Pulling together more writing tips...

This is not a technical guide to writing, or to judge writing better. It is also not a motivation / prompt post. Just what worked for me, times when I thought I wasn't doing the right thing. It could be a useful to go through, writing your own novel(la)s.

1. Although I am inexperienced as a novelist, being mostways thru my first full-length novel, I found that giving myself goals was my biggest help. Goals such as meeting a word count for a chapter, finishing a sub-chapter in one sitting (usually 1k words). I set goals like not writing filler or fluff while stretching my word count maybe 50% more. In a sense, it was pushing myself harder to come up with story and milk every scene or dialogue for what it might hold.
   
   
2. I also found myself sometimes lost after a brilliant previous chapter and the outline would be wrong if I couldn't continue. And this would take weeks to overcome. I know that some would go do diversions etc. but really, you need to make that outline flexible, as brilliancy should be allowed an extra chapter half to shine. Then as it degrades into normality, to carry on following the outline.
   
   
3. When I was too satisfied with something, I became lazy. It was a sign I had to upgrade my writing setup, which in my case, was getting a new monitor / display. It's always logical for writers to have bigger screens. I got so worked up over my new 32" display, I'm now doing 2 projects at once.
   
   
4. I find that writing during the cheerful parts of the day produces prose that is skewed. A writer should never be a happy person but more Jedi-like. A serious-faced seeker of peace and contemplation.
    
5. Finally, and this may be true of some writers, a lot of us are tortured souls, some still being tortured. A writer is never negative, nor somebody who skips over the hurt inside or out, he is honest and that generates story ideas / ideas in-story that are usable and readable.

...

Tonight, planning a long session at the PC. Want to debug n4s and write SDU. We thought of ideas how to get community centers into Sarawak, especially the rural areas. Drone-lifters were postulated. Good idea!

The idea is to transport roughly 30kg of books and computer hardware between rural communities, this would occur several times a week, and land for 6 hours each time. Rather than conventional drone motors, the Lifter will employ a single jet engine, with a circular gliding wing, and make a calculated jump trajectory much like a ballistic missile. The fuel should bio-gas, if possible. Where these knowledge stations are and jump to is controlled via satellite at a city HQ. Each village should have a landing site, fenced off.