Busy, Busy

The last few weeks, because of work and the holidays getting in the way, not to mention the weird weather we've been having lately, its been a bit difficult to get anything substantial on book 3 done. Like, seriously, this book is taking far too long to write.

A lot of that can be chalked up to my sleep schedule and work interfering with each other so that by the time i wake up for work, I've got really no time to do anything. And I'm usually too tired after I get home for much of anything coherent. It's a bit of a problem.

Thankfully, along side a bout of insomnia that's not letting me sleep at all the last few days, I've managed to get close to five chapters done in the last three days. So now, for a change, I'm actually progressing rather smoothly and quickly. It helps that there's been a bit of action in the writing, and that almost always goes well in general anyway.

Still, its a good sign. If I can manage to fix my sleep schedule to give me back the time before work, and get rid of this insomnia, I may be able to finish up this book, or at least the first draft, and move forward with what needs to be done.

Admittedly, the story has gone through a lot of changes already from what I'd initially intended. It had too. Something had to be toned down enough that I could write past the same spot over and over and over again. Like seriously, I've had to start over so many times. I am not doing that again. At least not in this book. I've gone too far, and put in too much work. I'll make it all work somehow.

I think.

Confidence :)

I've got quite a few plans moving forward anyway, and I'd really like to get started on them. But to do that, I need to finish what I'm working on right now. Got to progress the story, got to move the whole of the world forward. If I don't, nothing else is really going to matter all that much.

Very Productive

So far, this weekend has been very productive. Outside of a few bumps in the road during the week, I've actually managed get a hell of a lot done. A three chapter scene is done, and i can move on to the next part. The ball is definitely rolling along now.

Am honestly surprised that this particular scene went this long. Was expecting a chapter, maybe two, but things just kept going and going and going. Not in a bad way. it's an action type scene, and they do tend to fill up rather quickly. And I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. It's a good way to amp up the threat of the antagonists and show just how dangerous the situation really is.

 Plus it gives a good bit of reasoning behind some of the backstory in the world. Kinda explains just why things are the way they are sorta thing. Always got to fit in some world building when you can. It helps flesh out the world and it makes the story better when you're able to understand the why of it all. Why things happen, why characters look at things the way they do. Plus it does kind of illustrate why Heaven found herself in the position she was in for so many years as well.

That's always a good thing. Builds up the world, threads out plot points here and there, and gives me ideas for the future that I can work with. Even if I wasn't initially planning on taking the story or characters (Heaven especially) in a certain direction. It's all a neverending work in progress. And that's a good thing.

At least I think so.

Pushing Past

I don't know why this story is giving me so many problems. It's fighting me, and I'm really not sure how to handle it. Haven't ever had this much problem writing something. Every step of the way it seems I'm running into something that's getting in the way. Not just r/l interrupting things, though that has been an issue. Hard to write much when you can't seem to get enough sleep.

It's more than that though. I got past the first trouble spot, though I will have to go over it all again later, but something just seems off about it all. Not sure what it is, or even how to correct it. Best thing i can think of is to try and power through it and maybe get some insight when the first draft is finished. Not sure though.

I'm really struggling with this, and I'm at a loss on how to fix it.

Silver lining though, I am managing to actually get some work done. Actually quite a bit written down today, but its just tooth and nail every step of the way. Will have to see how it all comes out in the end. I like how it's looking so far, but it's just getting it out in the first place that seems to be the problem.

I dunno, I foresee a lot of heavy edits when I get to that point. At this rate though, that's going to take forever to get to. Maybe I just got all caught up in how easy the first two came to me. Probably doesn't help that the first two , and quite a few after that come to think of it, have been rolling around in my head for years. This is entirely new.

I just had to feel the need to slip something in to change things up. Alter the timeline so to speak. And now I gotta deal with everything that goes along with that. Lucky me.

I'll figure it out. Even if it kills me. though I really hope it doesn't. Even still, what a way to go, huh.

Forward, always Forward

It's taken me a while to fully get back into the swing of things. Outside of somehow catching the flu during the holiday, I seem to keep running into a wall with this one. It's actually kind of aggravating how this keeps happening. I don't think I've ever had this much difficulty writing before. And all of it comes down to the interaction between two characters.

I've thought about removing the character from this story entirely, but the problem with that is, if I do that, the whole story would end up following after her. This character is integral to the story, and the overarching story so she's kind of important. Problem comes in with having to deal with her interactions with Heaven. Which isn't getting any easier.

I do think I'm getting past the bump finally though. A lot of it has to do with initial feelings and preconceptions. Which is draining as all hell to write, but once I can work my way past this and get over the speed-bump, then everything else will eventually fall into place and everything will start coming together like it should. Just got to get to the top and then everything (as far as this point is concerned) is downhill from there so to speak.

Just gotta get to that point. And that's taking quite a bit of time. Sad part it, I'm gonna have to go through all of this all over again when I get finished and start going back chapter by chapter to edit and rewrite. that's a ways off so I can kinda ignore that for now. But it's gonna be there waiting for me.

Gotta keep at it though. Do NOT want to have to start all over for a fourth or fifth time. That will just make everything take longer and I'll never get out of the "slump". I think it's actually going better though. just gotta keep focused and keep myself pushing forward. That's the key.