Writing is hard.gif @kerrywrites - Tumblr Blog

tfw you have fully actualized personalities in mind for all your characters

except the main one

#text #why is this so hard #i've been brainstorming this novel for years and still her personality eludes me #i've tried two or three different ideas without really connecting with them #gonna try plugging in yet a new one as i write her character synopsis #fingers crossed #writing #writing is hard

doing some high level worldbuilding today

what are the pillars of this universe i’m creating?

#text #writing #this is an area i feel i'm fairly weak #it can be discouraging #but looking over the draft i started last month #worldbuilding is definitely what was missing

Today’s realization: I have so much story content I want to include in this novel, I need to increase my target word count. But it’s okay cause I was lowballing myself for the sake of time. If I relax my time table, I can increase the word target by as much as a third and hopefully have room for all the content.

I expect this to evolve.

#text #writing #thankfully i write fantasy where word counts often reach six figures #which is fortunate cause i'll need it

An issue with my anxiety medicine of late has made it extremely difficult to, well, function, let alone maintain a consistent creative process.

That plus the fact that I reached my first major plot point, extrapolated my word count, and realized I was only producing half the output I needed to hit my target.

Talk about a motivation killer.

So I went back to the drawing board.

Then I started a new drawing board for a different story.

Then I went back to the first drawing board, because I have to tell this story. It’s discouraging to repeatedly hear how rarely a first novel is brought to publication, but this is sort of the series of novels that is the foundation for all the others. I have to start here. It might require a hell of a lot of world building, retooling, editing, and raw words, but I have to make this the point I springboard off of.

Anyway, I’m testing out the Snowflake method (again) while I sort out my brain chemistry. We’ll see if it holds, but so far I’m enjoying having clear cut tasks without the pressure of a daily word count. I’m starting to realize that I’m probably not gonna hit my time target, but I’m okay with that as long as I continue to hammer away at the process.

#text #personal #writing #writing is hard

the planning phase I’m in has been fucking wonderful honestly

i am one of those who gets more and more ideas the more i write and doing the outline has really helped me fill in some gaps and shore up some weak spots

for the first time in years i finally feel like i have a totally cohesive story from start to finish

it’s nowhere near good enough but it’s just such a relief to have a solid foundation

#text #even when i sat down to map out the story beats this morning #i didnt know how i was gonna tie everything together #theres still some questions that need to be answered #but i feel like my position to actually finish has never been stronger

doing my character sketches and oh my god I just love them all so much

#text #writing #they are so fuckin tropey #and idgaf #i cant wait to have them all on the page #sorry having a moment

taking a break from pantsing it to do some planning

i personally like planning and yet i always forget to do it whenever i start a project in my excitement to get started

no concrete words today but i’ve filled in some plot holes and started better defining my protagonist.

im feeling good basically

#daily check in #writing #text #planning vs pantsing #hoping to spend the next couple days drilling down to a scene outline #then ill get back to the nitty gritty of the first draft

daily check in everyone! i had a ton of energy today both professionally and creatively. i spent a lot of downtime at work doing prep on a second project that i’d like to tackle once i’ve proved to myself i can finish the first one.

the second project actually makes sense as a first release/something to start building my brand with, but i know better than to switch whilst in the middle of one already. that has been a momentum killer for me before. maybe i’ll tackle it for NaNo, depending on my progress.

#daily check in #so far i've only missed two days in two and a half weeks #i'm really looking forward to the 10k word mark cause that's the farthest i've ever gotten in a project before #if i can keep going after that then i'll know how serious i am #hoping to get there in the next week or so #writing

i truly do love it when i hear Professional Authors™ talk candidly about how writing is work, and it’s hard, and sometimes sitting down to pound out some words can feel like the last thing you want to do that day

because, god if that’s not real then i don’t know what is.

i want to be a creative professional but oh my god there is nothing i want to do less right now then try and force words out but i have to because i know how important it is to habit form and, more importantly, not give up

#text #writing #when you're 45 minutes deep and you've achieved 142 words #be proud of yourself #because you did it #and it's worth it #you are worth it #(notes to myself)

my strongest day yet. hit project total of 5000 words. not impressive but i’m happy with it. hoping to build on the momentum i had today to up my daily wordcounts.

tomorrow i’m attending a lecture about crafting plot, i’m really looking forward to it.

good writing everyone!

#text #writing #daily check in #wordcounts

TIL i’m really bad at dialog

#text #writing #TIL #i'm bad at the rest too actually

i managed to finish the first chapter today (!!)

i also solved a pacing problem whilst commuting home

and i learned an excellent piece of writing advice: when you’re ready to stop, stop while you have creative energy left. stop in a place where you still have inspiration. that way when you’re ready to pick up again you don’t have to search for motivation to write the next part. you just continue where you left off and let the energy build up again.

it’s been a good day

#text #daily check in #creatively at least #the day job suuuuuucks #right now anyway

i can write 300 words in 25 minutes when i’m motivated.

why must motivation be so fickle

#daily check in #i've written every day since i missed thursday #mostly very small batches of words #so far today i've done almost 700 and i still have time and intention to keep at it tonight #just wish i could feel like this all the time

i’ve only managed two sentences in two days but i finally got over that block. hoping to make up some ground tomorrow.

#text #daily check in

to

ta

ly

lacking in motivation today

#daily check in #still opened my computer tho and banged out an incredible 188 words #yeah #go me #writing

How do you track your word counts?

I’ve made up some tables inside my Scrivener project to help me tally my wordcounts. So far I’m tracking daily counts, weekly totals based on those counts, and the average. In another table I’ve got total days spent writing (4/4 so far), current count of the entire document, and that average.

Does anyone else track counts? I’ve been wondering if I should also start timing myself to see how productive my time is, but I almost feel that’s 1) a little too meta, and 2) would depress me.

#text #writing #professional writers #what do you do?

Trying to take a tough, tough day and turn it into motivation to get this story done. I want so badly to do something I love every day. I want to be a creative professional so, so badly. I feel like the dream is attainable, but I know I have to grind through this first milestone to get there and its just so... wearying.

#text #don't mean to be a downer today just really sucked

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