A Writer's Retrospective: March 2022

What good is writing that doesn’t interest the writer?

I’ve spent this month thinking without doing anything. I’m on my way to fixing that, however.

Last Month's Action Items

I haven’t had any action items for quite a while.

Fiction

At 21,000+ words, I have crossed the 20% line of my book. Much like a Windows installation bar, this is not a reliable indicator of...anything--but it still feels good. I'm about to start Act 2 (having skipped a total of 4 uninteresting scenes), which will be fun, but possibly frustrating as it is the thinnest part of the outline.

Mental environment

I seem to have recalled the importance of mental environment in getting writing done. I downloaded a few new writing manuals to read and even tried a couple podcasts (not my thing). I'm not sure if I need to jump back into Discord, yet. But having writing materials around reminds me of what I should be doing.

Avoiding the temple of writing

I'm also being more flexible about when and where writing gets done. I'm thinking in 15- or 20-minute increments instead of hours. This permits me to write even when I don't have large blocks of time to commit to it. There is another lesson here: I don't need an hour-long ceremony in the temple of writing to get the job done. Very little of my writing will ever warrant that kind of concentration; my detailed outline ensures that there will always be "menial" writing labor available whenever the moment allows.

Bored by my own prose

I have also finally allowed myself to skip the scene that stumped me (read: failed to interest me). Why am I surprised at subsequently getting more writing done? I don't know what to do with the skipped scenes, yet. Removing them entirely will throw off the pacing, among other things. However, for short-term progress, I will accept the specter of increased inconsistency and the additional revision that will come with it.

Blogging

Maybe I've gotten lazy, but there is something freeing about this truncated, lightweight format for my retrospectives. Then again, freedom from any obsession--such as with the measurements of my progress--provides relief…for reader and writer alike.

Achievement Summary

21K words!
Finished and published all my unwritten retrospectives. (Except October, because screw October.)