It’s been a little while since I posted a writing update.
It seems I misjudged the amount of Life based items going on in November and so, while the word count widget on the right tells me I have made progess, I am a bit behind on my current project. To recap for anyone new to the blog, I am currently working on the first draft (bearing in mind I number my drafts from zero) of a contemporary fantasy set primarily in London but featuring several other world cities and am about half way through. A dangerous time for me project wise as I’ve lost count of the number of half finished drafts I have on my hard drives.
What I mean by this is that I find the middle section of a draft or major rewrite really hard because you’re basically equidistant from both ends of the project and it feels like the damned thing will go on forever. In the past I have stopped at this point and write a short story or a piece of flash just to finish something, anything, to remind myself that I can do it but I think for my own sanity I need to press on this time. I need to prove to myself I can still produce a long draft.
I have decided in the case of this particular project that a large daily word count is actually the enemy because my life at the moment doesn’t lend itself to huge writing sessions. If I go past a certain point in the day I know I can’t hit the target and from there, after a long working day, it’s too easy to grab a beverage and flump in front of the telly. I’ve taken some advice from friends and for now I am just concentrating on making sure I do something on the book every day rather than worry about arbitrary deadlines or high word count targets. If I do more great but if I don’t at least the project is moving forward. I’ll let you know how I get on.