Day 1: Starting my diary, where I am in my projects
I’m re-reading Write Better, Faster: How To Triple Your Writing Speed and Write More Every Day, and I realized that while I’ve tried the other techniques in the book, I never actually did a consistent writer’s diary. She gives good reasons why it’s important, but I just never got around to doing it when I was setting up my spreadsheet to track my writing statistics. So I think I’ll try doing this and see how it goes. I’ve never actually taken a good look at my writer’s process in all its ugly glory.
I think it will be good to do this diary because it will be raw data for me—a record of exactly what I did each day for my writing. A review of each day will enable me to record any insights I might discover about my writing habits, good and bad. With that collection of raw data in my diary, I’ll be able to see larger-scale trends in my writer’s process so that I can adjust and correct as needed, and hopefully improve my productivity.
So this will be a diary that will detail how I, as a full-time writer, write my books and the way I go about doing my writing work each day. Each writer is different. Write Better, Faster has her own writing diary on her writing process, and I’m also reading Fiction Unboxed: Publishing and Writing a Novel in 30 Days, From Scratch, In Front of the World, which details the authors’ writing process in the creation of a book.
Where I am in my writing projects:
I’m in the middle of working on my Christian Regency romantic adventure series, Lady Wynwood’s Spies. I started it back in 2017, but I spent a huge amount of time just trying to figure out a plot and was suffering from some pretty bad writer’s block, so a writing friend suggested I try to “pants” the book rather than my normal method of plotting it out completely beforehand.
So I dove into writing volume 1 back in summer of 2018 without an outline for the book or the series, just vague ideas of what I was going to do. I wrote about 90,000 words (!!!) and hadn’t even made it to the 25% mark in the story (!!!), which is when I stopped when I realized I was just rambling and needed to solidify the plot more.
I worked on volume 1 for the next year, plotting and trying to figure out what I could keep out of what I’d already written (not much, unfortunately). I started writing new stuff for volume 1 in the summer and fall of 2019 and finished the rough draft on November 1st, 2019, which made me pretty proud of myself. It was the first novel I’d finished in four years, after suffering from those several bouts of writer’s block.
I set volume 1 aside to sit, and I immediately started work on volume 2, but it went very slowly. I started editing volume 1 in February this year, but eventually I realized I had major plot problems since I hadn’t plotted the other books in the series with enough detail. So I started working on plotting out the series.
Then my translator sent back the Japanese translation of my Christian contemporary romance, Sushi for One. We had arranged beforehand for me to add the furigana to the translation with an app that would add it automatically, but the app ended up not being very helpful because it would add furigana for only the first occurrence of a kanji character and not all occurrences. So I went through the manuscript and added the furigana manually, but only on kanji taught in grades 6 and above. It wasn’t too hard because there’s a search and replace function that will replace all occurrences of any particular kanji, but Microsoft Word had a small glitch and I lost about 1/3 of my work at one point.
I spent the last couple weeks inserting furigana in Sushi for One, but I put my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series on hold. At first, I was trying to do both my writing and the furigana, but I found that I just don’t switch headspaces back and forth between projects very easily. It was easier for me to just focus on one project at a time, and I needed to get the furigana done quickly, so I only did that for about two weeks straight.
After finishing the furigana and sending it back to my translator to correct and proofread it, I had some self-publishing busy work to do for a couple other projects, so I got all that done, especially since that kind of stuff is the work I dislike the most.
After “clearing the deck,” I felt a lot better and I was able to switch to working on Lady Wynwood’s Spies completely. I think that for me, completing one project at a time works better for me than doing several things at once. I had been switching around to different projects back when I had writer’s block, but now that I’m doing better in that regard, it seems better for me to work on one project at a time. I feel more clear-headed and able to really throw all my energy into my current project.
Rather than finishing editing volume 1, I decided to continue working on making more detailed outlines for the rest of the series. I had a lot of plot threads I needed to remember to introduce at some point, or plot threads which I’d started in volume 1 which I needed to make sure were resolved eventually.
