It’s the end of May, and this year, you may have noticed, my weekly post schedule has pretty much fallen to a monthly post, after 2 years of consistent, weekly content.
Assessing the Signs
My little project percentage bar on the side still says 0.0% because I’ve realised I don’t know how to even measure progress against a 4th draft with beta feedback notes…
And my wordcount? Well.
In case you’re new (or like to hear about big numbers), I’ll give you this for context: Across the last 5 years, I’ve written 507,422 words of fiction.
That’s an average of 100,000 a year, and 8,400 words a month.
We’re 5 months into 2019… and I have a total of 772 words.
What Happened?
Without going into a ton of detail at this point, I’ve been sleeping a lot. I’ve changed some medication, had some life stressors and quite frankly, both reading and writing have fallen to the bottom of my list.
I’m in a good space now, but the aftermath of those more difficult months has left things in a “i need to catch up on those month’s work before doing what I’d like to do now,” which means I’ll likely stay behind for a bit.
So, What Has Been Happening?
Wellbeing/Coping Strategies: Sleeping. journalling, watching netflix, healthy eating, sitting in the garden and walking in my lunch break.
Working: I’m mentoring outside of my day-job. Things are picking up, I’m feeling a lot clearer in what I do, and am loving even doing the background admin aspects. I help people who feel lost in life turn self-doubt, daily stress + indecision into resilience, focus and taking action. [Read More…]
Planning: Making my lists, researching before I take action, mulling things over before making decisions.
DIY: Slowly chipping away at house and garden to-do lists.
Writing Mentorship Content: I’m averaging 2 articles a month and a monthly newsletter, which takes up ‘writing’ time but isn’t fiction so doesn’t count towards my annual goals. [Read More… On Planning Life Projects]
So, What About Fiction?
This is a question I’ve returned to a lot this week. I did write 200 of those words this week, so have been returning to it. Also, I’m over 90% finished with a book, so have been working on the review for that… so I’ve not done “nothing,” it just feels slow behind previous year’s progress.
For now, I’m looking to keep up the pace on my current projects, and let writing just stay in the background. I’m still having ideas, which I’m keeping note of, and adding little bits here and there. However, this week in particular I’ve had a pull to go back to an old project instead of sticking with The Felled Gods.
For now, I’ve resisted the urge to flit, but if I struggle too much, I will let myself divert from that goal if it will lead to fiction progress.