Last Friday (June 15), I set a goal for the weekend: 20 pages. The 20 pages could be anything, but the focus was on a graphic novel I’ve started. Since I have issues with motivation, I haven’t set page goals or deadlines since college , but a lot of writers do, so I wanted to give it a shot. Also, the graphic novel needs to be finished and not sit in my Documents folder.
Saturday came, and I went to see Solo and to a bookstore next to the theater. I arrived at the library at three o’clock (it closes at five). Since most of my day was gone, I decided not to write.
The graphic novel was in one Word file, and various chapters that take place at various times were getting their own page numbers. Like, the first chapter had Page 1, Page 2, Page 3…; then another chapter had Page A1, Page A2, Page A3… With four chapters already in the one file, it was confusing to find what I wanted to work on, so I separated the one file into chapter files ([Graphic Novel Name] Chapter ## [Some Descriptor]). This method is really going to help as I have a hard time writing longer pieces linearly/chronologically (one reason why I prefer short stories). Having the storyline jump around (a la Slaughterhouse 5) is being considered. Now I can easily write whatever part I’ve been thinking about.
On Sunday at Indianapolis Central Library, I finished 21 pages in seven hours. Of course, for a graphic novel it’s a script, so it’s not like writing 21 pages of prose. Still, I put a lot of thought into a first draft (and on a graphic novel script I include the page layouts for the artist), though on Sunday I only included descriptions that may have been forgotten later.
What about this weekend (I’m writing this on Sunday, June 24)? The past two weeks at work have been busy. I was trying to get into the office between 6:00-6:30 a.m. (usually I’m in between 7:00-7:30 a.m.). There were other reasons it’s been stressful at work, and by Friday I felt like I was going to hit a wall. I did on Saturday and slept for five hours in the afternoon/evening. Today, I wanted to add a blog post and maybe work on a new graphic novel chapter. No page goal this weekend, but I’m going to get a bit done. Crashing ended up being more important that writing.
Later,
Phill
Future Imperfect 