I am ever the optimist. Optimism is not enough to save a failed experiment from repeating itself.
Category Archives: Experiments
Posts about any of my many experiments. I like to try new things, and I bore easily.
Well, back to timed writing!
Trying timed writing. Again.
I do not like the block editor, but it’s time to decide: block or bust
Breaking free of perfectionism means practicing anti-perfectionism. Here goes nothing.
It’s been 282 days since I quit caffeine; what I’ve learned
It’s been 282 days since I quit caffeine. Technically, I do still ingest minute amounts. I drink decaffeinated coffee a couple times a day, and I have the occasional cup of hot chocolate. I do not, however, drink regular coffee or tea any longer, and I avoid all other caffeine where I can. I’ve learnedContinue reading “It’s been 282 days since I quit caffeine; what I’ve learned”
February slip
The coffee thing might or might not be to blame for February being in the dumps, but February’s word counts are way down. It’s my worst month since July. I held off the usual slump for January with the daily writing, but it seems to have slipped its way into February instead. I quit theContinue reading “February slip”
Unexpected side-effects of caffeine withdrawal and lack of motivation
I’ve quit coffee (and caffeine) so many times over the years that I feel like I should know everything there is to know about caffeine withdrawal. And yet, I’ve been surprised this time, and some of that may be because I’m paying more attention to the longer-term effects of it than I usually do. TodayContinue reading “Unexpected side-effects of caffeine withdrawal and lack of motivation”
Disappointed but sticking it out
I should be beyond the caffeine withdrawal at this point, so I’m not sure why I’m not sleeping one iota better. In fact, I’m almost willing to say I’m sleeping worse. Caffeine has never kept me from being able to fall asleep, but it does make it easier for me to forget that I needContinue reading “Disappointed but sticking it out”
First full day off caffeine
I’ve made it through weaning myself off caffeine. Today was the first day I didn’t need any coffee (or tea) at all to stave off a headache. Now I’m waiting on any lingering withdrawal symptoms to fade away. I don’t know that there are any left, to be honest, but I’m giving it another dayContinue reading “First full day off caffeine”
It’s time to quit caffeine (coffee) (again)
It’s time for an experiment! I’ve quit caffeine cold-turkey too many times to count in my life and I know what to expect—so I am not going cold-turkey. The last time I quit caffeine, I weaned myself off it and it worked out so much better. That’s the path I’ll be taking this time, nowContinue reading “It’s time to quit caffeine (coffee) (again)”
It’s time to write on fewer stories at one time
I currently have ten stories in progress. The longest one is at 66,000+ words and the shortest is at 188. Overall, I have more than 107,000 words of unfinished stories waiting to be finished. This is the natural result of keeping multiple stories going at once. I’ve been working on the premise that I shouldContinue reading “It’s time to write on fewer stories at one time”
Daily post – Jan. 21, 2020 – Tuesday
I wrote 225 words today. That was all this morning. I generally hate dictating fiction, but I did do some dictation into my phone this morning and that’s how I logged those 225 words. Saved my daily writing streak, so that’s good. I did no fiction writing after that at all. Never even looked atContinue reading “Daily post – Jan. 21, 2020 – Tuesday”
Daily post – Jan. 8, 2020
The reason I wasn’t in the mood to write a post for yesterday is because I’m planning to do a little blogging while I write today. (I did write a post, but it was super short and to the point.) Today, it’s a marathon! I want to hit my 2020 daily word count goal ofContinue reading “Daily post – Jan. 8, 2020”
Changing sleep habits—an experiment in productivity
A couple of days ago I decided to try to figure out what was going on in my life at the time of some of my most productive writing streaks—what types of schedules or timed sessions or just overall attitude I had—so I can try a few things to help me make the rest ofContinue reading “Changing sleep habits—an experiment in productivity”
New plan because July needs rescued
So July has been a terrible month for writing, but I haven’t given up on rescuing it yet. Starting tomorrow I’m going to just plow into my most appealing current story in progress and try to pick up some momentum. The plan is simple. Start writing and don’t stop until I’m done, or 4 pm.Continue reading “New plan because July needs rescued”
April 8–20 progress
I am definitely on to something with the “no sweets before 1,000 words” thing. April has been a great writing month so far and I’m putting the credit for that entirely on that little rule I’ve been following. Yeah, I’ve had one or two days overall where I’ve not reached 1,000 words and gone toContinue reading “April 8–20 progress”
Four months without visiting any writer/author forums
I left the only writer forums I was a member of back in September and October of 2018. Life since then has been good.
End of that experiment: I don’t like excerpts on the home page
Excerpts on category, tag, and archive pages are going away and full posts are coming back. (Done!)
Done with timers; wrote more last night but can’t use any of it
About ditching my timers, hidden story versus backstory, progress!, and goals.
Writing and an experiment with mealtimes
Yay! I’ve been writing today. Nowhere near the amount of writing I wanted to do, and my only excuse for that is distractions, but it’s nice to NOT be struggling to sit down and write. One distraction of note is my new mealtime schedule. I’m still trying to lose some of the weight I gainedContinue reading “Writing and an experiment with mealtimes”
Journaling my way to success?
I started an experiment four days ago on Friday (see the post). Fri: 198 (deleted a chunk of words that knocked this down by about 300) Sat: 2,088 Sun: 1,185 Mon: 1,544 I’ve had a few times where I just forgot to journal at my break but overall, it is keeping me focused. On theContinue reading “Journaling my way to success?”