I’ve been disappointed in myself a lot lately about my writing progress. After all, I have just been copying in words that were already written/dictated, and still barely making my daily target most days, like today when I only just beat 500. A lot of the slow progress comes from editing as I go, but still, I have felt like I should be doing better.
But that’s not always reasonable.
Right now, I am in the middle of an extremely stressful stretch at work. We are building up to a significant announcement and my office is having to put together not just the announcement itself, but also the structure of the program we’re going to announce, all with minimal guidance from above. That project is sapping my energy and keeping my mind constantly focused on the problems to solve in the workplace, even when I’m at home.
I do want to get over that, but until I do, I need to modify my expectations of myself and celebrate what I do succeed at. I have to give myself credit for what I am accomplishing. Even if it’s only 500 words worth of words that were already written, I did make progress on my book today. There will probably be days coming up where I can’t even do that, and that’s OK, too. Until I’m a full-time author, I have to be able to balance my work, my family, and my writing. I can’t win with all three every day, but as long as I’m winning with family and keeping the other two going as best I can, then that should be good enough.
In today’s scene, I am building toward the reveal of the enemy and the threat to my hero (although she isn’t present and won’t know for a few scenes). The scene has the immediate impact of putting my hero in unknowing peril once we cut back to her, but also sets up the conflict for the rest of the story.