Sunday, November 01, 2009

Sunday word count & excuses, excuses…

Since I started my mini race with Sheepish I’d been writing pretty consistently. This was good because it meant I was carrying all the threads of the plot in my head and was shuffling between them as and when it was needed. Then I had the emotional traumas of the UK and even when I had a tiny opportunity to write, I couldn’t.

The day that I left Bangkok, you may remember that Paul Theroux came to visit the Neilson Hays Library. He said during his talk that he was grateful to his family for providing him with a stable and happy environment in which to write. I noticed this comment but didn’t think much of it until several weeks later, a good while into my UK trip and then I realised that this is essential to me too. My family here give me that (mostly) and I am very grateful to them for it. (It also appears that I can’t write in my pyjamas…I have to get showered and dressed and honestly, I feel a bit resentful about this. What is the point of working from home unless it’s so you can stay in your pyjamas all day?)

So the writing should have exploded in this last seven days but in addition to losing the thread of what happens next, I’ve also been making hats fighting jetlag. I really am rubbish at changing time zones – what am I doing living here? Or going back there?

Anyway, the words this week have been a rather pitiful 458 but any words are welcome: some are most definitely better than none. And this has pushed me to a word count of over 80,000 which is rather fab.

I was still holding onto a bit of anxiety though; these weren’t new words. They were inserted while rereading the last 10,000 words which I had to do in order to remember what was going on in my story. Even after re-reading I still couldn’t see my way forward so I was quite despondent yesterday but I went back to it fresh this morning and I’ve disentangled the different threads and now I have mapped out a rough way forward.

Fingers crossed please.

11 comments:

Sue Guiney said...

so much to comment on here: 1) You are so lucky, as am I, to have the total support of our family. I don't know how we would do it otherwise -- well, at least not well. (2) I can't write in my pj's either! There's something about it having to be a "job" and "serious", I guess. But I have to get showered dressed properly and sitting somewhere that's not my bed :-) (3) funny how stuff needs to percolate when we're "away" from it before it reveals the way forward. It's like we need a different part of our brains to be looking at it while we're "focussing" on something else.

Beth said...

fingers crossed as requested!

458 words better than none. at least you're moving forward. keep it up! :)

Carol said...

Every little helps and 458 words is nothing to be sneezed at!! Your doing brilliantly....over 80,000 words is amazing...give credit where credit is due :-)

C x

Marcie Steele said...

JJ, you're doing well honey. I have the same problem this week, when I've stopped at 30k to do my one and only read back. I like doing it but it's still a struggle to get going again afterwards. Just write 100 words, then another, then another.

And 80k girl, you're doing so well, that's hardly anything left for your target to finish it for the end of the year...

You can do it, I know you can x

Queenie said...

I too need stability to write. However, I have to take issue with you on one thing. Those 458 words WERE new. You had to write them, didn't you? I mean, you didn't insert words cut out from someone else's writing? They may not have moved the story forward, but they were evidently necessary. And well done for mapping the way forward - I bet the writing will get quicker as you head towards the finish line.

Jenny Beattie said...

Sue, 1. Yes, so true. I can't write when upset... unless I'm ranting to let off steam. 2. It's just not fair. 3. Very odd isn't it, but rather nice when it happens.

B, thanks. Yes, definitely.

Carol, 80k, can you believe it?

LPlate, thanks lovely. I was v depressed yesterday but much happier today!

Queenie, yes, of course you're right: new words, just not new ones moving on... still I reckon that'll happen tomorrow. Thanks petal.

sheepish said...

Hi it seems we have had similar problems this week, I have managed about 500 words so i think we can call it a draw. Lets both hope for better next week.

Beleaguered Squirrel said...

Fingers crossed indeed! Sometimes you need a little down time while things become worked out in your subconscious. Bet you'll steam ahead now.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

I agree, sometimes we need a little downtime. I think it helps the brain figure out what to write next. Or at least that's what I tell myself on the many occasions I can't think what to type next.

Cheryl said...

I have no problem writing in my pyjamas but I couldnt work from home because I would be in them constantly and start to smell. Well done on the writing - some is better than none. You've not got a lot more to do now!

Chris Stovell said...

I say a huge well done to both you and Sheepish. I'm a bit rubbish at the moment.