I’m back! Sorry for the lack of posts over the last couple of weeks. A severe lack of sleep due to a period of high pain with the old CRPS has kept me from my usual routine. It’s still kicking my erse (Scots spelling), but screw it, routines and schedules make me happy.

The point is, I’m back. Well, I was actually back at my desk with a journal post all written up and almost ready to go last week. But, I didn’t have the goal section completed. The reason? I didn’t know what I wanted to achieve this past week.

Well, that isn’t entirely true. While I was on my break, I took a look at how I was working, what was I doing that yielded higher word counts, or just a feeling of joy while I was writing. And what worked against me.

It didn’t take long to realise that I have an aversion to blocking out my scenes. It takes me forever to do it–I find it far more complex than writing the actual story.

Last Week’s Original Plan

I had planned to do a readthrough of the novel so far, make notes on what needs to change, and spend the rest of the month doing the scene blocking. You know, anything that made blocking go away as fast as possible. But first I had to finish writing the scene I was working on before my holiday.

That’s when the plan fell apart. One hour in, a few hundred words added to Adam and Elle’s story, and the thought of doing all the blocking in a oner had gone straight out the window. I was so psyched to be playing with my characters again. And, though it was hard work getting the words down, I loved the challenge. There was no way I wanted to spend the rest of the month on scene blocking.

The New Plan

I had to come up with a new plan. A plan where I got to have the joy of writing and also made time to block out the scenes. I pored over my planner, hunting for a solution, when it finally hit me. Sundays.

Sundays are a bit of a catch-all day for me. I have housework I must get done–though, the addition of a wee second-hand robot vac (Derek) has easied this part of life up no end, then there’s the meal prep, writing work, and a few other things in between. It’s a distracting day, and I like to have zero distractions for writing but welcome them for blocking. Yes, I know; I should have seen this months ago.

My new plan is simple: write on all of my workdays, block on Sundays.

Review 16th – 22nd September 2021

My (Eventual) Writing Goals for Last Week

• Write 4000 words for Running The Asset. (Hit 43,293 total words)
• Block out the next six scenes

How Did I Do?

I didn’t quite hit my goals. I managed to add 3,262 words, which takes the manuscript to 42,555. And, I blocked out the following four scenes.

This Week’s Goal

• Write 3000 words
• Block out the next six scenes

I’m not entirely sure I’ll hit these goals this week, not with how I’m feeling and the fact that I’m taking an extra day off, but I will give it my best shot.

That’s it for today. Thanks for stopping by, and take care.

Susan