Staying productive when productivity is hard

Progress Update

Image ID: a Pacemaker screenshot showing that 21,589 words have been written/revised/edited in the current draft of The Mark of Thieves.

So, words-wise, this was definitely a slower week, though not an unproductive one. Here's what we got done:

• some edits/revisions in TMOT

• successful drafting of one of the skipped TMOT chapters

• the rewrite of the final chapter of The Queen of Lies

• more newsletter work, including successfully adding a pop-up to my website homepage (it's not active at the moment though!)

• major website work (omg — it looks SO much better than it did a week ago!)

• testing out a different model on the TMOT cover. I'm not 100% sold but I think it added more visual interest.

• forcing myself to read more of the book I've been ignoring

Work-wise, this week was extremely busy. On one of the days, I didn't even make it home until 9pm, and there were multiple days where I just didn't even touch my computer after I came home from work. What do you do when you're on a deadline and have things to get done, but you're just too tired?

Well, my solution was to work on the above items. Writing TMOT Ch. 8 (still untitled, actually … I should fix that!) and the TQOL finale in my notebook (in purple ink 💜) was one way to make me feel like I was making progress, even if it wasn't visible in Scrivener or in an updated word count. Working on my website was another low-stakes activity that helped me feel okay about being Too Tired to Write.

IRL Update

This coming week is either going to be MADLY productive or not productive at all, and I'm a little frightened to find out which. I'll be travelling mid-week, spending some time in an airport with no one to talk to, so that could mean getting a LOT done. However…the days that will follow my landing in the UK will be fraught with high emotions, grief, and some undeniably taxing emotional labour. I'd love to front-load this week with lots of progress in TMOT revisions and edits, but I'm committed to finishing TQOL and scratching that right off my to-do list forever — not to mention I'll have work for, you know, my day job. So…I guess we'll see what happens!

Positivity Pause

Yesterday, I was reading over a particularly tense TMOT chapter, making notes and highlights as I went.

(Oh yeah, another tip for laptop fatigue — I turned my draft into an ebook and made editing notes via my iPad…it's still a screen, but it feels low-stakes and has the added bonus of forcing me to see the manuscript in a different visual setting.)

It was SO fun! One of those moments where I felt really good about how it turned out. So delightfully tense, great narration (it was a Hatchett chapter, lol), with conflict just oozing off the page. I felt genuinely proud of myself, and I freakin' love that feeling.

Snippet

Gosh. Most of my focus was on writing this Colette chapter, and I don't think it's very good, but hey. That's was this blog is about, right? Documenting progress — and celebrating it.

Geoff’s standing guard, letting Jamie do the work—an unusual reversal for them, because Geoff’s so much bigger and infinitely more intimidating. Sure, Jamie does the talking, but he’s not usually the one roughing people up. Not tonight, though. He’s got Tomich shoved up against the wall, spitting questions into his face. “Leave it, Alpha,” I say, watching with alarm as Jamie’s hands tighten into fists. “I got what we came for. Let him go before he double-crosses us again.” For a split second, I think Jamie’s going to lose his head and punch the guy, anyway. But he gets control of his emotions just in time. With a thrust away from him, he lets Sarah’s father go.

Haha. 😅 Things aren't going so well in that book. Here, have a happier thing from the TQOL finale.

Suddenly, the winter light shone so brightly, it blazed through her closed eyes and reminded her what daylight was supposed to feel like. The air was cold as ice, no longer biting but invigorating against her skin as if it woke her from a dream. Every place where his body touched hers—lips, fingers, cheeks, all of him and more—produced a cascade of feeling so intense, she didn’t believe it even had a name.

Okay, that's it — have a wonderful week, everyone!