I have a batch of cookies in the oven, so at the end of this I am going to be quite happy. I’ve been a mixed bag of emotions lately. I’ve let several things slip that I shouldn’t lately–a sure sign of burnout in a number of professional areas. One area that has not slipped is writing. In fact, the writing has gone very well and the new 1000 a day has been working with few hiccups or stress or stress points. Tonight I am writing by candlelight in my office, loving that the ambiance can carry the words and worlds out of my soul.
The 1000 word plan revolves around a core novel, but the unit of writing–one chapter–can be re designed in any fashion down to the basic one scene look that has me writing (overwriting) a scene so thoroughly that I get every ounce of detail possible out of that scene and the characters that upon revision all I need to do is cut away words like a banzai gardener. Yesterday’s words felt very much that way, because I was working on a one scene chapter, which I’d already outlined to the tune of 500 words. adding another thousand was rough stuff, but it really did work. I got down into the bones of the people and their needs and worked out some of the things I’d yet to tackle in that particular novel.
What I need to be sure I am doing is taking moments to write beyond the 1K, because I am a man who works from outline, and without the outline I find myself drifting from story to story following whatever idea catches the sails of my imagination. That is not very productive. So, I will continue to give myself additional time to outline the new works while I am pursuing a 1000 word lifestyle.
Back to the idea of letting things fall, I know this is a major concern that needs to be addressed. Apologies need to be made. A solid schedule needs to be designed, and above all of that I just gotta bite down and do the work that I don’t have the passion to due–regardless of burnout.
Part of being a grownup and a writer and a professional and even a coach is doing the hard work. Doing the stuff you don’t want to do. My partner has long said that I am pulled in too many directions. She was right in part and I pulled back, but if I am not occupied enough it is the same as being occupied too much. Finding that balance is difficult and finding ways to rejuvenate my passion in the things I don’t want to do is a much larger problem than being pulled in multiple directions. In truth, I love the rhythm of a routine. What I dislike are the things in my life that constitute that routine.