My regular update on my novel writing progress, including insight into living and working as an indie author with a full-time job and Crohn’s disease. Spoiler free!
my_writing_week
Previously on WWW…
…I caught up on the videos of one of the AuthorTubers I follow, Sara Lubratt. Something she said sparked an idea that may help increase the amount of time spent on my creativity going forward – it requires a “normal” week as a baseline first, so I’ll likely tell you about that in the next WWW.
Oh, for a “normal” week. But I’ll get to that later.
So, what was it Sara Lubratt said that sparked my idea? It was a relatively innocuous comment made whilst talking about wanting to write more regularly: “I just really want to focus more on creating over consuming again.”
My brain received this information and spat out Creativity vs Consumption: if I enforce a conscious choice every time instead of slipping into consuming because it’s easier, I might create more.
I’ve recorded my writing sessions for the past 22 months, and now I’m recording my consumption too. Any time I watch, read, or play something, I list it on my spreadsheet.
There are exceptions. Any time I watch/read whilst doing something else (eg eating), that doesn’t count, because I couldn’t create at the same time as eating. Also, if I start watching something whilst eating, I can watch to the end without counting it, but not if it’s way longer (so I can’t cheat and watch a film without counting it just because I ate a sandwich during the first fifteen minutes). I usually listen to music whilst doing something else (often chores or writing), so that doesn’t get listed as consumption unless that’s all I’m focussed on.
For the week, I take the total time spent creating or consuming, and calculate the percentage spent creating. The aim is to increase the creativity percentage over time.
It’s already made a little difference – I’d decided to write this WWW in the evening, and was about to start consuming, but then as I went to note down my start time, I realised it would be better to begin this instead. You are reading evidence of my plan in action!
I’ll let you know the percentage for this week at the end of this section, after I explain what I’ve been doing and why it’s not the best base line to use…
Sunday seems a long time ago. It was the last day of my week off from my day job, and I still wanted to treat it like a bit of a holiday so I didn’t write loads. However, draft 3 of The Spike Volume 2 has officially begun! Finally.
I’d rewritten the prologue recently when my home internet was down, so that didn’t need major work, only some polishing. As the first pages of the book, I’ll continue to polish it every time I look at it, until I read through it and don’t want to change anything. Only then will I consider it done.
Chapter 0.2.1.1 (that’s chapter 1, of part 1, of volume 2) needed a little more work, punching up and expanding on how the character feels in their current physical state (in two words: not good).
(I think it’s important to state at this point there’ll be no spoilers in these blogs. I try too hard to make the stories surprising to ruin them here.)
During my lunch-hour on Monday, I polished chapter 0.2.1.1 some more.
Editing Volume 2 now makes me feel closer to publication, which makes me think of all the other things that need to be done before then. For example, I have at least 8 cover images to create for the various parts and collections of Volumes 0, 1 and 2.
Monday evening, I felt a burst of inspiration to revisit my current idea for a Volume 1 second edition cover (a montage of sorts), so I spent nearly two hours going through stock images. Somehow I ended up feeling further away from a final result than when I started.
Tuesday I was back in the office for my day job. In my lunch-hour, I began to write more for a blog post I’ve been writing bit-by-bit for months, which was to be the first in a new series. It was time to accept the main reason it had been taking me so long was because I wasn’t happy with it. Not just this piece, but the whole concept. Back on the shelf it goes, probably never to see the light of day. Some ideas don’t work. It’s part of being creative. But still frustrating.
After work on Tuesday, I made up for that disappointment by editing the next two and a half chapters in Volume 2. I know a lot of writers dislike the editing process, but I do a lot of work up-front to avoid the painful story restructuring that usually needs to be done if drafting without an outline, so I enjoy it.
Aaand, this is where the week got messed up.
I woke up on Wednesday with a head cold.
To say things came to a shuddering halt isn’t strictly accurate, because I’ve still been doing something every day – today is my 498th in a row, I couldn’t let my streak end.
