Day 137: Cycling, or editing before your write
I got practically nothing done yesterday so I didn't bother to post. I had something difficult to take care of in my email, and then I got distracted by my game! Again! Aaaaargh!
I think I've come up with a solution, though. My game is on my phone but most of the apps I use are not dependent on cellular service. I have my old iPhone that can still run all the apps I usually run, so I think I will try to use that during the day instead. That way my game won't be there tempting me. I consider it kind of like turning off the internet when you write. I'll see if it works.
Today I have a flu shot appointment so I'm not sure how much I'll get done, or I might get a lot done since I'm taking my computer with me.
A writer's group on Facebook posted a link to an article about starting the day's writing session by first editing what you wrote the day before. (I've heard it called "cycling" somewhere else but I can't remember where.)
When commenting on the article link in the Facebook group, some writers mentioned that once their brain goes into editing mode, they can't get out of it, so they will usually draft until the book is done and then go back to edit. Others say that they always edit before they start writing for the day.
I thought about it, and I can't remember if I've done this sort of "cycling" anytime recently. When I was under contract, I almost always wrote the entire draft in one go and then edited it afterward.
The article gives good reasons for cycling. One is that it helps you ease into the writing, because starting a writing session can be hard. I could totally relate to that. It's like an inertia thing. It's one of the reasons I blog before I start writing. The article said that editing first relieves the pressure to write something new. Thinking about that, it probably helps relax you a bit.
I honestly don't understand why it can be so hard to jump into a writing session. It's tiring mentally, I know, but I can dive into other sorts of mentally challenging things without as much difficulty as going into writing.
However, one issue might also be related to another point the article made: editing before writing helps ease you back into the story world and characters. Sometimes I think I'm resistant to writing because it means a full dive into that creative world, and jumping off a mental cliff is hard! It's fun, but it's a hard commitment of time.
Editing, on the other hand, is something I can start and stop with ease. I'm not sure why that is, but it reminds me of how it's easy for me to start blogging. The difference with editing is that it will immerse me in the story world, whereas blogging just gets me writing.
So I think I will try that today and see if it works. I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to get out of the editing mode to start writing, that's my only concern about it. But if it can help me to jump into my writing sooner, that would be great!
***
I didn't quite get to do my editing experiment the way I'd have wanted to.
I did start editing the Reader Magnet, and actually found myself editing for an hour 45 minutes, far longer than I had planned, which had been only 30 minutes. I ended up editing an entire scene.
I went straight into writing and it was really easy because I was already immersed in the story world. But I was also distracted because I had to leave soon to get my flu shot, and I also got distracted by my game again (I know! I know!), so my words per hour rate was rather dismal, and I only wrote for about half an hour.
The nice part was that the self-editing wasn't as hard to do as usual. I'm not entirely sure why, maybe because my mindset was that I was "cycling" and doing just a little clean-up editing of what I'd written before, and not "self-editing" a completed manuscript. Also, I did the editing in 4thewords.com, so it was fun to be editing and also working to defeat a monster.
I think I could have written for longer if I'd had time and if I hadn't had the stress of needing to leave soon.
I did some writing while waiting for hubby (he had to stop in to work), about another half hour. I was in the car and had to work on my Alphasmart. I looked at my blocking notes on my phone, which was not the ideal situation, and it took me a little while to get started. But my writing pace wasn't bad.
After the flu shot, however, my IBS cropped up again and it was so uncomfortable that I had to lay down for a nap. And then the day was gone. :(
I will still continue the editing experiment tomorrow. I still don't know if I'll be able to get into creative writing flow after doing all the editing, since I'd be switching from left brain to right brain.
Editing: Time spent: 1 hour, 46 minutes
Writing: Time spent: 1 hour, 16 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 1081
Writing: Average speed: 1032 words per hour
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 39 minutes
My takeaway for today: Cycling might actually work, but I'll have to try it more times to see.
I think I've come up with a solution, though. My game is on my phone but most of the apps I use are not dependent on cellular service. I have my old iPhone that can still run all the apps I usually run, so I think I will try to use that during the day instead. That way my game won't be there tempting me. I consider it kind of like turning off the internet when you write. I'll see if it works.
Today I have a flu shot appointment so I'm not sure how much I'll get done, or I might get a lot done since I'm taking my computer with me.
A writer's group on Facebook posted a link to an article about starting the day's writing session by first editing what you wrote the day before. (I've heard it called "cycling" somewhere else but I can't remember where.)
When commenting on the article link in the Facebook group, some writers mentioned that once their brain goes into editing mode, they can't get out of it, so they will usually draft until the book is done and then go back to edit. Others say that they always edit before they start writing for the day.
I thought about it, and I can't remember if I've done this sort of "cycling" anytime recently. When I was under contract, I almost always wrote the entire draft in one go and then edited it afterward.
The article gives good reasons for cycling. One is that it helps you ease into the writing, because starting a writing session can be hard. I could totally relate to that. It's like an inertia thing. It's one of the reasons I blog before I start writing. The article said that editing first relieves the pressure to write something new. Thinking about that, it probably helps relax you a bit.
I honestly don't understand why it can be so hard to jump into a writing session. It's tiring mentally, I know, but I can dive into other sorts of mentally challenging things without as much difficulty as going into writing.
However, one issue might also be related to another point the article made: editing before writing helps ease you back into the story world and characters. Sometimes I think I'm resistant to writing because it means a full dive into that creative world, and jumping off a mental cliff is hard! It's fun, but it's a hard commitment of time.
Editing, on the other hand, is something I can start and stop with ease. I'm not sure why that is, but it reminds me of how it's easy for me to start blogging. The difference with editing is that it will immerse me in the story world, whereas blogging just gets me writing.
So I think I will try that today and see if it works. I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to get out of the editing mode to start writing, that's my only concern about it. But if it can help me to jump into my writing sooner, that would be great!
***
I didn't quite get to do my editing experiment the way I'd have wanted to.
I did start editing the Reader Magnet, and actually found myself editing for an hour 45 minutes, far longer than I had planned, which had been only 30 minutes. I ended up editing an entire scene.
I went straight into writing and it was really easy because I was already immersed in the story world. But I was also distracted because I had to leave soon to get my flu shot, and I also got distracted by my game again (I know! I know!), so my words per hour rate was rather dismal, and I only wrote for about half an hour.
The nice part was that the self-editing wasn't as hard to do as usual. I'm not entirely sure why, maybe because my mindset was that I was "cycling" and doing just a little clean-up editing of what I'd written before, and not "self-editing" a completed manuscript. Also, I did the editing in 4thewords.com, so it was fun to be editing and also working to defeat a monster.
I think I could have written for longer if I'd had time and if I hadn't had the stress of needing to leave soon.
I did some writing while waiting for hubby (he had to stop in to work), about another half hour. I was in the car and had to work on my Alphasmart. I looked at my blocking notes on my phone, which was not the ideal situation, and it took me a little while to get started. But my writing pace wasn't bad.
After the flu shot, however, my IBS cropped up again and it was so uncomfortable that I had to lay down for a nap. And then the day was gone. :(
I will still continue the editing experiment tomorrow. I still don't know if I'll be able to get into creative writing flow after doing all the editing, since I'd be switching from left brain to right brain.
Editing: Time spent: 1 hour, 46 minutes
Writing: Time spent: 1 hour, 16 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 1081
Writing: Average speed: 1032 words per hour
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 39 minutes
My takeaway for today: Cycling might actually work, but I'll have to try it more times to see.
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