better now. 🙂 I can’t believe it took that long on a ferry. 😮 I hope the ride didn’t suffer from any bad weather, the only thing that worries me about boat travel is stormy weather and the boat moving too much, lol, other than that I do prefer being on the ground (sort of) than up in the air in a plane.
Yes, thanks Cat. I am a lot better now. Though the cough has not left.
lol yes the ferry does take long because it’s not a “straight across” trip over the Irish Sea, it goes in a long diagonal path.
Actually it was a rough trip back to Ireland, usually the ferry is fine but despite its size on that trip you could feel every big wave and I can usually work or sleep fine in rough weather but it was too much for me on the trip back half way along I just had to lie down and try not to think too much! lol
Aw, hugs, hope you don’t have any more rough journeys across the sea again ❤
Me too 🙂
Scrivener’s left hand pane alone is a lifesaver. Like a road map so you can see what’s happening where. I work differently, but that’s all personal choice. Interesting about seeing it coming and organizing. I make those kinds of predeterminations and the story laughs at me and says “Get out of the way with all that, will ya, and well write it. You transcribe.”
lol I agree, the left hand panel really is useful. I can’t believe it took me so long to turn to Scrivener – especially since I write in scenes not chapters and then shuffle everything around.
lol sounds like your story is very much in charge 🙂
My kind of writing. When the characters are talking, write. It belongs somewhere.
“8-hour ferry trip to England”???? That seems long?! How is that compared to a plane?
lol I know, right? It’s just due to where I need to hit port. If I go from Belfast to Stranraer, it’s 2 hours. But then it’s a 4 hour drive (in winter) to where my parents live. Whereas, if I go from Belfast to Liverpool the route takes 8 hours and then it’s a shorter journey home.
Flying…(just the flying part, not all the waiting in airports, going through security, spending time on the tarmac while you wait to land) is 30mins.
I hate flying, I love the ferry. The cabin is a good size, there’s places to get meals, snacks, there’s a cinema… lol. I’d always prefer the ferry to being in a noisy airport and then crammed into a plane.
I don’t do well on water, so I can’t imagine 8h on a boat. But, it’s interesting to know – for those that are OK with that mode of transportation – that it’s a feasible option for getting work done.
lol I’m the opposite, I love the water and unless it’s really bad weather, you can’t really feel the ferry moving.. but planes! Urgh, nope, I cant stand the idea of being crammed into a metal tube and shot into the air. Nope.