Challenge,  On Writing

My Writing Off to Slow Start…

January 17, 2024 /

Real Slow, But That’s All Right…

I got started on the first few days of the new year on a new novel, even though it was a rough start putting the world back in my head. And Mary Jo, the main character.

I was barely typing with two hands and the PT was knocking me down. Energy still fairly low overall as I continue to recover.

And I took stock and realized after two months mostly gone how far behind I was on recording some workshops, and on reading for Pulphouse. And other things.

So I just sort of decided I wouldn’t push the writing for a few weeks. I wanted to give my arm more time to heal and also start to get caught up.

I’ve spent some time at the writing computer, including tonight, keeping it fun and relaxed. And the plan is working. And honestly I was surprised at the word count for the first two weeks. A lot of that was nonfiction, including a couple issues of Pulphouse and another article for an anthology and these blogs. But some of it was fiction.

I have set myself a fiction goal for this year that I have never managed before (which means that will be going some.) I’m not going to declare the goal until I am really back up to speed. A couple of months.

But I hope to be about 1.3 million words this year, which means I will have gotten back to normal, barring unknowns…

So each week here on this blog I’m going to talk about my fiction writing process this year, how I deal with the ups and downs.

This first two weeks I don’t consider a down, just a sane health recovery plan. Now to go put some more words on DEATH TAKES A BET. (I flat love the cover.)

4 Comments

  • T Thorn Coyle

    January 17, 2024 at 6:46 am

    Recovery and PT takes a lot out of a person! I went through PT/OT with my brain injury. Glad you’re taking your time.

    Another writer recently pointed me toward this Terry Pratchett quote:

    “For more than three years I wrote more than 400 words every day. I mean, every calendar day. If, in those pre-portable days, I couldn’t get to a keyboard, I wrote hard the previous night and caught up the following day, and if it ever seemed that it was easy to do the average I upped the average.”

    As winter is my slower writing time, I appreciate Pratchett’s easy approach and low word count base. I know I’ll ramp up in spring and go full bore all summer. Right now, I just want to keep some writing consistency.

  • Kate Pavelle

    January 17, 2024 at 12:40 pm

    I’ve come to decide that PT sucks, but the alternative is worse. It seemed that dedicating 2.5 hours per PT day is an extravagant time-suck I cannot afford.
    Then I came to realize that not investing that time into my health is a shortcut I can’t afford even more.
    Now that my official sessions are over, I am working out daily and adding my PT exercises into it, alternating hip days with ankle days. I can do cardio on a bike and a rower, so no excuses there either. It comes to 90 minutes a day in 2 sessions but I was able to cut out the commute. From what I read, high-performing people don’t skip their workouts, so I’ve been focusing on that mindset.
    As a result, my writing got more consistent and more fun, because getting my workouts in puts me in a lot better mood. My foot throws a tantrum like a 3 year old in a checkout lane if I do too much and it aches stiffly if I don’t do enough, but despite that, I am still better off than few weeks ago. I now have periods when I realize that, wow, I have been walking around like nothing happened. That’s just flat amazing and you will get there with your shoulder too.
    Listen to your body and keep it up. Healing isn’t linear.

  • Richard Keenan

    February 3, 2024 at 10:22 am

    Dean,
    For all the advice you gave me! Been applying the Heinlin’s rules and crushed out the greatest week of words I have ever had. Just ended this week at writing 16,180 words of my very first novel and it’s now Novel 1 in my planned new series is already 18% done!

    Heinlin’s rules I learned from Dean:
    You must write.
    You must finish what you start.
    You must refrain from rewriting (except to grammer / typos).
    You must put it on the market.
    You must keep it on the market.

    I’m so excited wth all this momentum to finally write, and finish what I started of my first of many novels!
    Thanks,
    Richard Keenan