A left brain right brain theory ðŸ§
Writing, life, and K-drama updates
Dear reader,
Even after all these years, I’m still shocked at how much I learn about my writing process with each book.
My latest revelation is that I have different attention spans for different writing-related tasks.
For example, as I was re-outlining my WIP, I struggled to concentrate for even 30-60 minutes a day. I was worried my attention span had regressed and would never recover! But as soon as I switched to drafting, I found I could easily concentrate for the full two-hour slot of daily writing.
I've never considered myself to be someone who easily achieves flow state, but this situation highlighted to me just how much flow I'm able to achieve with writing vs. outlining. Perhaps because outlining is a left-brained activity and writing is a right-brained activity. That’s my theory.
My takeaway from this is that next time I’m in an outlining phase, I can’t work for two hours a day. Perhaps I could do one hour of outlining and one hour of admin work instead.
I suspect that when it comes to editing, my attention span is even longer. In the editing phase, I could probably work for 3-4 hours a day if I have the time available.
What’s not so surprising is that draft 2 is bringing up new plot points which weren’t on the outline. Happens every time! I’m happy to just roll with it. I’m nearly through act 1, and I feel good about how the story is progressing so far 😊
Last weekend was Easter. I baked tons of goodies, both sweet and savoury. The crown jewel was the steak, cheese, and jalapeño pies I made! Must admit they were a lot of effort, especially since I made the pie crust from scratch. I won’t be making them again in a hurry. But they were indeed delish.
Apart from that slightly unhealthy blip over Easter, I’ve continued with fitness and diet habits, and for the first time in my adult life I’ve managed to lose some weight. Turns out eating less is the key above all else. Quite difficult as a keen baker.
Now for the K-drama update which seems to have become a regular fixture in my newsletter 😅 -
Tree with Deep Roots - Not the perfect drama, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it! All of the actors did a great job, even if character motivations sometimes weren’t very clear (especially for the antagonist). Loved the whole story about how the Korean alphabet came into existence. 8/10
Beyond Evil - This drama is pretty highly acclaimed. Unpopular opinion incoming… I didn’t think it was that great. The plot had no surprises in it for me. Characters who seemed dodgy were dodgy. I did think the lead actor (Shin Ha-kyun) was terrific though. 6.5/10.
I dropped Today’s Webtoon after 1 episode. I was looking for something fluffy, and the webtoon theme interested me… but the script just wasn’t strong enough to make me keep going.
I’m currently watching Crazy Love. I’m enjoying it! It’s tropey goodness that’s aware it’s tropey goodness. I respect that.
Somehow I’ve fallen into a once every 4 weeks routine with these newsletters. I haven’t meant to. I’d like to keep going with once a fortnight, but things just keep coming up!
-Sara
