State of the Draft #2

Time to reflect and to analyze

My story is currently sitting at 20,269 words. Between 10,000 words and 20,000 words took about three weeks, while going from 0 to 10,000 took a little more than a month. Progress in speed, however slight, is noticeable.

Some scenes were planned to be grim, but some took me by surprise. It is weird to claim that as the one who plans and writes, but letting the fingers take over while the mind is in a state of creative flow and trance is beneficial sometimes. So, here we are, more gruesome stuff than intended.

Externalities

Since I started seriously writing this WIP, I have also been intermittently fasting. It has done wonders for mental clarity and determination to keep up the habit of daily writing.

One thing that I have also been practicing is a media fast, of sorts. I do watch documentaries and such, basically non-fiction in video format (the name for this alludes me), but any fiction media is off limits. My mind is always working on the story in the background, and watching series or film or anime completely re-wires my thought patterns. This is something I do not like, and try to avoid as best as I can. Pure of mind, to see what comes up, and a lot does.

Reading Crime and Punishment is the only fiction I do read while working on my story, and it has been a double-edged sword so far. The dialogue style did influence my own dialogue style. I find it flows more naturally, how people talk when they are excited or angry is usually with a lot of words, asking questions and immediately answering themselves. Dostoevsky solidified this observation in me, though it was not really the intended purpose.

The problem is that this could be hard to read. I recently ran a paragraph through Hemingwayapp, and every single sentence was very difficult to read.

My dear readers, you tell me if this is very hard to read or not. I cannot tell anymore if this is good advice or advice that wishes to cut the kneecaps of prose that surpasses 6th grade reading comprehension.

Internalities

Unfortunately, I still follow the news, so there are many things that I am mad about in the world. Those things are re-packaged and written out. With great effort to not allow it to happen, some malice still seeps through my fingers, towards certain positions, certain titles, certain situations. Maybe I will give in to it once I’m on the second draft. For now, I have to simply write my story as it is.

All in all,

decent progress. I am happy with where it’s all at, and with my pace of writing. The real victory lies in the daily habit that I am surprised I kept up for this long. It’s … easier than anticipated, which is maddening.

Thank you for reading, and for your support. It really does mean a lot to me.

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