Good Morning, Tuesday 8th of December 2020

December 8, 2020December 8, 2020 Peter Germany Horror Writer, Insperation, Life, Nanowrimo, Writing Alexander Bailey, Armand Rosamilia, Goals, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, NaNo, Nanowrimo, Planning, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

Howdy, folks! my plans for today have changed as I’ll be working this afternoon/evening now. So I’m going to try and repeat what I did yesterday and write for a couple of hours before leaving for work.

I was super happy with how Penal Earth went yesterday. I liked the direction it took and I’m eager to get cracking on it today. I can see the end in sight now and feel positive about having this draft done by the end of the month. I feel the next draft may have a lot of tweaks but hopefully they’ll just be filling out world building elements, and not maybe plot points.

One thing I have been thinking about is for book two I might use a lot of the elements from the original draft I wrote for NaNo years ago. I still like a lot of the elements that it had and think it works better as a second book as I won’t have to do as much world building this second time around.

Seeing as Alexander Bailey and Armand Rosamilia shared their dry/erase boards…. I also do not apologise fir my handwriting 😁

I’m not going to just retrofit that first draft though. I’m going to start from scratch using what I remember and go from there. I think that’ll be more manageable. Not that I’m going to get to this one anytime soon. There’s at least three big projects to work on before I even think about Penal Earth 2.

I really do need to sit down and review where I am with projects and look at my goals for the next twelve months. Before we know it December will be rolling to an end and 2021 will be here.

12th of December 2020

December 4, 2020December 4, 2020 Peter Germany Editing, Horror, Horror Writer, Insperation, Life, Mental Health, Nanowrimo, Outlining, Planning, Preparation, Writing books, editing, Goals, Horror, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2018, Planning, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

Good evening, folks!

I’m actually on track this evening. I worked a few extra hours at work so I didn’t get much more than words written. I got 1289 done, but I’ve been wanting to get my final alterations on my zombie book done. Especially seeing as I’ve had an update from the cover artist and damn am I excited at how it’s looking! So that’ll be started in the next few days.

Due to yesterday’s falling asleep at the keyboard and today’s extra time at work I’m not as far as I want to be this month, but I’ve got Sunday off and a couple of days next week where I can really take advantage of the time I have.

A slow start to the month but a good one.

I’m in quite a productive state of mind at the moment. I’m making notes on Black Blood as I’m working on it, I’m also thinking about some visual aides that may be able to help with both Black Blood and Penal Earth. I’m going to try and execute some of those over the next week.

Tomorrow, I’m not expecting to get much writing done as I have a long work day. I will try and get a few words written during lunch though.

I’m super excited for this story now (title and character names likely to change).

I’ve printed off a draft of a story I wrote for NaNoWriMo 2018 (Lovers), and I’m going to read through that tonight, leave it till next week and then read through with a pen and make notes. This is one where it’s done, but I’ve never been happy with it. For a start it’s a romance, which I’m not exactly familiar with or known for; and secondly I always knew it was missing something. The other day I had an idea just pop into my head which changes the entire energy of the story and I’m really eager to get stuck into it. I’m going to be patient though and not start on it until next year. I want to read it those couple of times, make notes, and then let it simmer for a few weeks. I also need to watch a movie as I’m going for a format that this particular movie does very well.

I am thinking about my goals for the next twelve months, and where I want to be this time next year. Both in writing, work, personal life, and in who I am.

The rest of my evening will be a movie or two, some reading and bed. Some time to rest the body and mind.

I’m very much in a ‘let’s do this’ mindset. I’ve got some good happening alongside the bad news I had this week. This last week has also been a great reminder of how blessed I am to have the family and friends I do.

Right, folks! Rock on and have a good weekend. If you have a dream, do something about it and turn that dream into life.

3rd of December 2020

December 4, 2020 Peter Germany Cat, Insperation, Life, Lifestyle, Nanowrimo, Writing books, Cat, Goals, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, Planning, Reading, Sleep, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

All my plans for yesterday went right out the window when I fell asleep while writing and came within an inch of face planting my keyboard!

I did get a few words written, but a little less than half or what I’d planned to and I didn’t get any of the other half a dozen items I’d planned to do done.

Much of it is where I’m nearing the second week of my early’s at work, and it’s my fault because I need to be getting to bed a little earlier each night and as I said yesterday, I need to look at my work rota and adjust it to how tired I might be. Then even if I exceed what I’ve set a target for I’m not going to get annoyed for having not hit goals. Like I’m feeling a little at the moment.

I should have gone for a nice little target yesterday, but I was feeling overly confident from the day before.

Anyway! Today is a new day. I did get an early night last night, and I read for a second night running. Reading is something that I’ve not been able to pick up again after what this year has been, but I felt inspired by a friend and I’m making an active effort to read again.

I am not going to repeat yesterday’s mistakes. I do have a list of work I was planning to do yesterday, but I’m now going to aim to have that all done by the end of Sunday. I’ve got to stop being overly ambitious and be more realistic in my targets.

Dizzy sulking because I was reading and not worshiping her!

2-12-2020

December 2, 2020December 2, 2020 Peter Germany Life, Lifestyle, Nanowrimo, Planning, Preparation, Writing Goals, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life, Writing Space

Good evening, folks!

Yesterday I wrote 269 on Black Blood (NaNo 2020 project) before I got the bad news. Today I have managed to write 406 despite forgetting I had a two hour appointment tonight that I also hadn’t prepped for. So very little time to write, which was my own fault!

I have figured out my goals for the month and I need to start thinking about what I want to have done by this time next year. It’s something I need to really think about.

