The Goal
A month ago, I decided to trial an intensive writing schedule as I felt the need to focus on my writing while not prioritising any of my six novels. I admit that I am ambitious in my goal, but after sticking to my routine, I feel confident that I can accomplish my goal.
- Initial 2018 Goal: To write two books by the end of December 2018.
- Revised 2018 Goal: To work on all six of my novels at the same time with the intent to write a minimum of 2,500 words per day.
The First Week
I started with a lot of pessimism about my skills and was not sure I could manage to write with enough passion to meet my daily goal. I surprised myself when I managed to keep pace each day and it buffed my confidence a considerable amount.
A lot of the first week was shaking off the cobwebs of my writing. I knew I was capable of writing a lot in a short period of time. In twelve weeks, I wrote almost all of Sea Spray eighteen months prior, but my dedication to writing fell off afterwards. I felt there was nothing else I could accomplish, so I almost gave up.
Then, after five years of work, I decided I would self-publish Sea Spray. I had nowhere else to go. I accomplished one of my goals in life. So I thought ‘What the hell,’ and decided that day I would write like a man possessed. I had several ideas floating in limbo, and it was time they received some love. I laid out my plan in a single afternoon and knew that Monday, January 29 was the first day I would begin work.
Sure, work was slow, but it made me feel good and every day that passed, I knew I was improving myself. But my writing was not limited to my novels. I spent the time starting up this very blog you are reading now. I was sitting on old stuff that was complete and going unread, so to have a platform to share my writing was liberating. It makes me want to keep my writing going.
The end of the first week saw me do a complete reversal of my cynicism. I was always very apprehensive to write, because my standards are quite high for myself. To say bugger the consequences changed my view on my writing. Week One of my challenge was the setup for my greatest challenge to my creativity.
The Second Week
I rode a wave of momentum throughout the second week. I felt unstoppable with my writing. That was a critical mistake on my part. The worst thing that a writer can do is become overconfident. The moment they believe they are doing well, they write with lowered standards and a disregard for quality.
I admit the quality of my writing, contrary to how I rated myself, was lower than week one. Reflection is the best thing a writer can do, even if takes several weeks for the reality to set in. The second week was also the week I wrote the mini essay about Why I Write. Of everything I did in the second week of my challenge, that essay was the best thing about it.
I learned a great deal from my second week of work. I might consider myself a popular fiction author, but that does not mean I should not care about quality. In real life, I am known for being a perfectionist, and my novels need to reflect that about me. Every word and every sentence is something I want to lovingly craft. I disregarded that in favour of speed in this week, which was wrong.
Doubt did seep back into my mind by the end of week two. I felt unsure I could continue writing without burning myself out. That is still the biggest fear I have with this writing challenge – running my ideas dry and become disillusioned with my work.
The Third Week
This was not the best week for me. I admitted as much in Weekly Writing Update #3 in the individual reports. It was also the week I did the first revision of my report layout. I was also wary of using scores to rate myself. It sets a bar that I try to aim for every week, but it detracts from my ultimate goal of writing good fiction.
Week three was up and down throughout the course of it. I like to think of it as a perfect week for me. I had enough doubt about what I was writing to drive me to do the best I could do.
It also happened that this week allowed me the opportunity to start sharing my mindset with everyone alongside the inaugural essay of Inside The Cover. That was something I have wanted to do for a long time, because I admit my writing is very complex and difficult to read for even the hardiest of readers. This third week lay focused on character building above all else.
Character is always my weakest point when I write, so to take a step back and develop my characters the way I develop my worlds shows my improvement from this writing challenge. That is the end goal of my writing challenge: To improve how I write.
I almost did not meet my daily quotas as I focused a lot on trying to better the goals I set in week two. That was the worst idea I ever had and is something I will never try again. I am still finding what works for me and cannot afford to have changes to the norm affect my mindset.
The Fourth Week
I enjoyed week four above all others. It was the week that I posted an extended writing update for each of my novels every day. Sure, it was 50% more work every day, but I did not seem to mind. There was no better time to write the reports than right after I finished my writing for the day.
It also saw the format of my reports change I no longer place a focus on how quick or how much I write, but the quality of the writing and what I did on that day. The general feel of the report is as follows:
- Overview: I give a brief insight into the novel as a whole and introduce the focus characters as well as a little about their personality. (For the first week of this plan. The second part of this has a focus on world)
- What I Did: I let my audience know where I am up to with my writing so they know which aspect of the novel was my focus.
- Sample: I put up the best paragraphs from each day of my writing. While it is difficult to choose these, I pick the one that best represents the writing I did that day. I also spend some time explaining the reasoning behind why I picked the paragraph and examining why it is important.
- How Productive I Felt: This is the biggest part of my reports, as it is where my confidence shows. It allows me to explain how I felt as I wrote and point out any discrepancies that affected me.
- Next Week: I’ve started to let my audience know what my intended goals are for the book the next week.
The fourth week was also when I decided to ignore everything I stood for and published the most recent edition of Inside The Cover #2 as well as swallowing my pride by putting My Only Poem out there for the whole world to read.
Overall
The improvement of my confidence is astounding. Each week I grow closer to each of my novels, instead of treating The Elder Ones as my best piece, which is not something I ever wanted to do. I can look back on each of my novels and say that they bring something different to the table.
Most genre writers become pidgeonholed after the release of their first novel, but my broad range of works is my attempt to subvert that. Sure, it might be difficult to work on six different genres at once with entirely different writing styles, but the rewarding feeling I get from accomplishing something is worth the frustration and the pain my brain endures.
Can I recommend such an intensive writing schedule? No, I can’t. I do it because it works for me. I can only suggest that a writer finds what works for them. If you don’t want to write a minimum of 15,000 words a week, don’t.
Remember: No one can judge your writing process. Make the world your oyster and free your mind. Don’t overdo it though. If you need a break, take a break. Writing can wait. (Not for me though. I’m a severe workaholic.)
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