Day 373: Developing an enjoyable writing system
I was pretty good about doing my house chores and other things in my clearing the decks ritual, but my Japanese language study ended up taking a long time. It’s partly because I reorganized my study system yesterday and I’m still ironing out the bugs, but also I had lapsed on my study for a long time so there was a lot to catch up on.
However, it took up 2.5 hours today. I have consciously decided to make my Japanese a priority, but I still feel a bit guilty that I took so much time to do it and I haven’t started work on my book yet today. However, I’m also skipping my walk today because my IBS is acting up (and it gets worse when I walk), so I suppose I’m just using the time I would otherwise have spent exercising. I also adjusted my study system so tomorrow I’ll be able to get through everything I need to but it won’t take so long.
I actually did some more work on my writing last night, so I’m including the time spent on that in my totals below.
I ran into a plot problem with book 4 yesterday (which had some minor repercussions for the other books in the series), and I worked through it a little bit but not quite all the way, so I’ll try to solve that today. And I also need to figure out the timeline for the main books in the series so I can figure out the timeline for the side novel synopsis. Figuring out these problems ahead of time is probably too much outlining for a lot of writers, but I like doing it because then I don’t have to worry about a Too Stupid To Live moment popping up as I’m writing, and then needing to spend time in critical thinking mode in order to fix it, which might also involve a rewrite of what I’d already written.
I was listening to a writing audiobook from the library yesterday and it mentioned that you want to develop a writing system that’s enjoyable for every book. Otherwise, you’ll just be suffering through every book you write, and what’s the point of that? So for me, doing this kind of in-depth outlining makes the writing more enjoyable for me when it comes to putting down the prose.
(Ironically, the author of the book also encourages not outlining since it wastes time when you could be writing, and I do see his point. But I’ve already tried the non-outlining method and it’s simply not enjoyable for me. So, my thinking is, you do you and I’ll do me.)
It also reaffirms my decision to change my writing style to a slower, edit-as-I-go method, since self-editing is such a problem for me. This new method is much more fun than vomit writing and the dread of needing to do a labor-intensive editing pass later.
I’m pretty sure there aren’t many writers who have the same hang-up over self-editing that I do, which might be why there haven’t been a lot of books and articles I’ve read that support editing-as-you-go writing. But in experimenting, I have discovered that for me, vomit-writing results in a less refined product simply because I suck at self-editing. And since I don’t have an issue with perfectionism or over-editing my writing (which some writers do have), my editing-as-I-go results in a steady writing pace.
Which just goes to show, question everything even if lots of other people tell you it’s the right way to do something, and figure out what really works for YOU.
***
I managed to fix the plot problem in book 4. But man I’m really glad I did this second pass through all my synopses for the books for the series, because in trying to nail down the timeline, I discovered a continuity error that encompassed both book 9 and book 10! So now I have to try to figure out how to fix it. But once I do, then I know the timeline I have to work with for my side novel, and I will be able to add it into the synopsis.
I did about 3 hours of work today, and when combined with the two hours I did last night, I did a respectable amount of work today. I might try to write some more later tonight, or I might call it a night because my IBS is starting to bother me a little.
Outlining: time spent: 5 hours, 18 minutes
Blocking: time spent: 0
Editing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Total number of words: n/a
Writing: Overall writing speed: n/a
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 19 minutes
My takeaway for today: Continue to develop an enjoyable writing system so that I continue to have fun with each book rather than suffering through it.
However, it took up 2.5 hours today. I have consciously decided to make my Japanese a priority, but I still feel a bit guilty that I took so much time to do it and I haven’t started work on my book yet today. However, I’m also skipping my walk today because my IBS is acting up (and it gets worse when I walk), so I suppose I’m just using the time I would otherwise have spent exercising. I also adjusted my study system so tomorrow I’ll be able to get through everything I need to but it won’t take so long.
I actually did some more work on my writing last night, so I’m including the time spent on that in my totals below.
I ran into a plot problem with book 4 yesterday (which had some minor repercussions for the other books in the series), and I worked through it a little bit but not quite all the way, so I’ll try to solve that today. And I also need to figure out the timeline for the main books in the series so I can figure out the timeline for the side novel synopsis. Figuring out these problems ahead of time is probably too much outlining for a lot of writers, but I like doing it because then I don’t have to worry about a Too Stupid To Live moment popping up as I’m writing, and then needing to spend time in critical thinking mode in order to fix it, which might also involve a rewrite of what I’d already written.
I was listening to a writing audiobook from the library yesterday and it mentioned that you want to develop a writing system that’s enjoyable for every book. Otherwise, you’ll just be suffering through every book you write, and what’s the point of that? So for me, doing this kind of in-depth outlining makes the writing more enjoyable for me when it comes to putting down the prose.
(Ironically, the author of the book also encourages not outlining since it wastes time when you could be writing, and I do see his point. But I’ve already tried the non-outlining method and it’s simply not enjoyable for me. So, my thinking is, you do you and I’ll do me.)
It also reaffirms my decision to change my writing style to a slower, edit-as-I-go method, since self-editing is such a problem for me. This new method is much more fun than vomit writing and the dread of needing to do a labor-intensive editing pass later.
I’m pretty sure there aren’t many writers who have the same hang-up over self-editing that I do, which might be why there haven’t been a lot of books and articles I’ve read that support editing-as-you-go writing. But in experimenting, I have discovered that for me, vomit-writing results in a less refined product simply because I suck at self-editing. And since I don’t have an issue with perfectionism or over-editing my writing (which some writers do have), my editing-as-I-go results in a steady writing pace.
Which just goes to show, question everything even if lots of other people tell you it’s the right way to do something, and figure out what really works for YOU.
***
I managed to fix the plot problem in book 4. But man I’m really glad I did this second pass through all my synopses for the books for the series, because in trying to nail down the timeline, I discovered a continuity error that encompassed both book 9 and book 10! So now I have to try to figure out how to fix it. But once I do, then I know the timeline I have to work with for my side novel, and I will be able to add it into the synopsis.
I did about 3 hours of work today, and when combined with the two hours I did last night, I did a respectable amount of work today. I might try to write some more later tonight, or I might call it a night because my IBS is starting to bother me a little.
Outlining: time spent: 5 hours, 18 minutes
Blocking: time spent: 0
Editing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Total number of words: n/a
Writing: Overall writing speed: n/a
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 19 minutes
My takeaway for today: Continue to develop an enjoyable writing system so that I continue to have fun with each book rather than suffering through it.
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