The follow up to “Travel By Star” is far more complex, so it’s taking a lot more exploration and downtime. However, once I commit to the first draft, I will likely resume my weekly word count goals. Excited to see how your publishing plans come along.
I've noticed that a "Zero Draft" has worked well for me. If I decide to outline to the point that I'm happy with it, I'll never be happy with it. But now, I already know a thousand ways the next draft will change significantly, but I also have a much better understanding of shape of the story than I've ever gotten through outlining.
Hey, Kyle! Your first principle, "Write something you don't care about," really spoke to me. For years I've been trying to write a particular epic fantasy story but was so obsessed with making it "perfect" that it's never gone anywhere.
Recently, I've pivoted to writing other stories (still fantasy and sf) that are "lower stakes", that is: stories that I haven't invested so much emotion into that they need to be "perfect." This has helped me write more consistently. I still haven't established a daily word-count target but I am making progress and finishing stories. That's better than the writer's block paralysis I was experiencing before.
Thank you Thomas! I imagine it's such a common issue, which is why taking a month just to let words flow -- words which I had no emotional connection to -- was so valuable. And throughout the story I've come to care about them, but I've also already recognized the way in which the story is being written, so it's been easier just to leave them for revision later.
The follow up to “Travel By Star” is far more complex, so it’s taking a lot more exploration and downtime. However, once I commit to the first draft, I will likely resume my weekly word count goals. Excited to see how your publishing plans come along.
I've noticed that a "Zero Draft" has worked well for me. If I decide to outline to the point that I'm happy with it, I'll never be happy with it. But now, I already know a thousand ways the next draft will change significantly, but I also have a much better understanding of shape of the story than I've ever gotten through outlining.
Same. I think I mentioned elsewhere that my zero draft was actually a rushed and rickety screenplay, which I then “adapted” into a novel.
Hey, Kyle! Your first principle, "Write something you don't care about," really spoke to me. For years I've been trying to write a particular epic fantasy story but was so obsessed with making it "perfect" that it's never gone anywhere.
Recently, I've pivoted to writing other stories (still fantasy and sf) that are "lower stakes", that is: stories that I haven't invested so much emotion into that they need to be "perfect." This has helped me write more consistently. I still haven't established a daily word-count target but I am making progress and finishing stories. That's better than the writer's block paralysis I was experiencing before.
Thanks for writing such a helpful post!
Thank you Thomas! I imagine it's such a common issue, which is why taking a month just to let words flow -- words which I had no emotional connection to -- was so valuable. And throughout the story I've come to care about them, but I've also already recognized the way in which the story is being written, so it's been easier just to leave them for revision later.