Now what?

“So, Mr. Mast, you’ve just finished a rough draft for your next award-winning and record-breaking novel. What are you going to do now?”

“Oh, I think I’m going to go to my cabin in the woods, sit in front of the fire, and have a nervous breakdown.”

“Sounds fantastic! After the break, we’ll show you a story about how geese aren’t really the spawn of Satan, contrary to popular belief!”

So there were no news articles about the finishing of a rough draft. No one stormed my front door demanding signatures on the various anthologies I’ve been in. Though there’s some advancement on my upcoming novel (available March 1!), no one’s interviewing me.

What now?

Well, in the last week… honestly, not much on the writing front. There are some projects I’ve advanced. I’ve gone back to check on the short stories I have out at various markets to find out if I should send out a query if it’s been too long since a response (and indeed some queries were sent). But mostly I’ve just been reading.

After a month of pouring out words and words and words, it’s time to absorb some words. I finished one novel, devoured the entirety of another, and now have started a third. I’m also sleeping more. I’m exhausted from a number of sources, though the novel rough draft certainly is one of those. Haven’t you heard? Writing is work, and that means taking time to rest from it is to be expected!

So when will I get back to writing?

Well, I’ve got this idea for a fantasy in an old-west setting. It would be a short story, likely something I could draft and polish in a week or two. I think I’ll tackle that starting tomorrow or the day after.

In other words, yes, I’ve taken a little bit of time away from “just writing,” though I’ve still been pursuing plenty of writing-adjacent activities. But it’s time to get back to it.

Writers write. It’s what we do. Even when we step away for a bit, we come back to it.

I hope y’all are having a great week, and if you’ve stepped away from writing for a bit, you’re ready to get back to it!

A Month and a Day

One month and one day. 76,324 words.

It is done.

Well, the rough draft is done. There’s a lot of polishing to be done in revisions. That said, it’s a lot easier to revise than to create from nothing. One part of the hard work is done; now more hard work is coming!

I decided to try writing a rough draft in a month. Sure, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is November, and lots of people do it, but November rarely works for me as a pastor. That’s the month of Thanksgiving and amping up for Christmas. Also, why wait for a set day when you could start any day?

So September 11, 2020, I began this attempt. I’d written entire novels in a month before, but never at this length. Previous efforts topped out at around 50,000 words in a month. I was aiming for a book of about 75,000 words this time around. That would mean well over 2,000 words a day on average. Could I do it?

Continue reading “A Month and a Day”

Sprinting Toward a Novel in One Month…

With the steel of the whip on my shoulder…
With the salt of my sweat on my brow…

OK, so maybe writing isn’t that bad. Honestly, it’s been a lot of fun. But since September 11, I’ve been writing like mad attempting to get the rough draft of a novel done in a month. That means I’ve got just over a week to go. I’m on track to actually finish… but it means that every single writing moment is dedicated to that novel.

Continue reading “Sprinting Toward a Novel in One Month…”

Writing While Depressed

I need to get more writing done. Right now I have the time to do writing.

Instead, I’m going to take a nap.

Instead, I’m going to cry.

Instead, I’m twitching because I’m overstimulated.

Instead, I’m going to stare at my computer screen. Not brainstorming or thinking about writing. Just staring.

Welcome to trying to write while wrestling with depression.

Continue reading “Writing While Depressed”