Something else I’m going to try and start doing is writing these blog posts from my desk. It’s the same as writing, when I’ve got my arse in the chair I write better. I think I’ll write deeper and more insightful blog posts doing the same. I might even start proof reading them before hitting publish!

Each night I’m going to try and do a list of jobs for the next day as well. I’ve tried this before, but I’m going to give it a real go this time around.

A lot of this revolves around me getting my arse in the chair, with the aim of an hour a day. So come on folks, don’t feel shy in calling me out if I report that I haven’t done it. I know there will be times due to work that’ll it’ll be difficult, but then I need to find ways of being productive during my lunch break again. On days with long work shifts even half an hour is going to be of use.

I’ve also got to learn how to look ahead with my work schedule and adjust targets in accordance with that. For example; if I’ve had a lot of hours one week I know I’ll start getting worn out by the end of that working week, so why not give myself a lighter writing load to compensate for that?

I know I can do all of this, I’ve just got to execute it.

1st Of December 2020

December 2, 2020 Peter Germany Editing, Life, Mental Health, Nanowrimo, Planning, Preparation, Writing editing, Goals, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Scrivener, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

I had some bad news today which took the wind out of my sails a little.

I had got some words written but I have tallied them up, and when I do I know it’s not going to be many.

I’m not going into details, it’s that one part of my life I don’t discuss in public spaces.

Back to the writing side of things. I did manage to set my goals for the month and put them on my dry/erase board. I’m thinking a lot about my NaNo story and the little details that’ll need adding in for the second draft. I’m probably going to finish this draft and then transfer it to Scrivener and back it down to scenes (haven’t got chapters sorted yet), and then I can rewrite the ones I know I need to and add and take anything else that it might require.

As with any NaNo project (well, of mine anyway!), I’ve got a lot of work to do on it to bring it up to an acceptable standard. The system I’m trying to refine is a four draft system: 1st draft, digital edit, paper edit, final draft. I’m not sure that’ll be how I end up working but that’s an aim at the moment. With a NaNo storey though, that first draft is going to be a lot tougher than a normal first draft. I’ve left maybe three quarters of the grammar and spelling mistakes and there’s a problems like characters being forgotten about, sub plots being left unresolved when I wasn’t intending for that to happen.

But, it’s NaNoWriMo. I know that’s the case. I know there’s a big cleanup coming and, honestly, I’m quite looking forward to it.

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Thirty- Part Two

November 30, 2020 Peter Germany Nanowrimo, Writing Goals, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020 winner, NaNoWriMo Winner, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

So, 7040 words between 9:30am and 5:55pm got me the win.

I honestly didn’t think I was going to get the win, and I was okay with that. Which in turn meant that I’d taken the pressure off myself.

I also learnt today that I can write to a deadline. Doing NaNo and getting 50k done in a month is one thing, but having a 7k day shows I do have the discipline to hit targets like this.

So, what’s next? Well, Black Blood isn’t finished. So I’ll be continuing with that and working on Penal Earth as well.

December’s gonna be a busy month.

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Thirty- Lets Do THIS!!!

November 30, 2020 Peter Germany Life, Nanowrimo, Writing Indie Writer, Indie Writers, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Comunity, Writing Journal, Writing Life

Here we are, the last day of NaNoWriMo for 2020. I need almost 7000 words to hit 50k and get nearer to wrapping this draft up.

I know I’m not the only person in this situation and I’m not going to break myself to hit the magical 50k but I’m going to give it a good go.

It’s not quite 9:30am and I’m looking to be closing my laptop at 6pm at the latest as I have an early work shift tomorrow.

So let’s fucking do this!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-Nine

November 29, 2020November 29, 2020 Peter Germany Cat, Nanowrimo, Writing Cat, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

Good evening. Only 209 tonight, but then I wasn’t expecting to get much more. My aim was simply to pass the 43000 word mark which I did. Tomorrow I’m aiming for a big day of words, but will not push myself to exhaustion. When I hit the wall, I hit the wall. What I’m not going to do is try to push through because that rarely works out for me.

Looking at it now, I’ll be happy with another 2000 words.

I won’t stop writing come Tuesday. This story still needs to be finished, I still have other projects to work on. So I’ll be cracking on, but I will maybe look at other types of targets to hit.

Right, that’s me done for the night.

Good night all, and don’t forget to be awesome!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-Eight

November 29, 2020 Peter Germany Cat, Life, Nanowrimo, Writing Cat, Goals, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

I really don’t want to give you folks a summery of yesterday’s word count, because it was rubbish! But here it is….171 words for the day.

I know, that’s more than I had at the start at the day, but I’m disappointed in myself. I know I was tired, but I had times when I could have got a few more words down. I really need to sit down and plot out my days better. When I’ve got a busy week I need to pick out when I can write and make the most of the time I’ve got. I know I’ve said that before, I just need to pull my head out of the sand and do it.

The cats in harmony, which lasted a few minutes but better than nothing!

To hit 50,000 words for the month I need to write 7,204 by midnight tomorrow. This is not me being pessimistic, but I’m not going to hit the 50k. I have written that in a day, but I don’t want to be comatose afterwards. I’ve got tomorrow off, and I’m going to give it a good go, but I’m not going to burn myself out over it.

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-Seven

November 27, 2020November 27, 2020 Peter Germany Dog, Life, Lifestyle, Nanowrimo, Writing Dog, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

1103 today. I was aiming for 2000 but I hit the wall and I’m trying to listen to my body more and instead of pushing that bit further I called it a day.

I have to understand my limitations better, understand just how much I can push myself and when I do need to back off.

I need about 8000 words by midnight on Monday. Can I do it? Honestly, I don’t know but I’m going to try!

Peter Germany's Blog

My Journey In Life And The World Of Writing

Nanowrimo