This week, I experimented with increasing my manuscript time blocks. I increased the number by one, so instead of three, I was doing four time blocks.
By Thursday, though? Full-on brain and body revolt. I did a single time block, and then everything in my being noped out. I was done. This wasn’t garden-variety resistance. This was me, having outrun the story in my head.
So I closed the manuscript and switched to some admin tasks that needed to be done.
On Friday, I did three time blocks and—to quote Goldilocks—it felt just right.
I know, from past experience, that I’ll write more the closer I am to the end of the book, and revision has its own sort of rhythm.
This is also why I’ve noped out of listening to writing process advice. I’m never going to write 5,000 words an hour. More to the point, I actually don’t want to. That’s not how my stories happen.
My stories are slow-and-steady tortoise things. I can embrace that and be happy. Or, I can fight that and be miserable.
I’m choosing to be happy.
In admin/business focus tasks, this was the week to examine our social media accounts. (That sound you hear is me laughing.) The principle behind this is that readers often look to social media first to find an author rather than a website.
Interestingly enough, this week, Cal Newport had a take on what might happen to these social media platforms in an age where “everything” is becoming short-form video content. It’s an interesting blog post, as was the corresponding podcast.
I do have a notion of what I might do with my social media accounts. It is not, however, going to be a huge part of my business. In seasonal news, it’s cold. Those of us with any sense are hibernating.
Writing Wrongs 