[OFF TOPIC] The next step I want to take in writing.
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Yesterday 7:11 AM
17
Yesterday was a very significant day for me in many ways. It was the day I started posting again on Webnovel/Scribblehub, the day I revised the plot, communicated with new donors, the day I read hundreds of unread comments and responded to each one, all while maintaining my study schedule.
It was a very busy day, but the most significant thing was something I only realized this morning: "My goal of writing 750 words per chapter has been achieved, and now what?"
Increasing it doesn't seem like the right choice; I feel that 750 is ideal for me at the moment, so I should add something more, not in quantity, but in quality.
I've grown a lot in the last two weeks.
Since I started writing in the beginning, I haven't done many revisions or thought much about each chapter. First, because I was breaking free from negative habits like gaming and novel addiction. I didn't have much self-control and was starting to reform myself.
But here we are, on the threshold of the next month. I've already overcome those addictions, my self-esteem has increased, criticism doesn't affect me nearly as much as before, and I've completely lost my anxiety about writing or even about making mistakes.
Something has grown inside me, and I'm allowing myself to make mistakes in writing in order to improve my skills in the long run. Before, my heart would race with every notification, anxious for feedback, but now, although my eyes look at the notification bell, I feel completely at peace.
Ideas flow more freely.
By overcoming the fear of losing readers and making mistakes, my mind has become more open to exotic ideas. With consistent practice, which started with 500 words and now reaches 750, I often find myself in a state of flow, frequently reaching 1,000 to 2,000 words in a single day.
For someone who hasn't written anything coherent for months, struggling with self-criticism and lack of consistency, this is something to celebrate. Writing has become a skill that gradually brings me pleasure as before, instead of something forced.
I don't care if I get paid for these words I write; all that's on my mind right now is: "Am I evolving?" The fact that I'm stuck in the same place is killing me inside, so every week I challenge myself to improve some aspect of my life.
I increase my walking time, I improve my posture, I listen more attentively in class, and things like that. But I've reached the maximum I could in terms of quantity for now; it's time to focus on qualitative aspects.
The aspect of my writing that I want to improve
Planning is my primary goal. It's not about how well the chapter is written, but about the events being explored, the necessity of them, and the moment they are presented. It's like the semantic aspect of writing over its syntactic aspect (the way ideas are conveyed). I'm looking at writing on a larger scale, like a company CEO deciding which aspects of their business to keep, when, and why.
Therefore, before and after writing a chapter this week, I will do a simple exercise. For 10 minutes, I will plan the chapter's development in detail. Then, upon completion, I will analyze for another 10 minutes how the events were organized, how the conclusion was handled, and note possible points for improvement.
This totals 20 minutes focused on planning and self-analysis. For this, I need to dedicate a slightly larger writing block in the morning, having to move some activities to the evening or during breaks after lunch. I'm even thinking of removing less important things, although everything in my plan is quite essential.
The Importance of These 20 Minutes of Practice
The benefits of this exercise are numerous. The first is coherence; as the chapters are carefully thought out before writing, their events become more coherent and predictable, the chances of abrupt development are reduced, and the plot becomes more robust.
In each final 10-minute session, I am exercising my ability to see flaws and points for improvement that can be fixed the next day or by adding blocks of exercises to improve a certain skill.
The fear of starting is reduced, as each element has been defined, and the fear of stagnation is also reduced, because at the end of the process, I myself make notes and give feedback, simulating how the chapter will be received, validating my ideas in reality later.
Of course, there is also a drawback; creative ideas that I have in the middle of the process can end up being lost in this planning because it has become more decisive. This forces me to write in a certain direction. It's sacrificing creativity for control, and the plan isn't always so good.
After These Two Weeks of Planning
Now, moving on to my future plans, I will still maintain the 750-word limit. There are still aspects of planning that I want to improve, such as jotting down ideas to create a repertoire of ideas to be reused, the revision aspect, to change parts of the chapter in a more coherent way, etc.
But my next focus will be on syntax, that is, on how the content is conveyed. For two weeks I will again focus on the "show, don't tell" principle, adding details to the scenes, improving my descriptions and, to some extent, dialogues (but that's for later).
My quality control will be focused on making the chapters more engaging, adding good doses of emotion to each part to keep the reader engaged. Once that's done, I will return to the planning stage I mentioned before and refine certain points.
This is my current plan.
Planning is something I will apply starting today, and I will be adjusting my plan for this activity. I don't know how well I will do with it. I'll start by adding just 10 minutes to plan each part of the chapter, then write and correct grammatical errors.
Next week, I'll add another 10 minutes to reread the chapter, point out inconsistencies, areas for improvement, and well-executed points. This will bring the total to 20 minutes dedicated to planning.
I don't know if you'll notice much difference at first; when I write, I inevitably end up in a state of flow and going off-script. But I hope that with this, the average number of chapters will become more enjoyable and that the plot will move more consistently, avoiding glaring errors like the "Secret Files" chapter from volume 1, which completely detaches from the story, seeming like a story of another genre within another.
Wish me luck, and here's a cookie 🍪
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