#(i am also working on a coding side project because i'm actually terrible at vegging while recovering)

[syndrossi]

Introducing Project: Return of the Buffer:

Aka "I have the time anyway" + "NaNoWriMo is shutting down so I'll have to do my own tracking and charts."

For those who weren't around in the early days, this is how I wrote the first 120,000-ish words of Resonant! I created a project in NaNoWriMo and aimed for 1,000 words a day and basically hit that or better almost every day for several months. Roughly 60K words in was when I started posting (a "buffer" of 12 chapters).

My writing pace at the time meant that I could post 2x a week every week without running out of a buffer for quite a long time, since I was writing about 1.2 chapters a week. I eventually ran out of steam around ch18, and went to once per week posting. The burnout hit hard, and I eventually chewed through the buffer even at the once per week rate, and that's how we ended up with fairly random updates on a monthly-ish cadence.

But like I said, I've got time now, so I've set up a mini "sprint" of thirty days for 30K words. I'm planning to post at least the next chapter during that span, but I intend to hold onto the buffer in the hopes of maintaining it this time. (Life is so much easier with the buffer. I can hit a rough patch, plot-wise, and correct things / shift things / rewrite entire blocks.)

I also am someone who enjoys setting and hitting goals when I'm not in active burnout. The pressure can be useful, honestly. I did so much more [finish scene] [figure out what the gifts are] [research hawking] etc placeholders early on. It's easier to find the motivation to go back and fill in those placeholders when the rest of the chapter is done, vs getting stuck in a spot and just staying there. The 1000 / day goal means you're not allowed to get stuck. Gotta move on and make word count!