ROW80: The Reckoning
So, the last round of ROW80 didn’t really go as planned. I couldn’t have foreseen the crazy sicknesses or the crazy work changes and challenges, but I am still disappointed that I let them sink me. I am horrible about following my own advice, you guys. I let myself get caught up in the stressors of my everyday and let my dreams and hobbies be the first casualties of Real Life. I know that is common and sometimes Stuff Happens, but I let it happen way too much. I hate that I do that and let me just tell you, I am vowing to make it stop.
This round of ROW80 is about consistency for me. Consistent writing, consistent storytelling and consistent balance in my life. I can write 1,000 words a day. Anything else is cake. 1,000 words is an hour of my time or less. It can be all at once or in small pockets during my day. I can do 1,000 words pretty much no matter what, even if the last thing I’m in the mood to do is write.
I was tempted to do the first round of Camp NaNo, but I know that right now the last thing I need is to be competitive with my word count. I need to concentrate on research and writing, no matter if that nets me 1,000 words a day or 10,000 words in a day. I know that NaNo is only 667 words a day more than that, but I need to avoid the competitive mindset altogether. Savvy Bootcamp (which my awesome team won, heck yeah!!) kind of broke me because of when it happened to occur, and getting out word count fast seemed to hurt my story more than it helped.
I got so burned out on Burn that I am actually taking a break from my urban fantasy and moving back to my alt-history piece that I originally started for NaNo 2010. I got to 50k but around the halfway point, I had some realizations that really affected my story. I just about have those worked out and I am about to have a lot of fun with my characters and some revisionist history. This story is tentatively called The Recollector and it is set in Victorian England. I first conceived of it being set during Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, but I am starting to mess with some dates the more and more I read about Victoria herself. We shall see what part of the mid to late 1800s it ends up in!
So, fellow ROW80-ers, here are my goals for this week:
- Write 1,000 words a day. This can be plotting notes or actual manuscript. Today I wrote 1,000 words of a detailed plot outline. (Plus 600+ words on this blog post, yay!)
- Start gathering the research materials I don’t already have on Victorian culture, England and Queen Victoria.
That’s it. I’m keeping it simple because I know that I will be setting myself up to fail otherwise. I am sick of being my own worst enemy. I realize the things that have kept me stressed have been out of my control, but the only way I can fight back and retain control of my own life is to not let those things get to me. After all, I won’t ever be able to write for a living if I let other things interfere with me ever finishing a book, right? So you heard it here…this round, I am taking the reins back and getting this show on the road.
What are your goals? I’m looking forward to interacting with old friends and new!
ROW80 Check-In: Slow, But Progress
This week has been going pretty well so far, though I didn’t actually start feeling better until today. I am very grateful that I can breathe again and no longer have that “sick” feeling, though last night I really thought I was going through a second wave of whatever is infecting me. Imagine my surprise when I got a decent night of sleep and actually woke up feeling pretty good!
I am both happy and frustrated with my project right now. I have made some good progress on my wordcount, managing a little over 4,000 on Monday. I took last night off so I could go to bed early and rest, and tonight I had all the best intentions in the world but my story is not cooperating very well. I am trying to create better tension between my heroine and the stuffy-but-hot FBI guy who is both helping on the case and hindering things with his distrust of magic (or anyone who deals with it).
It frustrates me that I haven’t been able to write every day as planned, but I am glad that I am taking the time to take care of myself. I know that if I don’t, I will never get any better. I also know that when I try to do too much when I am sick, my mindset is all wrong and I end up rewriting anything I put on paper. So really, I suppose I am just saving myself some work.
While I was winding down between work and writing, I finished an interesting alt-historical novel by Marie Brennan, Midnight Never Come. It’s about the Faery Court existing alongside the court of Queen Elizabeth. I’m a sucker for historical novels during the Tudor time period, and I thought it would be good to read right now since I will be working on my alt-historical piece next. The first half didn’t hook me, but the story really picked up after that. It was a really enjoyable read and I look forward to reading the next books in the series. It’s always nice to recharge the writing muscles with a little reading. It’s just too bad it didn’t actually energize the scene I’m writing right now.
Friday, Saturday afternoon and Sunday I intend to bank some real progress. Saturday night is my husband’s birthday party, so I doubt I’ll be doing much work then. 
Overall, despite scene frustrations and lingering coughs, I am feeling really positive right now. How is your week going, my ROW80 friends?
