Writing discipline

I have been seeing a lot of authors on Twitter saying that they're having trouble keeping writing during this pandemic.  This includes some bestselling authors under contract, who have failed to meet their contract deadlines.

Up until now, I've managed to keep going with my writing without too much trouble.  But this week has been different.  We've had a lot of doom and gloom in the media about a second spike in the pandemic, and were being warned that this crap will last for at least another six months.  And that Is beginning to get to me now.

I've been pushing on with my second riddle quest book, but the writing has slowed down.  One reason is that I got sidetracked into writing other projects.  I wrote a short story for an anthology call, and I re-edited a novella for another open call.  But even so, it's felt like I've been wading through treacle this week.

Another reason why I've slowed down is that I'm back to original creation.  Having had to lengthen the book by adding two new clues, I now have to sit down a write some totally new content.  Even though I've worked out those clues, it's still a much slower process creating those sections from scratch.  

To give me some encouragement I went back to the original text and checked what I'd done with the end.  Although the writing is very ragged, the content was promising.  It has my characters exploring an abandoned alien bunker, with a whole series of tests and traps to overcome.  It will have to be completely re-written, but that's the easy part.  It serves as an incentive to me to keep going.  If I just write this new section I'll be back to re-writing, and that's much easier.

Another thing which has affected me this week is the onset of Autumn.  I absolutely cannot sit in my house all day, I have to get outside.  From Spring right through to this week the weather has been good.  We've had a long run of warm, dry, and sunny weather.  But this week that's changed, with the onset of the first Autumn storm and its accompanying rain.

Right now, my writing discipline is faltering.  But I'll be applying for a mentor through Pitch Wars on Monday.  If I'm successful, this will be a welcome boost to help me stay motivated.