Author Journal 14th – 20th April 2022

Last week was odd. It started with a mystery leak in the kitchen that ate a fair bit of writing time. A leak that, after hunting its source down, turned out to be a spill 🤦‍♀️ But after that… nothing. No dramas. No llamas. No distractions.

Review 7th – 13th April 2022

Here’s what last week’s goals looked like:

  • Add 5,000 words to Running the Asset’s manuscript, taking it to 106,012.

I Did Some Experimentation

I won’t rehash every day as I’ve shared my daily word count pics below. But, I will share that I did some experimentation last week. When I write, I like to be nice and comfy. I wear baggy trousers, have my compression gloves on–those are more of a medical need than a comfort thing, and I sit on the sofa.

That was until this week. I’ve been keeping track of all my writing stats: words per minute, words per hour, length of writing sprints, time of day, and where I completed the sprint.

My data revealed that my ideal writing conditions were not what I had been doing. The data suggest that thirty-minute sprints during the afternoons are best for me–but I rarely have time or the inclination to write then. And my most productive location is sitting at my tiny desk in the cold corner of the living room, on my really uncomfortable chair.

I decided to give one sprint session over to doing what the data suggested was my best combination. The result of that first sprint convinced me to try another sprint with that combo. Then another. And one more in the afternoon–which gave me a considerable chunk of wordage. That was Thursday, the day where I lost time to the not-a-leak.

Thursday

After that, I stuck to the cold corner and did my sprints in the morning for the next two days.

Friday
Saturday

And then it was Sunday.

Getting started was a struggle mainly because I knew I had to hit 1,466 words to meet my 5K target for the week. I procrastinated like a pro. Canva is an evil place. And, remembering you have a newsletter to prep for next month is even worse.

Suddenly, it was afternoon, and I hadn’t written a single word of that 1,466. With the pressure mounting, I knew I had to get started or post a word count update with a big fat zero. I forced myself to start the timer.

By the time I finished the first timer, I was in the zone. The words were just flowing, the sequence played out like a movie in my head, and I couldn’t stop. By the time I’d blown by 1,466, my bad hand was screaming at me to stop, my semi-good one threatening to kill me in my sleep, but I couldn’t stop.

Fortunately, I finished the sequence–a really fucking long but fun-filled one–and was able to walk away satisfied and shocked that I’d written so much.

Sunday!

The results of my experiment are that the corner is my friend, afternoons are great for playing catch-up, and I beat my 5K goal for the week. My total word count for the week was 6,109, taking Running the Asset to 107,121 words.

I did learn from my mega-Sunday. I will never do that kind of craziness again. I’m glad I did it, but man, I’m still paying for it now.

This Week’s Goals

  • Add 5,000 words to Running the Asset’s manuscript, taking it to 112,121.

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

Susan

P.S. Remember to sign up for my newsletter to gain early access to cover reveals, Things in Scots snippets that are too hot for the site, and more.

Author: Susan T. Braithwaite

Royal Navy veteran from Scotland. My journey into writing started with a screenwriting certificate program at UCLA Ext. Since then, I've worked as a freelance content writer, erotica author, proofreader, professional beta reader, and content editor. I'm now working hard on my dream writing career: romantic suspense author. When I'm not writing, I can be found drinking too much coffee, obsessing over yarn, and planning world domination with my husband, jezbraithwaite.blog, and our squirrel army.​

12 thoughts on “Author Journal 14th – 20th April 2022

    1. I’m working around having to hit big numbers on a Sunday. Trying for 1250 each of the four writing days.
      I’ve been terrible with my newsletter. I just sent out an apology/reminder of who I am broadcast to my handful of subs…
      (Thank you for joining me 😍)

      1. Sorry, not meaning to be negative. It’s fine if you have the material (which I’m sure you will). It’s easier to reach within yourself, I’m sure!

      2. Not taking it as negative; it’s always better to go into things with our eyes wide open. For me, I’ve got a set of small goals for the newsletter that are within my reach.

  1. Don’t you just love it when the zone arrives just out of nowhere? Then next thing you know, a couple hours have passed and you didn’t even realise you were having a blast of a time. Go you for this week!

    1. Thanks, Stuart!
      Sunday was the last day I expected to hit the zone… But, yeah, it’s amazing when you slip into it. Everything else falling away and suddenly you’re in the world of your story.
      You have a great week, too! 🤗

    1. Thanks, Aletta! The hands are being their annoying selves. I’m taking extra breaks, for longer, to see if that helps stop the pain getting too much. So far, it’s going well. 🤗

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