ROW80 Check-In: Sick of It
I’m still feeling sick, but I know I am getting better. It’s just annoying to be coughing a lot and not able to breathe through my nose without medicinal help. Today is the last day of my antibiotic and hopefully I will be feeling a lot better next week. I’ll keep taking the Zyrtec D until the actual symptoms go away.
I have still managed to get some words in most days this week, though, and I’m proud of that. It hasn’t always been my goal of 3,000, but I think some concessions can be made when one is sick. I wouldn’t have been writing coherent words anyway! I also took the time to read a couple of books during all that, too. I finished the last two books in Zoe Archer’s Blades of the Rose series, and I read the new Sookie Stackhouse. It was nice to recharge a bit with some fun reads and give my mind a rest while my body got its much needed rest, too.
I wrapped up a key scene last night in Burn. I know that my scene transitions need some fleshing out, and that the thread of tension I am pulling between my main character and one of the supporting characters probably needs a little refining, but I am not letting myself do any editing right now. I’m just making notes as I go and I will fix things in the revisions. Right now I am forcing myself to not be such a damn perfectionist the first time around. It’s something I struggle in all my writing, whether it’s direct response marketing or fiction, but I have gotten a lot better about too much editing in the first draft.
My goals for this week are pretty simple:
- Write at least 3,000 words on Burn every day.
- Write a blog post for each of my blogs.
I really want to get heads down on Burn, both because I really want to finish the first draft this month and because I want to keep up the momentum for my Savvy Bootcamp Team! We are doing really well right now, and I want to keep contributing to our overall success.
Anyone else out there fighting through a summer cold or infection to get your words written? Don’t be discouraged…just write when you can. I try to remind myself that no matter how little I’ve written, it’s more than I had when I started!
ROW80 Check-In: Here’s a Tip…
For real writing productivity, I recommend not getting sick.
I was all raring to go after my awesome day of writing on Sunday, and then Monday rolled around. I wasn’t feeling the greatest, so I decided to skip my workout class that night. I had an itchy throat and a really terrible headache. I took some meds for that, and even though I was sleepy, managed to get about 1200-1300 words before I realized I needed to call it quits.
Then I woke up the next morning with that awful, foggy sick feeling. My throat was on fire, my head was pounding, I had a fever, and all I wanted to do was sleep. I tried doing some work for my job at home and finally gave up around 3 PM and took a series of naps. No writing was done that night.
Yesterday I felt bad again, so I called in a real sick day and went to the doctor. I had hoped for some miracle of healing overnight. So, I bundled myself in the car in my sickly haze and went to see her and her response upon looking in my nose and throat was, “Ohhh, wow. Yeah. You’re really infected.” Not what you want to hear. So I got some drugs and I have inhaled about a gallon of chicken soup since Tuesday afternoon, another gallon of Gatorade and a 2-liter of Sprite (my sickly drink). No writing has been done, but I worked from home today and hope to tackle that wordcount tonight. Plus my fever finally broke early this afternoon, and I’ll be on day 2 of the mythical, wonderful, amazing Z-Pack. That means I should be feeling tons better, right?
It couldn’t have come at a worse time with the start of Savvy Bootcamp, but thankfully the challenge is structured in a way that my team isn’t affected by my brief absence, and my teammates have been super encouraging and sweet (which almost makes me feel MORE guilty!!). So, back on the horse I go, armed with some Kleenex.
How do you deal with writing when you’re sick? Do you power on through, or do you give in and let yourself get some rest?
ROW80 Check-In: Let the Games Begin
So I did what I planned on doing this week, even though it didn’t feel super productive…I kept plotting out Burn. The plot isn’t 100% planned out on paper, but I feel more than confident with where it’s going. I feel like I can manage it towards the inevitable big events and scenes I have in my head. And, well, if I don’t get those on the nose the first time around, that’s what revisions are for. I’m treating this somewhat like a fast draft just in the interest of not overthinking things too much.
This week my goals are to write as much as possible on my draft. I clocked in at 5,172 words for today, which made me very happy! I did a few #1k1hr sprints and logged some major wordcount in the first one–over 2,000 words! I like the new direction I am taking the story from its original inception a lot. I think that makes it easy to write. I don’t know that I’ll get 5,000 words tomorrow, but I’d like to try to get at least 3,000. That’s my daily minimum goal for the week, considering I have a lot of work-related writing to do and that can sometimes sap my creative strength by the time I get home.
So, here is my updated set of goals:
- Write at least 3,000 words a day on Burn.
