Day 172: Writing early; gaming keyboard; Traveler

I woke up extra early today and dove right into writing. I got about 2 hours done before I had to use the bathroom, but I ended up getting distracted and not getting back to writing. :( I just don't understand why I'm always so easily distracted!

I checked email and ended up taking about 90 minutes because of some computer issues I had. So technology was partly to blame today, but it's mostly my inability to remain focused once I leave my desk.

Unfortunately, while I was writing in 4thewords.com, I had started a long time duration monster so there wasn't any urgency time pressure to get back to work. I've changed that so that the next monster I fight will have a shorter time duration, but I still wasted some time this morning when I could have been working.

As for writing first thing in the morning, my writing speed was a little higher, but not jet-pack faster. I did end up doing a little editing because my writing wasn't very clear, but I should probably not do that, even though it will only make the self-editing later more tedious.

Still, I got 2500 words, which is great! At this point, if I want to improve my writing speed, I'm probably going to have to switch to the Alphasmart or the Freewrite Traveler. I guess I'll give that a shot today.

***

I used my Traveler for a few minutes but was missing the feel of my gaming keyboard, so I switched to my gaming keyboard hooked up to my iPad. It actually worked out rather well, and I got another hour or so of work done.

However, after lunch my IBS started flaring up, probably from something I ate. I was hoping to get another hour of work done, but now it's too uncomfortable, so I think I'll stop for today.

***

Actually after a couple hours my IBS got better, so I think I’ll try to work for another hour or so.

***

I got a lot more words done! Yay! I finished the scenes I had blocked, so tomorrow I'll need to block some more scenes.

Actually, the setup with my gaming keyboard attached to my iPad works really well. I can put my keyboard in my lap and type comfortably while my iPad is a little higher up, so I'm not looking down at my lap all the time.

The only problem is that I do tend to edit while I'm writing in 4thewords. However, for some reason I'm not writing linearly lately. I will realize I needed to add something earlier and so I'll scroll up and insert a few lines of dialogue or a few paragraphs.

If I didn't edit in 4thewords and just made a note to myself, I'd have to do the editing later anyway, so it's all time I would have spent, but it makes my words per hour pace slower when I'm in the drafting phase. I suppose that's why I should use something like an Alphasmart or my Freewrite Traveler, because then I won't edit and be able to get into flow state.

I'm really torn about this Traveler. I spent so much money on it and yet I'm not using it very much. The typos I make because of the lag between my typing and the words appearing on the screen are driving me crazy. I suppose it means I should type slower.

I'm also concerned because with the amount I'm typing, I really want to use my gaming keyboard instead of the Freewrite keyboard. It's not a bad keyboard, by any means, but my gaming keyboard feels much nicer since it's using the Outemu blue switches. If anything, I might use a regular Freewrite more because it has a better keyboard. But the Traveler is much more portable.

UGH I'm just repeating myself--I should use my Traveler, but I don't. I think tomorrow, after I do the blocking, I'll use my Traveler for writing and give it more of a shot. I'd really like to get into flow state.

Blocking: time spent: 0
Editing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Time spent: 4 hours, 22 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 5355 words
Writing: Average speed: 1362 words per hour
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 29 minutes

My takeaway for today: Stop just talking about using the Traveler and just do it! Get into flow state! Stop editing as you write!

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