Thursday, September 2, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
I'm up to 10,000 words in Novel Z! I've made a goal of writing 250 words a day in it. I usually end up writing 600 in my Tuesday writing group, a couple hundred during the week, and the remaining 800-900 on Saturday. But I am averaging 250 words or more a day, so whatever. Working towards a deadline gets me into gear and keeps me focused, so it's nice to have a mentor that I e-mail every Sunday with my weekly word count.
I'm also doing well with keeping up a regular practice of writing in a composition book. I manage to fill one notebook every two months.
My other goal - Novel N - isn't going so well. It's low-priority, and I treat it like low-priority. I never work on it. Which is not so bad--I am working on my high-priority novel--but I only have one chapter left and I feel bad that it's just sitting there, in an almost-finished state. I need to set aside some time to write that final chapter and be done with it. I think I feel a sense of accomplishment, even though it was more of a "learning" novel and "fun" novel than something I was doing as a career endeavor. In many ways, Novel N was my bridge from amateur writer to professional writer. It was my writing school. I learned so, so much from writing that novel. And I want it to be an accomplishment I look fondly on, not "that thing I need to finish." I need to find time for it without setting aside my other writing tasks. It's probably a matter of better time management.
I'm also doing well with keeping up a regular practice of writing in a composition book. I manage to fill one notebook every two months.
My other goal - Novel N - isn't going so well. It's low-priority, and I treat it like low-priority. I never work on it. Which is not so bad--I am working on my high-priority novel--but I only have one chapter left and I feel bad that it's just sitting there, in an almost-finished state. I need to set aside some time to write that final chapter and be done with it. I think I feel a sense of accomplishment, even though it was more of a "learning" novel and "fun" novel than something I was doing as a career endeavor. In many ways, Novel N was my bridge from amateur writer to professional writer. It was my writing school. I learned so, so much from writing that novel. And I want it to be an accomplishment I look fondly on, not "that thing I need to finish." I need to find time for it without setting aside my other writing tasks. It's probably a matter of better time management.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Found something else to help me stay motivated: split my writing time up into 30-minute tasks. Even if I'm absolutely unmotivated and do not want to work on something, I can manage to do it for 30 minutes. So, I spend 30 minutes on outlining the next scenes in my novel, then 30 minutes writing my rough draft. Other tasks include writing in my Writing Practice Notebook and editing. Even if I'm not in a writing mood, I can at least manage 30 minutes on my most important or pressing project. And since I'm usually juggling several different projects, this works out well. I've been doing much better on deadlines and I'm making more progress on my novel than I have for a long time.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
7 handwritten pages tonight. Made some progress on next chapter of Project N. Took some journaling time to hash out what keeps me motivated when it comes to writing, editing, and receiving critiques. Decided I need to focus on three things:
1) How it's an opportunity for self-growth
2) How it's an opportunity to learn
3) How it's an opportunity to help other people
When I feel I'm doing one of the above three, then I can stay motivated. When I feel like I'm doing something "because it needs to be done," my motivation shrivels up and dies. Which is why all those highly-motivated, non-procrastinating, "just do it" types never have any good advice for me. Saying "just do it" is so unmotivating to me, it's nearly a soporific.
I'm going to try to keep this in mind. Even though I started late, I wrote until 10pm with the awareness that I was building my writing habit by keeping at it until 10pm, regardless of the quality of what I wrote. So I ended at 10 feeling good about myself, rather than feeling critical that I didn't write more/write better. The point was self-growth, and by sticking to my writing habit, I grew as a writer.
1) How it's an opportunity for self-growth
2) How it's an opportunity to learn
3) How it's an opportunity to help other people
When I feel I'm doing one of the above three, then I can stay motivated. When I feel like I'm doing something "because it needs to be done," my motivation shrivels up and dies. Which is why all those highly-motivated, non-procrastinating, "just do it" types never have any good advice for me. Saying "just do it" is so unmotivating to me, it's nearly a soporific.
I'm going to try to keep this in mind. Even though I started late, I wrote until 10pm with the awareness that I was building my writing habit by keeping at it until 10pm, regardless of the quality of what I wrote. So I ended at 10 feeling good about myself, rather than feeling critical that I didn't write more/write better. The point was self-growth, and by sticking to my writing habit, I grew as a writer.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Productive week. Sent my last chapter off to my reader for comments. Started on my next chapter re-write instead of waiting around to get the old chapter back.
Decided to write my next chapter by hand on clean paper rather than re-working what I already have. Most of what I want is in my head, anyway. And there's something intimidating about a word-processing document right now. I need my trusty notebook.
Decided to write my next chapter by hand on clean paper rather than re-working what I already have. Most of what I want is in my head, anyway. And there's something intimidating about a word-processing document right now. I need my trusty notebook.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
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