I missed a week of productive time because of my NS callup, but I’m back now and managed to get a sizable chunk of content done!

Progress

I finished 5 scenes last weekend and this week, covering the first half of Marid’s final journey through the Channelworks District, as well as a conversation with an old acquaintance. I’m feeling pretty good about the conversation, since I think I managed to compress quite a lot of emotional range into a relatively short dialogue sequence. It’s also an important plot point because it gives Marid an item she needs to get back into the Channelworks and confront the antagonist for the ending.

Next week I will add a few new descriptions for the areas you backtrack through as you return to the Channelworks Concourse, and finally, new scenes for entering the Channelworks proper and making your way to the antagonist. I’m feeling pretty good about my schedule so far and I feel like the end is in sight.

Anxiety

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned from this harrowing stage of the project is that “giving your 100%” isn’t always a good thing. When I hunkered down to try to complete The Weight of a Soul by my self-appointed, I ended out stressing out, burning out, and actually becoming less creative than usual. This week I set myself more flexible schedules and even skipped a couple of work days to relax, like Christmas Eve. This meant that when I did actually sit down to work, I was more focused and less worried about how fast I was getting words onto the page.

I’m finding it a really difficult balancing act to devote my time to a project that I’m really passionate about, and at the same time not burn out from the depressing gothic atmosphere and the pressure to deliver. But I feel like if I take small steps I will eventually get there — even if I’ve pushed my schedule back by a couple of weeks, and might push it back by another couple of weeks still. I still have time to cut back on planned additional features, and I think doing my work fast is less important than doing it right.

• The Weight of a Soul Dev Diary