I hate this chapter. I hate this book. I hate this blog series and wish I’d never started it. I hate the mornings. I hate the fact that I have to the Gold Coast this evening. I hate the fact that there is so much of the book left to go. I hate the fact that it’s getting longer. I hate the fact that I’m not able to just finish this fucker and go on to the next thing. I hate the fact that I didn’t finish my PhD. I hate the fact that I’m behind on pretty much everything at my day-job. I hate the fact that I slept badly and woke up late. I hate the fact that I’m already behind.
I hate…I hate…I hate…
And really, all that happens more or less on time. Nine days in and this is no longer fun.
Must ignore that and keep writing.
Session 9.1 (8:15 AM – 8:49 PM)
Word Count: 749
I’m laying good odds that this will be it today. Packed day at work, which means it’s unlikely I’ll steal time at lunch. Drive to the Gold Coast in the rush-hour traffic. Hit the awards dinner for the Josephine Ulrick awards as the QWC representative. Eat. Drink. Be merry. Head to my parents place. Sleep.
Session 9.2 (12:11 PM – 12:23 PM)
Word Count: 297
Against all odds, I finished lunch with twelve minutes to spare. Bam. Writing time. Wrote enough that I can see the shape of the fourth chapter, and where it ends.
Also, hit the 1k mark for the day. Expected to get maybe half that done, so I’m calling it a win.
Final note: Ulrick awards were awesome. Caught up with some people I haven’t seen in a decade. Got to meet a bunch of talented young writers who were coming through the Griffith writing program. Remembered, briefly, how the Gold Coast ‘could actually be a nice place (if you tell anyone I said this, there will be trouble).
‘Course, it also finished as late as I expected it too, which makes me really glad I squeezed in the lunch session.
Total Daily Writing Time: 46 minutes
Daily Word Count Total: 1, 046
Total Manuscript Writing Time: 11 hours, 32 minutes
Total Manuscript Word Count: 11, 242
I’ve ended up taking a short, unscheduled break from writing newsletters over the last fourteen days. Regular GenrePunk Ninja transmissions will resume
Like many of you, I have good weeks and bad weeks on the writing front. This week has been rocky, and if
Welcome to GenrePunk Ninja supplemental, where I occasionally post foundational essays written before I launched the GenrePunk Ninja newsletter, especially if they’re
2 Responses
I had a look at Dean Wesley Smith's blog, and yours is much better. He just says "wrote 1500 words, still don't know where this novel is going". It seems kinda soulless compared to your "I love this story so much, spent 4 hours writing 12 words, contemplated the futility of my life, I hate this story much, spent 30 seconds writing 800 words, nose started bleeding due to stress"… I just get the feeling that your book has a whole lot more of you put into than his is going to.
I have the advantage in that this is the longest thing that I've written in a good long while (also, that I'm doing it under my own name, so I can actually talk about the content a little).
I've got another three (non-Aster) novellas to write once I've finished this one. I imagine I'll be a lot less excited by the process when I hit the end of that 🙂