Writing in Public: Week 6
A month of slow progress and taking my characters out for a run with me.
Welcome to Week 6!
Happy Tuesday! Welcome back and thank you to those who have joined recently 🙏🏽. Hearing from you makes this lonely journey much more rewarding.
After starting another week feeling very stuck, self-doubt crept in at full speed. Taking the time to do things like go for walks and runs, as well as the psychological reset that comes with the start of a new month, allowed me to move past the self-doubt and get back on track.
Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” —Louis L'Amou
I’ll start with the goals and status.
Progress
Goal: Write 2000 words
Status: Complete ✅
Slowly the story is starting to take some shape, albeit there are many tangents at the moment. There is something about the first of the month that helps me reset. My 2,701 words this week helped me make up for last week. January's word total was an encouraging reminder of the progress I had made and provided further motivation to push forward into February.
Here is what my time spent on this project looked like:
Goal: Spend time trying to understand the main characters.
Status: Ongoing
I took my characters outdoors with me, and they loved it. As I ran, I thought about how Roy's (the Protagonist’s) legs must be feeling after days of hiking in the Rockies. Katie and Roy had a friendly banter as they decided on the routes to take and where to stop for the night.…
With the monotonous motion of putting one foot after another while having no distraction, I found it easy to be lost in the dream world of my characters. Writing out their conversations helped me build an emotional connection and better understand them.
Ideas I was trying to incorporate.
Thinking about the story from the point of view of my characters. Giving my characters what they need( which may be very different from what they want)
One of the biggest mistakes I made in my first book was the ending. It made sense at the moment, but as I have been spending more time with my characters this time, I understand why so many people hated the ending.
It is no fun to be rooting for a character throughout the book, only to find the lead character died in the last chapter. This was not the transformation readers were looking for. It was too real! As I spend time understanding my characters, I realize I want only the best for them. Sure, they are going through hardship right now but will emerge as a changed person for having gone through the obstacles. Also, just like in our own life, what is best for them may not necessarily be what they want.
The conundrum I am facing is why should I be the one telling them what they need.
If you have thoughts about this, I’d love to hear them.
Key Takeaways
I need to remain physically active to stay mentally active.
My most common excuse for not writing has always been that I do not have the time. As I am developing a regular writing habit, what I am learning is that what I lack the most is structure, persistence, and organization. Writing a novel is a behemoth, unlike any other writing project. My second most common reason is I do not have what it takes. Still working on that one.
Goals for this week
Write the next 2000 words.
Review and make changes to my outline.
What are your writing goals for this week?
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