- Finish the first draft of Burn in May. I am part of Team KickA$$ for the Savvy Authors May Bootcamp and I am planning on writing my butt off to keep up with my prolific team members, so this shouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility!
- Finish reading Story Engineering by Larry Brooks.
Once I am done with Burn, I am going to table it for a while and pick up The Recollector, the novel I started in November for NaNoWriMo. I realized about 25,000 words in that it needed a LOT more planning and research than I had put into it prior to November 1, so the last 25,000 words are probably a load of desperate garbage. But I still really like the idea, I just need to flesh it out and get my character’s backstory to a realistic, workable place. Historical fiction, be it alternative like mine or 100% historically accurate, is hard but I think very fun and rewarding.
Hope everyone has a fantastic ROW80 week! I’m ready for some real progress after two weeks of not feeling like I made much.
ROW80 Check-In: It’s a Wash
Last week was so bad I didn’t even check in on time. Yeah…it was bad. I had a headache for six days straight, sometimes migraine strength. Work was crazy because almost everyone was out of the office, making it nearly impossible to get my own work done due to lack of responses, etc. It was very frustrating and it made me crabby and tired. I was snappish with my husband if I wasn’t careful and I went to bed early every night because I felt like the days just couldn’t be salvaged. Wednesday was actually the worst of the days. I just wanted to throw in the towel.
However, it was a three-day weekend and I let it be just that. A weekend…some relaxation, some work. None of that work was my writing, and I was okay with that. I’ve long neglected some housekeeping and organization, and the husband and I tackled that this weekend. I repainted a headboard for our bedroom on Friday and relaxed with some Netflix and the cats. I read a little, I watched TV, I slept a lot, I cleaned even more. It was good. It needed to happen. I feel a little guilty, but not enough to lose sleep over.
This week I am revamping my goals. I’m going to finish planning for Burn. Period. I’m close, but I have some work to do to get it ready for the May Boot Camp that starts this weekend. I want to be ready to jump right in. The rest of my goals aren’t ROW80 goals–they’re goals like finish cleaning and organizing the bedroom, work out at least three times this week, clean out the fridge, and go on a date with my husband. They’re good goals that make me more myself, and when I’m more myself, I’m a better writer. No more bad weeks like last week as long as I have anything to say about it.
ROW80 Check-In: Downs and Ups
I’ve been tempted to call this week a wash. While I’ve been doing most of what I need to, it just feels like a big zero. Stress and frustration plus a headache for the last five days and counting don’t equal much motivation or positivity. However, despite all that there are two good things: I’m still making progress and I have Friday off from work. I’ll be spending that day painting our new headboard, cleaning, doing laundry, and working on blogs and Burn. Oh and probably sleeping in So, not a wash quite yet.
How are you doing?
ROW80 Check-In: Semi-Fail
This week started out with a bang and ended with a whimper. It happens, and I am not going to beat myself up about it. I am a little disappointed, but there is no use crying over spilled milk or unwritten words.
I had a semi-rough week at the office and a terrible migraine yesterday and today, which effectively ruined my weekend. I have roughly the energy of a wet noodle right now but thankfully I can sit in bed and write while still relaxing.
I did manage to do a little plotting throughout the week, which is good. I need to keep the forward motion on this story so that I can write it in May. I am hoping to really ramp it up this week to make up for my scanty progress. I have Friday off from work since it’s Good Friday, so I plan on spending a nice chunk of time writing. I might take my iPad to my favorite local coffee shop and get some work done with one of their amazing giant chai teas by my side.
I did manage to post on both blogs and do some reading in the writing craft book I’m reading, Story Engineering. I did a little research for my alt-historical fantasy, but not as much as I wanted to. That is probably for the best, to be honest…researching the new shiny isn’t a very good idea while I am trying to make headway on another project. I was doing well with both things, but I think I am going to table my research until I am through the first draft of Burn.
I am going to try to get a little work done tonight, but it’s hard with my head pounding like it is. Stupid allergy/sinus season in Dallas is crazy this year! If I can manage an hour or so of working today I will call it a win. Trying to remember my new mantra of “little and often” when it comes to progress!
How are you progressing, fellow ROW80ers? Anyone have a semi-fail week like me?
ROW80 Check-In: Light at the End
It’s Wednesday, which means I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel that is my week. I’m busy at work, and I’m busy at home. Part of me just wishes that I could lock myself away for a week or two and do nothing but write until my fingers fall off, both because I wish I had that luxury and because I’m getting really excited about the project I’m working on.
