Writing process update

Over the past month I've been taking advantage of the break in my editing schedule to work hard on the first draft of one of my pseudonym's WIPs. I've tried all sorts of different strategies from writing for two hours a day to eight hours a day, scheduling specific blocks of time to write to blocking out an entire day, writing on very little sleep to getting lots of sleep, etc. Here are some things I have learned over the last couple of weeks about my writing process.

Regarding when and how long I can write
I can write for 4 hrs/day fairly consistently and for 6 hrs/day for a few days, but not 6/hrs/day consistently or 8 hrs/day for even one day. Provided I go to bed around 11pm or midnight and get up around 8am, my brain is at its best between 10am and 8pm, provided I take care to eat regularly.

Regarding food and sleep
My brain demands more food when I'm writing a lot, and if I skip breakfast or ignore my hunger pains, my brain shuts down in protest. I had thought that maybe trying to write on little sleep would help me let go of the inner editor and write without judgement, but it turns out that watching Project Runway until 5:30am, getting up at 9am and trying to write after breakfast leads not to writing all the words but instead to a) about two handwritten pages of disconnected notes about everything from the ms I'm trying to write to the fashion collection inspired by food I'd design if I had any sewing experience or fashion sense, and b) a 2.5-hr nap. 

ROW80 2014, Round 1, Week 11

With only a few days left in the round, I'd normally be thinking ahead to my goals for the next round. I generally like thinking about the starts of new things; I haven't screwed anything up yet, and anything is still possible. But right now I can't think about anything beyond a week from today, which is my self-imposed deadline for having a first draft of my novel finished.

This time last week I was panicking. The previous few days had brought low word counts and I didn't see how in the world I was ever going to finish this book on time. But then I visited Denise D. Young's blog, wherein she spoke of Rachel Aaron's book 2K to 10K. The timing was right; I was desperate to figure out how to write faster, which is exactly what Aaron's book is about. I started reading it and figured, "What the heck. I'm not usually a plotter, but it's worth a shot."

I'm not going to give you Aaron's secrets; those are hers to sell. But I will tell you what I like best about her approach: It doesn't hinge on telling herself to quit being lazy and just get over it and just do it already. Nor does it hinge on talking herself out of feeling what she's feeling about her book. Instead she sees her low word counts or reluctance to write as a red flag that there's something that isn't working in what she's trying to write.