For my first update, of all times, I have to say I haven’t written anything for several weeks aside from blog posts, texts, emails (personal and professional), and sticky notes with reminders and random thoughts. Shame on me. ALL THE SHAME, ALL OF IT, ON ME.
I was hoping to say something like “I’ve completed my plotting” or “conquered that outline, bishes,” but instead I am informing you now that my writing process is as much of a work-in-progress as my YA sci-fi novel. I’m out of practice, I’m out of the loop, and I have goop connecting my brain cells.
On the bright side, what I wrote several weeks ago was great. I was pushing through writer’s block, stringing words together, mentally replaying and reliving the scene I worked on, and I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed it upon re-read. It may have only been 600 words, but those 600 words feel golden right now.
Aside from the occasional scene that demands to be written (like the one I just mentioned), I’ve been struggling with thick, obstinate, impenetrable writer’s block that forces me to regroup with intense plotting and pre-writing. I figured that mapping out the world, the characters, and the story more in depth was better than raging against that formidable and never-ending resistance. While I can’t be productive pushing through a single chapter, and typing away a few thousand words in one go, I am working on developing my writing schedule, habits, and behaviors. In high school and college I was writing daily for at least a couple hours, but the adult working world has many demands and most of those demands cost a lot of my time. Hence I haven’t written much lately.
Thinking back to high school and college, I envy past-me for her perseverance and talent. Conjuring ideas and the words to write came easy to her, whereas now it takes me several days to make ideas come together, pieces are missing, and the words seem to never come. My daily mantra, which is a fortune cookie taped to my work monitor, is “practice makes perfect.”
I shall practice until I can sit down, type, type some more, and type even more, finishing my manuscript.
If you are interested in knowing what I am working on, it's a YA sci-fi novel with the working title A.I.dan. It is set in a future world where the robotics field has gone beyond the programming of mechanical parts and machines and onto the human brain. Advances in the medical field have merged with bio-inspired robotics to at first overcome brain differences, such as the autism spectrum, mental illnesses, physical and emotional trauma--it represented an answer to all problems borne from the brain and its complex intricacies and delicate nature. I have been researching the brain and its different parts and their functions; robotics, artificial intelligence, and soft robotics/bio-inspired robotics; and in general I have been puttering around on the internet trying to create a book/movie/music/art list for inspiration and pop culture research.
If you have any suggestions on what to look into, I am more than happy to take your offered information! I thank you in advance.
Well, I only have half my Sunday left. Off to productivity! Stay bitchin', y'all!