Onward Ho!

| Casey Wyatt

Happy Friday!! Don’t forget to visit me at the Scribes for – Care and Feeding of Your Doubt Monster.

Since last week, I’ve kicked into high gear. Finally, I’ve hit the halfway mark on my work in progress. And I’ve been slowing adding to Mystic Storm (Zephyr’s book) and Redemption (Galen’s Book). There must be something in the warm air because my daily word count has shot through the roof this week.

Last year, I averaged about 2,000 words a day on The Undead Space Initiative. This past week, I’ve done 3,000 words a day. Total word count to date  = 45,144.

I don’t know what has gotten into me, and quite frankly I don’t care. I just want to finish a book!

For the last few months, I’ve been dragging. I’ve had all three books plotted out, but for some reason, the words just weren’t flowing. And then I realized what I was doing. I was letting myself get stuck. My number one rule when writing is – onward ho!

Just like the settlers making their way out west, when I’m actively writing, my creedo is: don’t stop, don’t re-read, and don’t stare at the computer screen for too long.

So instead of trying to make myself write a scene that I wasn’t seeing or just not into at that moment, I moved onto the next scene repeating over and over –  I can fix it later.

Later. Not now. Later, when I’d finished the first draft.

When I’m done, it can be changed, improved, or deleted.

Really. It is that simple. I forgot. Silly me.

I know I’m not the only one who’s been in a bit of a slump. If you need motivation, I invite you to join us over at the CTRWA Facebook page where Jane Haertel is hosting writing sprints! If you’ve never tried one before, give it a try.

What’s been holding you back? What are your favorite tips for getting unstuck??

14 thoughts on “Onward Ho!”

  1. Just like you, I keep telling myself over and over “I can fix it later, just keep on writing”. It works, although I have editing to do afterwards. Whatever works.
    Great post.

    1. Thanks Janna! I wish I could bottle the energy I have now and use it when I get into a slump! I’m just relieved to be more that halfway done with the book. I hit 49,000 words last night!

  2. Good for you, Casey! This is excellent advice–probably some I need to take, too. And I’m so glad you’re writing is flowing. Hopefully that will rub off on me. 🙂

  3. I too have to force myself to just forge ahead and worry about fixing something later. I remind myself that there will probably be story changes as I keep writing and if I fix an early chapter or scene now, I might have to just fix it again later. And I use the total word count as motivation — sometimes I just want to get those last hundred words written before I stop!

  4. I too have to force myself to forge ahead and not get hung up on things that need to be fixed. I try to remind myself that the story will probably change at least a little as I write it, so if I fix something now I might end up fixing it again later. It’s easier to know how to fix things when you have the whole thing done!

    1. Yes, exactly! It can all be fixed later. And I agree, sometimes, the fixes are more obvious once you have the big picture. Thanks for stopping by Julia!

  5. I really, REALLY need to start letting go of my inner perfectionist. Just this morning I realized, when I thought to myself, “well, I just go back because I have to–I need to add in the setting details and all that,” that maybe I DON’T need to add those things in until later. It’s an enormous time suck, and also, I am starting to suspect it is a form of procrastination.

    1. Yes, perfectionism is definitely a form of procrastination! I’ve had to re-learn how to “write” for fiction. At work, I do a lot of business writing and it needs to be tight and to the point. And correct the first time around. Not so with fiction. You can write a first draft loaded with typos and clunky verbs! As long as you fix the mess, no one will be the wiser when they read the end product. But you won’t have an end product if you don’t finish (see, a big catch-22 circle!). Write it all, then clean it up! Thanks for stopping by Melanie – the sock monkeys says hi!!

  6. Every story sets its own pace. Don’t exactly know why that is. I’m excited for your next release though!

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