Novel Idea: Writing Average

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Well, that answers that question: how long is my attention span?

About 4.5 weeks. Which, to be fair, is a lot longer than the three days I had originally estimated.

I was hoping to save this post until the end of week five of my 1k a day regime, which would have been tomorrow. Instead, I made it to Sunday before throwing in the towel.

Above is a nice little graph that shows my productivity flux across those four weeks. It gives the total number of words written on each day of the week, and the average output. Mondays were by far the most productive day - whoda thunk?

I added an average of 7,404 words per week, with a total of 29,616 words added over those four weeks, 32,632 including Friday-Sunday this week.

That, my friends, is a satisfying number of words.

So, what happened?

Did I run out of plot? Did I get writer's block? Has my computer crashed?

No.

None of the above.

Unfortunately, 'real life' intervened. It's been one hell of a week with the day job. I had some work that really needed shifting, and hit a bit of a flump on Monday. Just sort of lost my heart for it, really. No other way of putting it.

This is different to writer's block. I haven't lost the words, they're still there. I just need a breather. Sometimes, when work is stressful and things aren't going brilliantly, that's when I throw myself into writing as a distraction. I get some of my best stuff done then. Perhaps the problem here was that, in turning writing into a routine, when the pressure built up elsewhere, I no longer saw it as an escape but as a chore?

I feel a bit disappointed about falling short of the five weeks, but disappointment doesn't really serve any purpose, so I'm already over it. The only question remaining is: when will I start writing again?

I think the realistic answer is going to be 'when I feel like it,' which is likely to be when I'm on top of everything else. I'm giving myself permission to forget about it for now, see how I feel on Monday.

32.6k is not to be sniffed at. I'm pleased with that, and very happy with what I've written so far. I don't mind mentioning this hiccup, as the point of Novel Idea is to share the process of writing a novel, warts and all. There are always highs and lows. Nothing that beer therapy and a few days in the sunshine won't cure.