I haven’t been as focused as the week before but I have been writing just as much, mostly just in a condensed form because I’ve been working a little more and working on DND session prep. I like long writing sessions but I want to make sure I’m writing every day, rather than just smashing out my targets on the weekend (just like how I do my assignments). I’m working hard to make sure it’s truly an everyday habit whilst trying to make sure I don’t burn myself out by accident.

Currently, my targets for the week are at:

• 16,515 / 10,000 for “Personal Writing”
• 5,740 / 5,000 for “Professional Writing”

I’ve written every day this week but it’s been a bit all over the place in terms of what I’m writing. Generally, I try to make progress of my current projects every day but I didn’t for this week, although I still hit my Daily Writing target by doing “Professional Writing”. I’m currently trying to expand the nature of my “Pro. Writing” by looking more at research-driven writing; experimenting with different types of writing and doing essay-like writing.  I’m happy that I finally hit my “Pro. Writing” target, I hadn’t quite made it in the few weeks before. That’s a win… even if the writing might be more on the garbage side than the quality side.

I’m having fun writing, and I think that’s been the best thing to come out of this sudden productivity turn-around. I’m enjoying hitting my targets and am comforted by the fact I’ve managed to revive old projects and am making steady progress with them. Though I didn’t do my daily targets through Writeometer, I’m still on target because of extensive writing sessions. I think I also feel more confident with my writing and myself, feeling like I hit that kind of university life that I wanted to (minus the friends and such). It feels good to be making progress with my life.

The current projects I’m working on are The Doll and TAS. By my Excel Spreadsheet, I’m currently at this:

• The Doll – 50%
• TAS – 73%

TAS was meant to be 60,000 words but it got extended to 100,000 because… well, I’m not good at actually sticking to word limits. Characters sometimes like to run off with the plot and I gotta just go with it. I also decreased the 60,000-word expectation of monthly Focus Projects to 40,000 to hopefully tame the stories and hopefully increase the chances of finishing them in the actual month they’re assigned for. TAS was January’s Focus Project but is now due by the end of February, along with The Doll, which is February’s Focus Project.

I hadn’t touched The Doll since last April and wasn’t sure if I would be able to pick it back up and so it has been a boost of confidence to have been able to. Sometimes I still hit a small wall, but most of my writing sessions have been nicely productive and my creative gears are getting greased each time, making it easier to spit out hundreds of words. There’s something really great about getting a piece of writing going after not being able to for so long. It’s motivating!

I’m hoping that I can keep this progress up when the semester officially starts for me. This coming week is going to be pretty busy too but I won’t be focusing on university work yet so I should be able to get as much done as I’ve planned. I expect my project information to come in soon and that might consume some of my time, but as long as I manage my time well, I should be able to do this.

Let’s do this!

That’s my Writing Reflection for the week starting the 10th February 2020.