Day 332: Serial novels, too long breaks
I'm still not feeling great, but I'm doing better than I did yesterday. I started off my writing today doing something different, and it was solely because I wanted to finish some monsters on 4thewords.com. I had to write about 700 words in an hour, and I didn't think I'd be able to do that while working on the Hawaii book, so I instead did some brainstorming on the fantasy novel that I had been considering doing as a serial novel a week or so ago.
At this point it's still just plotting and character development, but I had a world backstory that had been drifting in my head which I wanted to get down. I also had two story ideas for the fantasy world, one which was more vague while another which was more thought-out, and I also wanted to write those down rather than let them be locked in my head. Actually, whenever I had to finish a monster quickly on 4thewords, I would write a little on the fantasy brainstorming in order to finish off the monster, since I'm just writing down ideas I've had for a while and I can type them out rather quickly.
I'm still not planning on writing a serial novel anytime soon, even though I'd really like to. At this point I'm just doing brainstorming. For most of my other series, this part of the writing process can sometimes take years, and to be honest, some of these ideas actually have been in my head for years, but I'm only writing them down now.
I think that if I do get some time, I'd like to write a serial novel for Kindle Vella, but it will probably be only this fantasy series and not any of my other series. The reason is that I had planned a serial side novel for my Regency series, which takes place during books 5 through 9 (or was it books 6 through 9? I can't remember). But in this case, the serial side novel would be there as an additional entry point for my series. I was planning to use the serial novel and post it for free on my blog and Wattpad (I was also going to look into other serial novel sites which I might use instead of Wattpad, since that seems to be more fan fiction, but I haven't had time yet to do research). The serial side novel would work as marketing for my Regency series, since it's a direct tie-in to the series, but it's a stand-alone story. So to have it be a paid serial novel on Kindle Vella doesn't make sense, because I didn't intend for the serial side novel to be something to make a lot of money. It would be more like a loss leader to market my Regency series.
The fantasy series, however, would be something I could post as a serial novel on Kindle Vella since I would want to make money off of it, and not use it as marketing for anything else. Also I only have 2 stories for that at the moment, and one of those stories (the vague one) is actually made specifically to be a serial novel with a more episodic plotline. This fantasy series is perfect for a serial novel site like Kindle Vella. However, I'm still in the brainstorming phase, and I haven't even gotten to the plotting phase, so I wouldn't be able to start writing anytime soon, even if I had the time.
***
Yesterday I struggled a lot with distractions, and after thinking about it, I decided that instead of changing my writing style to combat the distractions, I would rather prefer to work on focusing more.
I was very easily distracted when I left my document to look something up or do an edit on another chapter, and that was what led me down rabbit holes. I could prevent that by not leaving the document I'm working on even to look things up or make corrections, and instead just leave notes for myself. This is what I was doing when I was writing as fast as I could and leaving things to fix for later.
However, even now, the thought of all those things I left notes for in the scene yesterday is making me feel dread at the amount of work I will need to do when self-editing, and that's also causing me a bit of stress. I honestly don't know why self-editing is like this for me and I'd probably need a therapist to figure it out. But since I've been to a therapist for other things that were significantly more serious, I don't think this is something that requires the time and money for outside help.
So, even though the slow words per hour rate is kind of annoying me, the lack of self-editing has been alleviating my stress levels. And since my IBS has been very sensitive to stress, that's been rather more important to me.
In light of that, I decided that it would be better to continue to decrease my self-editing load by editing as I write, and to combat the distractions, I'll need to work harder to focus and not be distracted if I have to look up something or make edits elsewhere in the manuscript.
I'm going to try setting a shorter Pomodoro timer today, 15 minutes with 0 minutes break, with a long break after 4 Pomodoros. I'm hoping the shorter timer will jar me if I happen to be distracted doing something else. It won't prevent me from being distracted in the first place, though. I will need to think of how I can curb my tendency toward being distracted.
***
Unfortunately, since I wasn't very distracted, the Pomodoro timer going off every 15 minutes was itself really distracting! I'd rather not be jarred out of my focus if I'm in a good groove.
I changed it back to normal Pomodoros, 25 minutes work and 5 minutes break. I have to get up from the desk every hour anyway, to make sure I stand and walk around and stretch my back, so I'll do two Pomodoros and then take a break.
***
I didn't do too badly with the 25-minute Pomodoros. For some reason my writing speed is a little higher today, too. Maybe that's because of the Pomodoros.
My biggest problem today is one I've had to struggle with before, which is taking too long breaks. I have to get up every hour for my back, but when I do, I end up doing other stuff. I even tried starting a monster on 4thewords, but I end up forgetting it's running and then I lose the monster battle.
I have to take shorter breaks. Before, the only way I could do that was by not getting up from my desk, but that's just not healthy for me.
I had forgotten about my idea before to set an alarm on my phone. It will go off on my watch even if I'm away from my phone and remind me to get back to work. I think I will try that.
***
I finished the scene I started today, which was great. But I also started feeling a little sick so I think I'll stop for today.
My writing pace was a bit faster today, but I think it's because the scene I wrote wasn't a very humorous one. It was more introspective from the hero's point of view, because the scene before this was a pivotal romantic scene and I wanted to show his reaction to it all. I think that when I am trying for a more humorous vibe, the writing is slower. That makes sense, because I'm paying more attention to rhythm and phrase choices, and that takes more deliberation.
I have four more scenes left before I'm done with the book, and none of them are too long. It shouldn't take me more than a few days.
