Making Progress?
Am I really going to write a didactic novel?
I'm perhaps more interested in writing a good story than in conveying a particular message. I don't have a specific approach or a methodology to share. I just have a few lessons learned along the way. I don't plan on packaging these lessons into a neatly bundled methodology. I'm not writing this to support a consulting practice. I'm writing it to a large extent as an experiment. I'm not trying to fit within a particular genre. What I end up with might be totally impossible to publish because it doesn't fit anywhere and it has a very small potential audience. That's perfectly fine with me. My intent isn't to publish it. My intent is to complete it and learn something in the process.
Am I making any progress with the first draft?
Yes! I have 12,000+ words down. Obviously, it's just a first draft and a word count isn't a perfect way of measuring progress. How else would I measure progress? I have managed to stick to a reasonable writing schedule. I have also managed not to get distracted by too much research and little writing. I've also experienced one instance of creative inspiration. That's when I sit down with my computer with an initial idea of where the scene is going and when I'm done with it, I've come up with something completely different -- and better. I haven't experienced any instance of sitting down and being stuck. At this point, the words are flowing reasonably well. I'm not sure what else could be expected of a first draft. It's just going well for now.
Why measure progress?
I'm reminded on a regular basis that my prior work on monitoring and evaluation continues to have a strong impact on my thinking, and not just in work situations. I keep trying to monitor how things are going, I keep thinking about what needs to be measured, what indicators make sense, etc...
For this didactic novel project, I'm trying to keep track of progress for one simple reason, it's very important to stay motivated over the long run. When I get stuck a few weeks from now and I start getting frustrated with the story, looking at how much I've already accomplished and being able to point to specific progress in developing the story will be of great value -- or so I hope!
I'm perhaps more interested in writing a good story than in conveying a particular message. I don't have a specific approach or a methodology to share. I just have a few lessons learned along the way. I don't plan on packaging these lessons into a neatly bundled methodology. I'm not writing this to support a consulting practice. I'm writing it to a large extent as an experiment. I'm not trying to fit within a particular genre. What I end up with might be totally impossible to publish because it doesn't fit anywhere and it has a very small potential audience. That's perfectly fine with me. My intent isn't to publish it. My intent is to complete it and learn something in the process.
Am I making any progress with the first draft?
Yes! I have 12,000+ words down. Obviously, it's just a first draft and a word count isn't a perfect way of measuring progress. How else would I measure progress? I have managed to stick to a reasonable writing schedule. I have also managed not to get distracted by too much research and little writing. I've also experienced one instance of creative inspiration. That's when I sit down with my computer with an initial idea of where the scene is going and when I'm done with it, I've come up with something completely different -- and better. I haven't experienced any instance of sitting down and being stuck. At this point, the words are flowing reasonably well. I'm not sure what else could be expected of a first draft. It's just going well for now.
Why measure progress?
I'm reminded on a regular basis that my prior work on monitoring and evaluation continues to have a strong impact on my thinking, and not just in work situations. I keep trying to monitor how things are going, I keep thinking about what needs to be measured, what indicators make sense, etc...
For this didactic novel project, I'm trying to keep track of progress for one simple reason, it's very important to stay motivated over the long run. When I get stuck a few weeks from now and I start getting frustrated with the story, looking at how much I've already accomplished and being able to point to specific progress in developing the story will be of great value -- or so I hope!
Labels: Didactic fiction, metrics
posted by Barbara Fillip at
7:34 AM
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