Author's Note: This post was originally posted on Tumblr on February 6, 2025.
I had to step away from writing for a few days—not because I wanted to, but because I needed to. I’ve been mentally exhausted, and trying to push through it was just making everything worse. Between writing, worldbuilding, and life in general, I felt like my brain was running on fumes. So, I took some time off, spent it with friends, and just let myself exist without thinking about Restless for a little bit. It helped, but the work is still there waiting for me.
Even with the break, I still managed to get some things done. Carry’s character sheet is finally finished, which is a big deal because she’s one of the most important people in Adam’s life. Getting everything about her down on paper made me realize just how much she’s been through and how much she keeps hidden beneath the surface. And as of today, Lisa’s character sheet is done too! She was a bit harder to pin down since she’s not physically present for most of the story, but her influence on Adam is massive. Everything about her—the choices she made, the way she lived, and how she died—shapes the entire book.
That’s the thing about this project—it keeps expanding in ways I didn’t expect. The worldbuilding just keeps growing, and it feels overwhelming at times because I have so much to do. I added more details about The Red Syndicate, WhisperNet, and The Wraiths, organizations controlling Angel City’s corruption from behind the scenes. The more I build out these factions, the more I realize how much depth there is to this world—but the reality is, a lot of this stuff won’t even make it into the final book. I’m creating layers of history, politics, and hidden power structures, knowing full well that most of it will only serve as background texture. And yet, I need to do it because it makes the world feel real, even if readers never see all the moving pieces.
On top of all this, I’ve been working on switching my version control over to GitTea, which is basically a self-hosted GitHub alternative. It’s going to help me track everything—character details, plot points, organizations, and all the random worldbuilding notes I have scattered across different documents. If anyone’s interested in how I use version control for writing, I’d be happy to put together a tutorial. Honestly, having a system like this helps when the scope of a project feels too big to manage.
Even though I’m feeling a little better after the break, I still have so much left to do, and it’s kind of overwhelming. But I just have to remind myself that I don’t need to figure everything out all at once. The book isn’t going to be perfect on the first (or second, or third) pass. I just have to keep going, piece by piece, and trust that it’ll all come together.
Classes start soon, and I know that’s going to add even more to my plate, but I’m still going to push forward with Restless. I’ll keep you all updated as I work through it. Here’s to making progress—even if it’s slow.