Today:
I woke up late today (around 11 am) because I was up late last night (3 am). Yesterday was Sunday, which is my Sabbath so I don’t do any writing or editing. I usually watch Netflix or read to refill my creative well, and yesterday I was listening to an audiobook while plying two blue/gray silk/wool singles I had just finished spinning on my spindle. I was up late because I wanted to finish the plying before bed, and it ended up taking longer than I thought it would. I have to be more disciplined about going to bed earlier!
I went walking while listening to Write Better, Faster on audiobook, which is what inspired me to start this writing diary.
I’ve been suffering from IBS and also sinus headaches since summer 2019, and it’s been rough on my productivity because if my intestines are really painful or if I have a headache, I can’t work. I had a slight headache when I woke up and during my walk, so instead of diving right into work (which might make the headache worse), I took medicine and spent a couple hours setting up my standing desk. I had a standing desk I was using before, but I stopped using it as much over the winter, preferring my kotatsu desk instead. But now I want to use my standing desk more since it’s better for my health, so I transferred my big computer screen back to my standing desk and set up all the cables and things for my peripherals.
My headache went away, so now I’m going to start work on my Regency series.
While plotting the series, I’m not sure why but I tend to jump back and forth as I remember threads and ideas I need to add. Unfortunately that got me in trouble because I saw a major plot problem in my blocking in a scene in volume 2 and I spent most of last week Friday and Saturday trying to fix it, when I was supposed to be doing outlining, not blocking. (For me, “blocking” is like blocking in a live play. It’s writing a step-by-step description of what happens in a scene to make it easier for me to write the rough draft. The concept is the same as the “beats” described in Write Better, Faster, but I call it blocking because “beats” is sometimes used to refer to high-level outlining. Blocking is also mentioned (although she doesn’t call it “blocking”) in 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love.)
Unfortunately, my slight tendency toward OCD won’t let me go back to outlining until I fix the blocking, so that’s what I’ll do today.
***
I solved the major problem I had with the blocking in that scene, and started work on outlining the series again, but came up against another plot problem that stymied me. Will have to try to solve it tomorrow.
I’m going to go to bed early (earlier) tonight!
Hours of writing work done today: 4 hours, 3 minutes.
My takeaway for today: I do better when focusing on one project at a time until it’s finished. I’m able to focus better and throw all my energy into what I’m doing at the moment.
I think it will be good to do this diary because it will be raw data for me—a record of exactly what I did each day for my writing. A review of each day will enable me to record any insights I might discover about my writing habits, good and bad. With that collection of raw data in my diary, I’ll be able to see larger-scale trends in my writer’s process so that I can adjust and correct as needed, and hopefully improve my productivity.
So this will be a diary that will detail how I, as a full-time writer, write my books and the way I go about doing my writing work each day. Each writer is different. Write Better, Faster has her own writing diary on her writing process, and I’m also reading Fiction Unboxed: Publishing and Writing a Novel in 30 Days, From Scratch, In Front of the World, which details the authors’ writing process in the creation of a book.
Where I am in my writing projects:
I’m in the middle of working on my Christian Regency romantic adventure series, Lady Wynwood’s Spies. I started it back in 2017, but I spent a huge amount of time just trying to figure out a plot and was suffering from some pretty bad writer’s block, so a writing friend suggested I try to “pants” the book rather than my normal method of plotting it out completely beforehand.
So I dove into writing volume 1 back in summer of 2018 without an outline for the book or the series, just vague ideas of what I was going to do. I wrote about 90,000 words (!!!) and hadn’t even made it to the 25% mark in the story (!!!), which is when I stopped when I realized I was just rambling and needed to solidify the plot more.
I worked on volume 1 for the next year, plotting and trying to figure out what I could keep out of what I’d already written (not much, unfortunately). I started writing new stuff for volume 1 in the summer and fall of 2019 and finished the rough draft on November 1st, 2019, which made me pretty proud of myself. It was the first novel I’d finished in four years, after suffering from those several bouts of writer’s block.
I set volume 1 aside to sit, and I immediately started work on volume 2, but it went very slowly. I started editing volume 1 in February this year, but eventually I realized I had major plot problems since I hadn’t plotted the other books in the series with enough detail. So I started working on plotting out the series.
