Ira Heinichen's Blog, page 284

Day 1,734: Saturday

It’s past 1 already, so I’m going to make this a quick one I think

Day 1,733: Aaaahhhhhh

What a week, you guys. What a week.

I’m not quite done yet, but I’ve already written more this week than I think I ever have, ever. 14,500 words. A quarter of this rewrite. Done.

I definitely hit a little bit of a wall today, but I actually think that wall was more *story* related than it was fatigue. I actually feel quite good. Some neck soreness and some leg soreness from the way that I’m sitting…but I can adjust those.

Man, that is the next thing to try and figure out: working out. Taking...

Day 1,732: Not Perfect

One thing I’ve learned about being a writer, or a creative person in general, is how important it is to not be perfect.

For me, it’s especially important when it come to my scheduling. I cannot schedule my day down to the minute. It’s impossible, and it leaves me frustrated, and with things not done in the end.

I was just writing a post in a writers group on Facebook that made me think about that, and looking at my word count for the day. The person was asking about what they can do to up the...

Day 1,731: dayoff

I feel remarkably gassed for having had a day off. That worries me a bit, considering I have two full-on writing days ahead of me to cap off the best writing week I’ve ever had…but I won’t be deterred.

If I’m tired tomorrow, so be it. I can keep going.

I’m reading The Left Hand of Darkness right now and really enjoying it. Le Guin’s writing is super fun and pretty easy to read, except for some stretches where she really packs in the big thesaurus words. They’re always apt, those fancy words,...

Day 1,730: Eight Thousand

I’ve written eight thousand words on my rewrite in the past two days. TWO DAYS. It’s a minor miracle. No, it’s a major one. I could not have DREAMED of doing this even…two months ago. For context, that’s about 32 pages, or 1/10th of a full-length novel. In two days. Ten sets of that 2 days’ of output, and I’ve written an entire novel.

Writing a novel in a month is very, very doable. At least the first draft

Day 1,729: Old Photos

How do you feel when you look at old photos?

To be honest, until this blog came about, I’ve always preferred to look into the future as opposed to the past. I know that’s part my innate personality, and part insecurity.

I look at old photos, and I feel awkward most of the time. I feel like I used to look like a fool, like ‘that’s someone who didn’t know what they were doing.’ I find myself criticizing my hair, my glasses, the clothes I wore, or the pose I struck. I remember trying to be cool....

Day 1,728: Le Quicks

Quick entry tonight because it’s already bed time: I had a wonderful Sunday. Perhaps not as sleepy and nappy as I’d hoped, but I got to sleep in a bit, and that was awesome.

Watched the A’s beat the Giants to win the Bay Bridge Series trophy for this year, I had a really great writing session in which I outlined some story goals for the next two full work days.

And then in the evening, we went over to Stephen and Thida’s house for some freaking DELICIOUS fried chicken. It was Pho fried chicke...

Day 1,727: Possibilities

I just saw a post from an author…they wrote a 60,000-word book in 10 days.

I can do that. Maybe not yet…but, shit…I *can* do that. I’ve written 6,000 words in a day. It’s very, very doable. It’s 4-6 hours of focused writing in a work day. And I can do that for ten days. Maybe a couple days off in there…

It’s stuff like that which blows my mind, seeing the possibilities of what other people are able to do, and realizing that I, too, can do that if I practice.

Writing in such binges like that i...

Day 1,726: Slay

Man, today was awwwwssoommmeee.

I’m in on my rewrite. It has begun, and it is GOOD. For now. I’m sure I’ll hate it in a weeks’ time, but this is really the major win: I knew today instantly that this rewrite was worth the time. It’s going to take me a bit to finish, of that I have no doubt.

If my recent track-record is any indication, it’s going to take me about two months. I’m hoping to finish in four weeks, cut that time in half. I *can* do it, but will I? Who knows. And, at the end of the...

Day 1,725: Recharge

Today was a recharge day. Not planned, but it was anyway.

I have this “ideal” of working my ass off for four days of the week, and taking it easy-er the other three days. Write like the dickens four days, write not as much three days.

I never seem to stick to that schedule. Which is fine; I will find my own routine, you know? I can’t force much without it pushing back.

I hadn’t taken a day off yet this week, so taking it easier today made sense. I did some outlining and some scene sketching,...