I Built Myself Some Motivation

Over the weekend, I did things a little differently and it paid off ...

I was struggling to edit my novel over this weekend, when I had a thought: 

why are there no trackers or apps for writers who are editing their stories? (Or at least none that I've found) ...

So, I decided to make one for myself and see if it could motivate me in the same way word trackers do when I'm drafting 🤔

Now, I have absolutely no idea how to make an app, so I (sheepishly) used Base44. After all, it was just a small experiment.

The process itself was fairly simple and, though I won't go into detail here, I will say that seeing my idea come to life was a lot of fun.

I knew the app should include things that motivate me like:

• Daily inspirational quotes and boosts
• Achievements
• Time tracker (so you can track how many minutes/hours you've spent editing - which feels far more realistic and visible when editing than word counts)
• Task lists
• Chapter progress statuses for different editing passes
• A mood journal to track the emotional side of editing

... and more!

At the moment, I don't have any plans to release it beyond personal use. Maybe in the future - when I can afford to work with a (human) developer - it's something I could explore properly.

(Although, if you happen to know a good developer who'd build this for free ... I wouldn't say no 😉😂)

I'm not one for gatekeeping, but I also don't know enough about Base44 yet to feel comfortable sharing something publicly that I can't fully vouch for. 

Alongside this, I also started rewriting novel in a notebook instead of on my computer. And, honestly? It felt incredibly nostalgic.

It took my right back to university, when I wrote the first draft of this same story in notebooks - in coffee shops, libraries, or at my desk at home.

Between the tracker and returning to pen and paper, something finally shifted. I was able to rewrite again.

In full transparency, it was half a chapter ... but that's half a chapter more than I had before 😊

Keep your eyes peeled for more news on my writing here and on my Instagram!