Then my translator sent back the Japanese translation of my Christian contemporary romance, Sushi for One. We had arranged beforehand for me to add the furigana to the translation with an app that would add it automatically, but the app ended up not being very helpful because it would add furigana for only the first occurrence of a kanji character and not all occurrences. So I went through the manuscript and added the furigana manually, but only on kanji taught in grades 6 and above. It wasn’t too hard because there’s a search and replace function that will replace all occurrences of any particular kanji, but Microsoft Word had a small glitch and I lost about 1/3 of my work at one point.
I spent the last couple weeks inserting furigana in Sushi for One, but I put my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series on hold. At first, I was trying to do both my writing and the furigana, but I found that I just don’t switch headspaces back and forth between projects very easily. It was easier for me to just focus on one project at a time, and I needed to get the furigana done quickly, so I only did that for about two weeks straight.
After finishing the furigana and sending it back to my translator to correct and proofread it, I had some self-publishing busy work to do for a couple other projects, so I got all that done, especially since that kind of stuff is the work I dislike the most.
After “clearing the deck,” I felt a lot better and I was able to switch to working on Lady Wynwood’s Spies completely. I think that for me, completing one project at a time works better for me than doing several things at once. I had been switching around to different projects back when I had writer’s block, but now that I’m doing better in that regard, it seems better for me to work on one project at a time. I feel more clear-headed and able to really throw all my energy into my current project.
Rather than finishing editing volume 1, I decided to continue working on making more detailed outlines for the rest of the series. I had a lot of plot threads I needed to remember to introduce at some point, or plot threads which I’d started in volume 1 which I needed to make sure were resolved eventually.
Today:
I woke up late today (around 11 am) because I was up late last night (3 am). Yesterday was Sunday, which is my Sabbath so I don’t do any writing or editing. I usually watch Netflix or read to refill my creative well, and yesterday I was listening to an audiobook while plying two blue/gray silk/wool singles I had just finished spinning on my spindle. I was up late because I wanted to finish the plying before bed, and it ended up taking longer than I thought it would. I have to be more disciplined about going to bed earlier!
I went walking while listening to Write Better, Faster on audiobook, which is what inspired me to start this writing diary.
I’ve been suffering from IBS and also sinus headaches since summer 2019, and it’s been rough on my productivity because if my intestines are really painful or if I have a headache, I can’t work. I had a slight headache when I woke up and during my walk, so instead of diving right into work (which might make the headache worse), I took medicine and spent a couple hours setting up my standing desk. I had a standing desk I was using before, but I stopped using it as much over the winter, preferring my kotatsu desk instead. But now I want to use my standing desk more since it’s better for my health, so I transferred my big computer screen back to my standing desk and set up all the cables and things for my peripherals.
My headache went away, so now I’m going to start work on my Regency series.
While plotting the series, I’m not sure why but I tend to jump back and forth as I remember threads and ideas I need to add. Unfortunately that got me in trouble because I saw a major plot problem in my blocking in a scene in volume 2 and I spent most of last week Friday and Saturday trying to fix it, when I was supposed to be doing outlining, not blocking. (For me, “blocking” is like blocking in a live play. It’s writing a step-by-step description of what happens in a scene to make it easier for me to write the rough draft. The concept is the same as the “beats” described in Write Better, Faster, but I call it blocking because “beats” is sometimes used to refer to high-level outlining. Blocking is also mentioned (although she doesn’t call it “blocking”) in 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love.)
Unfortunately, my slight tendency toward OCD won’t let me go back to outlining until I fix the blocking, so that’s what I’ll do today.
***
I solved the major problem I had with the blocking in that scene, and started work on outlining the series again, but came up against another plot problem that stymied me. Will have to try to solve it tomorrow.
I’m going to go to bed early (earlier) tonight!
Hours of writing work done today: 4 hours, 3 minutes.
My takeaway for today: I do better when focusing on one project at a time until it’s finished. I’m able to focus better and throw all my energy into what I’m doing at the moment.
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