IWSG September--Making Time for Writing

Okay, I'm a few days late on this insecure post. I thought I would have time to write this before Wednesday, then Wednesday came and went, and I fell far behind. Which is kind of my insecurity this month. While I'm feeling more confident about my writing these days, feeling like I've gotten the hang of things a bit, the thing I have been struggling with is making time for my writing.

This is an age-old problem, I know. But it seems the more "adult" I get, the less time I have to do what I want. There are always other things battling for my time: laundry, cooking, cleaning, errands, writing critiques, relationships, sleep, etc. It seems there are a million excuses I could throw out there to not write. My heart wants to, but there have been some days where I have felt so under the weather with headaches or from lack of sleep lately, that although I've had "time" to write, it feels like I don't have the concentration to accomplish anything. 

As a result, I've had a couple of no-writing days, and that's just bad--no matter how you look at it. 

On the plus side, I am in an online class right now which is on developing a short story from start to finish, so it's at least gotten me thinking of writing and planning and plotting. I try to remind myself on these days of no writing to pick up a book and read a lot, for I know there's much to be learned from reading. But on days with a horrible headache/neck-ache (remnants of a car crash years ago), it's hard to even do that.

So this month I am going to focus on getting back on a schedule which carves out specific time for myself. Perhaps I need to revisit making weekly goals for myself and meeting those goals. Since there has been so much more going on lately, I know that I will have to keep my goals simple, but if I have goals, I will be motivated meet them and more motivated to get work done. 

So here's to a productive September! 

Row 80 Round 3 Pre-Check

I finished this last round with a very productive week. I'm proud to say that, for the first time, all my goals were met. 

Last week's goals:

1. Finish storyboarding StM, all 24 scenes (that's only 4 scenes for 6 days).

2. Edit the next chapter on POS.

3. 7-5 blackout on TV for two days.

4. 750 words daily.

5. My writing lesson (F2K) and feedback for my classmates needs to be written and posted by Friday.

6. At least 3 critiques need to be written by Friday for my writing group.

----

A part of me is relieved that I reached all these goals, but writing is a never-ending job. This week is bound to be more challenging with my mom having just arrived for a visit. So with that in mind, I'm going to keep this week's goals simple.

This week:

1. 750 words daily.

2. Write at least one character bio for my WIP, StM. 

3. Edit the next chapter on my WIP, POS. 

4. My writing lesson (F2K) and feedback for my classmates needs to be written and posted by Friday.

I've been experimenting with character bios, where I write a summary of the story as it concerns to each character from their POVs. With one down, I'm finding out amazing things about perspective and entertaining the possibility of a second POV being added to StM. It's something I'm a bit nervous about, but I think it's got a lot of promise. This week, I'll be thinking over and researching that idea and continuing to write more bios and see what paths they lead me down.

~I.E.

What are some of your Row 80 goals? How do you choose your goals for the week? Feel free to comment and share your thoughts on how you meet your weekly goals.

Row 80 Check-In (Last Round 2 Check-In)

Since I jumped into Row 80 toward the middle of Round 2, the end of the round took me by surprise. Regardless, I missed my wrap up check-in on Wednesday, so I'll do that now. 

Overall, I'm pleased with how Row 80 has worked for me. I'm a goal-oriented person, and making weekly goals is a great thing to have when planning my week. I would occasionally do that anyways, but this gives me motivation to make the list and check it off. In some senses, it holds me accountable for getting the work done. Even though I know life gets in the way sometimes, and things don't get done when I want them to get done, making weekly (and daily) goals helps. If I know that my Monday is too booked to write, or my weekend will be unavailable for writing, I can schedule the remainder of my week accordingly.

Honestly, the biggest challenge I have is setting reasonable goals. For me, since I'm in the editing phase of two novels, a reasonable goal means I need to have an idea of how much editing a scene needs. I have to guesstimate how many scenes and/or chapters I can make it through in a day, and then set goals accordingly. Round 2 of Row 80 has taught me to give myself more time than I think I need. I always think I'm quicker at editing than I am. Considering the fact that I am editing to share with a critique group, I want it to be "perfect." (Yes, I realize it will never be perfect, but that doesn't stop me from trying.)

So my editing takes a long time. It involves second-guessing, third-guessing and sometimes quadruple-guessing myself. However, having a weekly goal of getting through 1500 words of editing and posting it for my critique group encourages me to (okay, demands that I) get it done that week. It may take a little longer, or I may post before I'm completely happy with something. But it means that I meet my goal, and I can move ahead. All too often, I'm reluctant to share, thinking it's not quite ready, and then I let the weeks slide by. In the end, when I post, it's not much different from when I was working on it three weeks before. So all in all, Row 80 is forcing me forward. And forward is where I want to be. 

(I'll save my weekly update for Sunday, since that's the day I've been setting my weekly goals.)

~I.E.