Outlining: time spent: 0
Blocking: time spent: 0
Editing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Time spent: 3 hours, 8 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 2000 words
Writing: Overall writing speed: 638 words/hour
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 2 hours, 1 minute
My takeaway for today: To keep me from taking too long breaks, when I get up to take a break, set an alarm on my phone so that it'll go off on my watch even if I'm away from my desk.
At this point it's still just plotting and character development, but I had a world backstory that had been drifting in my head which I wanted to get down. I also had two story ideas for the fantasy world, one which was more vague while another which was more thought-out, and I also wanted to write those down rather than let them be locked in my head. Actually, whenever I had to finish a monster quickly on 4thewords, I would write a little on the fantasy brainstorming in order to finish off the monster, since I'm just writing down ideas I've had for a while and I can type them out rather quickly.
I'm still not planning on writing a serial novel anytime soon, even though I'd really like to. At this point I'm just doing brainstorming. For most of my other series, this part of the writing process can sometimes take years, and to be honest, some of these ideas actually have been in my head for years, but I'm only writing them down now.
I think that if I do get some time, I'd like to write a serial novel for Kindle Vella, but it will probably be only this fantasy series and not any of my other series. The reason is that I had planned a serial side novel for my Regency series, which takes place during books 5 through 9 (or was it books 6 through 9? I can't remember). But in this case, the serial side novel would be there as an additional entry point for my series. I was planning to use the serial novel and post it for free on my blog and Wattpad (I was also going to look into other serial novel sites which I might use instead of Wattpad, since that seems to be more fan fiction, but I haven't had time yet to do research). The serial side novel would work as marketing for my Regency series, since it's a direct tie-in to the series, but it's a stand-alone story. So to have it be a paid serial novel on Kindle Vella doesn't make sense, because I didn't intend for the serial side novel to be something to make a lot of money. It would be more like a loss leader to market my Regency series.
The fantasy series, however, would be something I could post as a serial novel on Kindle Vella since I would want to make money off of it, and not use it as marketing for anything else. Also I only have 2 stories for that at the moment, and one of those stories (the vague one) is actually made specifically to be a serial novel with a more episodic plotline. This fantasy series is perfect for a serial novel site like Kindle Vella. However, I'm still in the brainstorming phase, and I haven't even gotten to the plotting phase, so I wouldn't be able to start writing anytime soon, even if I had the time.
***
Yesterday I struggled a lot with distractions, and after thinking about it, I decided that instead of changing my writing style to combat the distractions, I would rather prefer to work on focusing more.
I was very easily distracted when I left my document to look something up or do an edit on another chapter, and that was what led me down rabbit holes. I could prevent that by not leaving the document I'm working on even to look things up or make corrections, and instead just leave notes for myself. This is what I was doing when I was writing as fast as I could and leaving things to fix for later.
However, even now, the thought of all those things I left notes for in the scene yesterday is making me feel dread at the amount of work I will need to do when self-editing, and that's also causing me a bit of stress. I honestly don't know why self-editing is like this for me and I'd probably need a therapist to figure it out. But since I've been to a therapist for other things that were significantly more serious, I don't think this is something that requires the time and money for outside help.
So, even though the slow words per hour rate is kind of annoying me, the lack of self-editing has been alleviating my stress levels. And since my IBS has been very sensitive to stress, that's been rather more important to me.
In light of that, I decided that it would be better to continue to decrease my self-editing load by editing as I write, and to combat the distractions, I'll need to work harder to focus and not be distracted if I have to look up something or make edits elsewhere in the manuscript.
I'm going to try setting a shorter Pomodoro timer today, 15 minutes with 0 minutes break, with a long break after 4 Pomodoros. I'm hoping the shorter timer will jar me if I happen to be distracted doing something else. It won't prevent me from being distracted in the first place, though. I will need to think of how I can curb my tendency toward being distracted.
***
Unfortunately, since I wasn't very distracted, the Pomodoro timer going off every 15 minutes was itself really distracting! I'd rather not be jarred out of my focus if I'm in a good groove.
I changed it back to normal Pomodoros, 25 minutes work and 5 minutes break. I have to get up from the desk every hour anyway, to make sure I stand and walk around and stretch my back, so I'll do two Pomodoros and then take a break.
***
I didn't do too badly with the 25-minute Pomodoros. For some reason my writing speed is a little higher today, too. Maybe that's because of the Pomodoros.
My biggest problem today is one I've had to struggle with before, which is taking too long breaks. I have to get up every hour for my back, but when I do, I end up doing other stuff. I even tried starting a monster on 4thewords, but I end up forgetting it's running and then I lose the monster battle.
I have to take shorter breaks. Before, the only way I could do that was by not getting up from my desk, but that's just not healthy for me.
I had forgotten about my idea before to set an alarm on my phone. It will go off on my watch even if I'm away from my phone and remind me to get back to work. I think I will try that.
***
I finished the scene I started today, which was great. But I also started feeling a little sick so I think I'll stop for today.
My writing pace was a bit faster today, but I think it's because the scene I wrote wasn't a very humorous one. It was more introspective from the hero's point of view, because the scene before this was a pivotal romantic scene and I wanted to show his reaction to it all. I think that when I am trying for a more humorous vibe, the writing is slower. That makes sense, because I'm paying more attention to rhythm and phrase choices, and that takes more deliberation.
I have four more scenes left before I'm done with the book, and none of them are too long. It shouldn't take me more than a few days.
Outlining: time spent: 0
Blocking: time spent: 0
Editing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Time spent: 3 hours, 8 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 2000 words
Writing: Overall writing speed: 638 words/hour
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 2 hours, 1 minute
My takeaway for today: To keep me from taking too long breaks, when I get up to take a break, set an alarm on my phone so that it'll go off on my watch even if I'm away from my desk.
Comments
Post a Comment