As I indicated on Monday, I had a slip in my writing.  I had been doing pretty good up until October--at least 10 minutes a day every day for over a year.  But then I had a week back in October when I was really busy teaching and marking, and I allowed myself to go for a few days without writing, and then it was really hard to get back into it.  (The lesson is never let yourself take breaks, because it is so hard to get back into it again.)

Part of the problem is that since August I had been trying to do 2 drafts simultaneously--I tried to keep plowing ahead with the first draft for 10 minutes every day, but also work on the second draft for another 10 minutes every day.  And that doubled my time commitment.  Which made me get burned out faster.  Which made me stop.

But I want to try again.

I've been inspired by these Steve Donoghue Writing Videos.

An #authortube Question: HOW Should You Write?

After watching this video, I've decided to do a bit of renaming on my drafts.  I'd been calling the draft I've been posting on this blog a second draft, but I've decided that's not really an accurate description.  It's more of a first draft on the backstory.  All the story in it I'm working through for the first time.

Plus, my so-called "first draft" isn't really a serious draft.  It's more just playing around (what Steve Donoghue refers to in his video as being a Pantsers).  So I've decided to re-name the so-called first draft as the "zero draft".  And the so-called second draft is now the "first draft".

I'm going to try to get back into writing from next week.  If I have limited time, I'll try to prioritize working on the first draft instead of the zero draft--this is because of Steve's advice on his video to try to make the writing time a serious exercise in communication, and not just to write an incoherent story that no-one else could ever read.