4. The Burnout Is Real

It was bound to happen eventually.

My New Year’s resolution for 2020 was to write a book by the end of the year. I started writing The World That Was in earnest on 27 January 2020, completely unaware of the crazy year that was around the corner. It might not be the final text but it is super satisfying to see two copies of the book on my shelf. There are more copies to come!

I pushed myself hard. I promised no “zero days” and set ambitious schedules. Seeing word-counts grow provided tangible motivation. Covid-19 actually worked in my favour by removing procrastination excuses and my Excel spreadsheets showed what I’d done with a year spent mostly locked indoors. But I was completely focussed on the book and, combined with international crises and personal stresses, I had completely exhausted my energy reserves by the end of the year.

I’ve taken some time off since Christmas, watching movies (Muppet Treasure Island), playing games (Slay The Spire) and reading books (Sapiens). I had an entire week without the internet, a blissful escape from the never-ending hypocrisy of world politics. I’m now ready to dive into the book once more.

The World That Was is comprised of 42 chapters. Based on feedback from my test readers, I plan major rewrites/restructures for seven of these. I also hope to rework the remaining chapters to incorporate valuable insights the test readers have provided – further exploring the technologies Matilda brings to the past and enriching the voices of my POV characters. A part of my delay was due to the paralysis of indecision, unsure whether to plough on with an audio review of chapters that will be rewritten or to just dive straight into the meaty edits. I now have a plan (that includes a bit more rest time as well!).

Thank you to everyone who has shown interest in this book and the writing process so far. Family, friends or nameless internet strangers who check up on my progress. Just seeing that people have accessed the site provides great motivation! Please feel free to get in touch with any feedback, I really do try to incorporate any good ideas that are thrown my way.

Now, where did I put that laptop charger...?