Spring Writing Project: Update #3

These past two weeks have been quite the struggle when it came to writing. You’ll quickly figure out why in just a moment, but before that, let’s review what I’ve accomplished so far:

1.) General Statistics

As of yesterday, my current word count is 64,464 words. (It was by mere coincidence that I stopped writing at a number with all 4’s and 6’s.) I’m still doing quite well with getting my daily word count goal. And, yes, nothing has changed in terms of me beginning to write for the day during the after-midnight hours. It is officially a full-blown habit of mine to write at around this time.

However, somewhere along the line, I had subconsciously upped my daily word count an extra hundred words. I’ve rolled with it, and now it’s my new goal. Because apparently writing 1300 words/day was not challenging enough for me. (Why you always gotta make things harder for yourself, Amanda?)

Also, not only have I been writing slightly more each day, but I’ve managed to write quicker. My average time has dropped significantly: 1 hour, 46 mins. (Mathematically, it’s 1 hour, 45.71 mins.) I did not set out to shorten my time frame. I guess I’ve just become more efficient?

Basically, I’ve been a writing machine the past two weeks. Not quite sure why…

2.) Character Names

Nope. Zero progress has been made here. I’ve decided that I’m not going to worry about it until I finish the project next month.

3.) Plot

Ah, yes. The overarching plot. I’m slowly running out of “red” scenes to write from my outline. At this point, I think I’m stretching certain scenes only because I’m trying to avoid writing the two major events that happen (one of which being the major climax at the end). I kinda know what will happen during these two events, but because how important they are to the story, it feels daunting to write them out.

Also, I’ve learned that it takes me longer to write a particular scene than I think it does. Once again, it could simply be because I keeping adding to it rather than moving onto a new scene (where I would have to sit and roughly sketch what should be happening with the characters next). Or maybe it’s because I’ve learned to slow the story’s pace down. Perhaps it’s both reasons?

All I know is that I’m starting to get nervous about not having enough story to tell for the next seventeen days (including today).

4.) A Wrench in the Plan

Two days after my last blog post, my mind was roaming while I was doing my morning routine when a thought occurred to me. I had wondered why there weren’t many books based on a particular subject in world history. I’m not talking about historical fiction, but more like using it as a jumping off point to create a new fictional world. (Full disclosure: A novel based off of this time period and its people was published this month, and I instantly ordered it because of this fact. Even though this is the author’s debut, so I have no idea what the new writer is capable of.) 

I had pondered about it, and the conversation in my head basically went like this: 

“Why don’t you write this story, then? I mean, you write stuff.” 

“What?” 

“Well, I guess you shouldn’t. After all, you’re currently in the middle of your Spring Writing project.” 

“Okay, but this story you were thinking of - ” 

“We still have twenty-eight days left of this project. Exactly four weeks. We can’t think about another story. We already made a commitment to see this project through.” 

“…” 

“Wait. Amanda, what are you doing?” 

*glances at my notebook where I record story ideas* 

“NO, AMANDA, NO! Stop! What are you doing? Stop!” 

*scurries over to notebook and scribbles down the vague story concept* 

So, yes, now I’ve spent the last twelve days thinking about two completely different stories. I’m obviously still writing for my Spring project, but I have another foot brainstorming ideas for my next project. My Spring story has lost its sheen now because it has to compete with shiny New Story Idea.

Sigh. Why do I keep doing this to myself? And here I thought I was going to take a little break once this current writing project is over in May. Nope. It appears that I’ll be working on a Summer project, after all.

Maybe this is the reason why I focused solely on writing short stories last year. They were less of a commitment, and I got to dabble in however many stories/genres I wanted to write.

5.) Final Thoughts

I get the feeling that the last stretch of my project is going to be difficult. Based on my new 1400 words/day goal, I have roughly 24k words left to write. Do I have enough story material to get me to the finish line? Can I keep pushing back Shiny New Idea, hoping it will stop interfering with my current project? Will I ever have a decent sleeping schedule? (Probably not.)

I guess we’ll find out next month.

Six weeks down, two (and a half) more to go.