Laptop – Sara Mazariegos

The title is meant to be ironic because this week has been pretty busy for me. It’s also a good song by Styx.

I said in my video that I was at ~62k words, but my goal for today is actually ~64k. I’m proud of myself for consistently hitting the mark, or at least near the mark so I’m not struggling with way too much to write per day. I’ve learned!

My little living room laptop has been such a help. There’s something about sitting with limited Internet function that really helps my mind focus on writing instead of what x friend said on social media. I’ve started playing music on my phone, though, because Little Laptop can’t handle a tab of streaming music. 😂

One thing I’ve been working through is some unseen characters in my novel. They matter to the plot, but only vaguely. Without giving too much away*, they’re people in the FMC’s friend’s lives. At first, I thought, “Should I introduce them and have a scene with them?” but I’m realizing it doesn’t matter as long as they’re mentioned. It would slow things down to introduce so-and-so’s partner who doesn’t affect the MCs’ lives much.

I might still throw them in, for some added fun, but only because I want to, not because it’s necessary.

I don’t want to be like Dickens, throwing in a million new character names in the last pages of the story. Dickens was silly. I love him, but he was.

*I’ve read so many warnings about not sharing one’s writing online if you want it to get published, because publishers want exclusivity, etc. I get it, but it’s also hard because I love sharing things.

I’m now at 16,000 words out of my projected total of 80,000 words. So far, I’ve been sticking more to the romance format/tropes I’ve seen in other contemporary romances I’ve read. It’s going well, and I can already see improvement overall.

What does it say about me that I openly do all of this trial-and-error stuff? If I can help other writers find their way, I call that a win.

As I mentioned in the video above, I got a new little Asus laptop for my writing. I wanted a dedicated computer that primarily functions as access to my Google Drive files. It forces me to focus on writing instead of glancing at social media for hours instead. It’s been going well so far! I love that I can just grab it, write, and then set it aside without all the fuss I used to have with bringing my big gaming laptop/work laptop into the living room to write.

I write better when I’m on the comfy living room couch. It’s important to recognize your best writing space. I imagine I’ll handle things like querying from the office, where the business stuff happens. 😅

One thing this draft has that the others lacked: some in-person friends for my MFC! In the past, I emphasized the Internet as a source of friendships, but I neglected the friends she ultimately had in her ‘real life’ as well. Is this a metaphor for my own life? Who knows. I think it’s making the story less bleak, which only makes sense if you’ve read it.

My husband Luis knows what I mean. My betas will probably be relieved as well.

Onward and upward!

Tag: Laptop

This is the land of confusion.