Writing went a bit slower this morning. I think it went so quickly last night because I was merely writing out a section that I’d already thought a lot about, and had written in my head, more than once, while this morning I was in the section beyond that. Some unexpected things turned up, but boy, I think they’re going to give some nice twists of plot later on. So the total words hand-written and typed for this morning are:

22,000 / 100,000 (22.0%)

I need to do some more thinking about chapter four. I know where I want it to go. I know where the chapter ends. (I think. Now I’m wondering if that scene is actually part of this chapter, or if it’s part of chapter seven. Or if just the confrontation is in chapter four, while the resolution of said confrontation is in chapter seven.) So I’m going to put it to the side for a while, and go back to rewriting chapter two.

For me — that’s been one of the most wonderful things about how I’ve changed my process. I’m not making myself do anything: I’m working on what I want to work on at the time. I’m not pushing myself at chapter four, trying to get it finished. I’m taking some time out to think about it, and to work on chapter two, which I’m now ready to rewrite. I trust myself to go back to chapter four in a few days with some marvelous insights. I’m not losing energy for a chapter by putting it aside for a couple of days. The same thing has happened in almost all the other chapters — I write about half, put it aside and work on something else, then come back and blaze through to the end. The one chapter I didn’t do that on — chapter three — has massive problems and I really need to rewrite huge chunks of it anyway. Taking my time between finishing the handwritten draft and starting the typed draft is something else I need to do, I think — I think I would have fewer problems with Chapter three if I’d taken the time to think about it more before typing it up.

One of the reasons why I’m posting these updates is because it feels like some kind of accountability. While on the one hand I know no one is going to publicly shame me if I don’t write for a few days, on the other hand, knowing that when I write I can post about it is additional motivation for me to write. Not like I really need it these days — When I wake up all I can think about is working more on this novel, I fall asleep thinking about it, I find myself taking notes on it at odd times during the day. . . I’m not kidding, or even exaggerating, when I say that I’m obsessed with it. And yet — this obsession feels different compared to the other novels. I’m successfully living in both worlds. I think a lot of that has to do with me living alone. I can slip into the world of the novel whenever I want, and I only have myself to pull me out. I don’t feel like I need to hoard my novel time — all the time I have is mine, and I’m enjoying it tremendously.