But I have been less productive, giving myself grace to consume content I didn’t need to concentrate on. My lack of ability to focus meant no more editing, not whilst I couldn’t trust my writing to be at it’s normal level.
Wednesday, having decided to shelve my plan for my blog series, I went through the ideas I’d listed for that series to see what could be salvaged. The answer at the moment is I’m not sure.
Thursday, I spent more time looking through stock images for my Volume 1 2nd ed cover.
Friday, I went through my full list of blog ideas and put them in a vague order, deleting topics where I don’t think I have anything valuable to add to the discourse already out there, and prioritising those I think will be interesting a) to write, and b) for readers who might like my fiction. I’ve picked the next topic I’m going to write about, and it should be posted in the next week or two.
That brings us to today. This WWW has taken longer to write than usual, in part because I’ve had more to write about than I have recently, but also because head fuzzy words words words blurgh.
At time of writing, my creativity percentage for this week is 30%. I can certainly improve on that once I’m over my cold.
I don’t have a final target in mind. I certainly don’t want it to be 100%, because I want to read more novels, not less. I’d quite like to reach 50% to see what that feels like, then adjust from there.
Seems I’ve just set myself an interim target.
Reading this week: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Watching this week: The Wire season 2 (rewatch) and Hacks season 2
Playing this week: NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 and art of rally
status_report
In addition to the three short stories available to read for free here, there are three more yet to be published that make up The Spike Volume 0. The new three are in the final stages, and will be available some time before Volume 2 is published.
I’m still wavering on a new cover design for a second edition of The Spike Volume 1, and have begun work on a different idea. I think I’ve proven the concept — more work required.
I’m also working on covers for the two individual parts, 1.1_Application Infiltration and 1.2_Laying Down The Law, which are going to be published separately for the first time. I want both to have a similar style and layout, and I have an idea I like for each. The drafts I’ve created feel a little too minimalist, so I’m investigating what I can add that will make it more visually interesting without distracting from the main image.
Draft 3 is under way for The Spike Volume 2! I’d tentatively like to finish editing by the end of 2025.
Volume 2 is my biggest, most complex project, containing three separate books from the perspectives of seven characters.
The aim is to publish Volume 2 in 2026.
Early brainstorming has been done for The Spike Volume 3. I know how it must begin; I have an ending that I think will be great; and I have a long list of ideas to get from one to the other that needs to be whittled down and put in an order. I’m not intending to do much more work on this until revision is complete on Volume 2.
There are a couple of other projects in the works that I’m not ready to share yet – they’ll be announced here first.
connecting_links
The Spike is set in our world, incorporating real events; the links below are relevant to the themes and overarching storyline, and may or may not provide clues to the direction of the series.
I do not necessarily agree with or endorse any of the views within.
Tesla brings back ‘Mad Max’ ‘Full Self-Driving’ mode that ignores speed limits
‘Legacies condensed to AI slop’: OpenAI Sora videos of the dead raise alarm with legal experts
Apple sued over use of copyrighted books to train Apple Intelligence
Cyber-attacks rise by 50% in past year, UK security agency says
ChatGPT ‘upgrade’ giving more harmful answers than previously, tests find
OpenAI’s ChatGPT is so popular that almost no one will pay for it
weekly_inspiration
Every week I share something that’s inspired my creativity.
This week, I’m sharing a video from an AuthorTuber I follow, Sara Lubratt. If you’ve read my_writing_week above, you’ll know one relatively innocuous comment about 30 seconds into this video triggered my latest method to track my Creativity vs Consumption.
I always enjoy Sara’s videos. She doesn’t over-romanticise the writing process – sometimes it’s a struggle and that’s ok – and some of the landscapes she explores whilst hiking are almost enough to make me wish I hiked. Well, maybe not almost, but kinda, for half a second.
What’s inspired you this week? Please share in the comments.
See you next week.
Arrowmaker Books 