Today I set up my writing space on the sofa, instead of at my usual writing spot on my (cluttered!) desk. I fancied the cushiony comfort, along with a cuppa, rather than working in my usual writing space. I had a funny scare yesterday while working at my writing desk, when my son crept up behind me and tapped my shoulder, while I was writing a ghost scene with headphones on – and frightened the life out of me! A more relaxed approach to writing, just for today, helped a lot (with nothing behind me, ha ha). It worked – I got about 400 words done instead of just a trickle, as it has been lately, in the balance of everything. It was good to dedicate some proper time to writing for a change; a first for me in a while – and maybe the comfort helped with that.
These days, I have taken to keeping a digital chapter plan on the first page of the word document for each WIP. I still use my writing notebook to jot down story ideas, or word count updates per date. This helps me to track progress.
As a result, I can tell that my literary output is nowhere near as prolific as the previous two years. Normally I would have a first draft finished in 6 or 7 months. So far, my progress on my three current projects is as follows:
1. Ghost novel WIP#7 is at 30,658 words in eight months.
2. The sequel for The Buddha’s Bone is at 25,272 words in ten months.
3. My psychological short story collection is at 26,908 words in seven months.
Of course, this could be because I’m working on three projects at once, rather than one at a time, as I did in previous years. No matter the reason, I’m happy to be chipping away even if I highly doubt I’ll have anything finished for publication this year.
That’s okay. Sometimes it’s good to be slow and steady. My books will be done when they are done!
Leilanie Stewart 