I don’t want to do this, it’s 6 PM on a Friday night. I would rather be going out with friends. I had two different concerts in my planner for tonight. I decided which one to go to, the later show, with the more talented musicians, but I have decided against going at all for a few reasons. One of which is I have to do this stupid writing and two is that planning is hard and I don’t want to drive out to a show alone.
I had two doctor’s appointments today, I forgot to have any caffeine before I left the house this morning, meaning I have a headache now. The computer screen is bright and the computer is oddly loud.
I feel like the advice in the book today isn’t currently relevant. It is about using brainstorming, story mapping, outlines, and timelines. How doing these things can make the writing process more efficient; saving time and helping you create a better story.
I agree, brainstorming is fun and has helped me when I’m having writer’s block. I found two old brainstorming sheets from novels I started. Both of these novels are still in the works, so if anyone is actually reading this, thank you for that, but don’t steal my ideas. I’ve never used story map, but it sounds like a good idea. I know from experience outlines can speed up your writing, while also keeping the story on track and making sense.
I used to not be a fan of outlines, I felt like they were extra work and would stifle my raw creative genius. Then I realized I’m not some literary savant, but I normal person who loves to read, who loves to make up stories and who wants to tell stories that others want to read.
So now I use outlines, especially in longer works. Sometimes I don’t in short stories.
Which brings up why this exercise is irrelevant today. I’m almost done with my current WIP, which had a rough outline. I only need to write a few more scenes and edit, so I can’t follow the book’s advice and do an outline for my WIP. I guess I could it for the project I was researching yesterday, but I don’t want too. I would rather finish one before getting too involved in another.
This books is encouraging multitasking a little more than I would like. Yes, that makes it feel more like a “real” job, but also I think might decrease productivity. But who am I to say, since clearly people buy Rachel Federman’s work and not mine, so I guess that means she knows more than I do.
I’m going to work on my WIP for 30 minutes now. I wish I had finished the painful emotional scene yesterday, working on it today seems really, really hard. I hope writing this shit helps me get over some stuff. Maybe stop thinking about it so much so I can forget a little, but not forgive. I will never, ever forgive.
Maybe I can do editing type stuff on it instead, I don’t know.
I mostly just read what I had so far and did some edits. I’ll do the hard stuff tomorrow.
Total time worked today is 1:25, much less than yesterday, felt longer.
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