December has come, and while I still haven’t made much progress this week, I feel like I sort of have a handle on things again. My sleep is healthier and I feel like I can actually get something done if I put my mind to it.

Progress

Last week I said I finished the dialogue with the antagonist, but I realized that that wasn’t quite right. The dialogue was finished but the scene wasn’t: it needed an emotional denouement for Marid to get back in a puzzle-solving mindset after the harrowing encounter with the antagonist. That was what I focused on over the past week (and also getting my sleep cycle back together).

My overall progress for the past week comes to one new “scene” plus an editing pass over the antagonist’s dialogue. It wasn’t much, but it was a real emotional doozy to write, especially after recovering from last week’s low point, so I’ll take what I can get. Besides, there’s no point beating myself up over not making much progress — the only way to go is forward.

Scheduling

To keep on schedule I’m going to try to plot my writing goals more tightly per week, so that I can make a reasonable amount of progress and finish by the date I said I would finish.

For this week, I’m going to finish Marid’s escape from the antagonist’s prison. There’s going to be a bit more solo angst as she reignites her extinguished animus lantern through a puzzle. That will probably take about two days to complete. Then she’s going to make her escape by lamplight and end up in the bottom of the Shanty Quarter. If I finish fast I can also get started on the environmental changes for Day Four.

I’m in the final stretch now, and as long as I keep going at a steady pace, I think everything will be okay.

• The Weight of a Soul Dev Diary