I was telling one of my writer friends this morning that I am so ready to begin the writing part of my novel. Right now I am deep in the planning, plotting and worldbuilding and that is a LOT of fun, but it’s also a lot of work. I get easily frustrated with planning because of my excitement–once I hit on an idea I love and start to work out all the details, I want to throw caution to the wind and jump right in. But for me, that just invites yet another form of frustration once I work past the elation and realize that what I’m writing isn’t going the direction I wanted it to go. I need a well-thought out plan ahead of time and a good sense of my characters, setting and concept. I do love to discovery write, and I often allow myself to just run free when I’m stuck on something, but I write better and faster when I have a plan. I approach my professional nonfiction the same way: lots of copious notes, outlines and scribbles before I sit down and write a piece, or else I get completely lost in the weeds and have to drag myself back to the actual point of what I’m trying to communicate.
So far this week I have accomplished quite a lot of planning on Burn. Sunday was awesome because I chatted about my plot and magic system with friends at our monthly writer’s group, and just the act of talking it out and discussing things with others helped me resolve some bothersome issues. I felt like I cleared a major hurdle in the plotting of the novel. I’ve continued doing some planning every night, even on Monday when I absolutely wanted to do anything but write. Just like I wrote in my post yesterday, the “little and often” approach is helping me accomplish my goals even when I don’t want to. My biggest task right now is developing out the other major characters. My heroine and her backstory are in great shape, but the new plot additions have created a few characters who need quite a bit of fleshing out.
Speaking of blogging, I’m working on quite a bit of content for this blog and my other one. It feels good to be blogging on a regular basis again–it’s something that I got away from and I truly missed it. It’s really a shame that a lot of my old articles about writing got eaten by the WordPress upgrade monster some time ago. I have an idea for a series of posts on this blog, as well as a whole list of posts in progress for my tech blog.
I am also doing quite a bit of reading: an alternative history fantasy novel and some urban fantasy as my “genre” reading, various sources for my own alternative history fantasy project, and Story Engineering by Larry Brooks of storyfix.com. Larry’s site is incredibly valuable for tips on the craft of writing, and his book is proving to be just as helpful. He is great about providing clear examples of existing works and how they apply the principles he talks about in his book. I am not very far into the book yet but already I know this is going to be a staple on my shelf. I have the ebook and I am going to be ordering the paperback to sit amongst my other treasured writing and reference books, which is the highest compliment I can pay!
How are you coming with your writing goals, fellow ROW80 participants? Anyone have a major breakthrough, setback or accomplishment?
ROW80 Check-In: Not Too Bad
The first week of ROW80 has drawn to a close and I feel like it was really successful!
I made a lot of progress on getting Burn re-plotted and ready to go and I’m feeling great about that project. My Scrivener file is growing more and more detailed by the day! Today’s progress, though technically part of the upcoming week, was the most awesome. My biggest plot disconnect was worked through during a get together with some of my local writer friends, which makes me even more excited to finish my important (but tedious) outlining and get to writing the new draft!
This week I have some lofty plans:
- I am going to concentrate on fleshing out some of the new characters that have come up during the reimagining of Burn’s plot. I am also going to lay out the big overall story arc and start building the subplots.
- I will finish out the blog articles I have planned and hopefully start to work on a new post series I have in mind for my tech site.
- I am continuing the process of bookmarking and skimming resources for my next writing project, which is an alternative historical fantasy. I’m currently taking a class that I am hoping will give me some great resources, insight and inspiration. One of my favorite authors, Gail Carriger, also happened to post a great list of resources for alt-Victorian history and steampunk writing. My story falls at the tail end of the Victorian times, during Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, so I look forward to perusing some of the links Gail shared.
I have to admit, though…I failed at my goals on Saturday. I had a rough week migraine-wise and that always leaves me pretty tired and feeling not so hot, which led to a completely lazy day that involved me collapsed in a lump on the couch, lots of television, the latest Raine Benares book and a few games of Tiny Wings on my iPhone.
It made me think about the fact that I should probably build an “off day” into my goals that I can use if I need to. I would love to work on my writing every day, but that isn’t necessarily the most realistic thing in the world. However, I don’t really want to give myself an “out” during a writing challenge. I also don’t want to have an exception that may break the good writing habits I’m trying to rebuild.
What do you think, fellow ROW80ers? Do you give yourself a day of rest, or do you push through and work on your goals every day?
authoress of urban fantasy and paranormal, grammar nerd, serious geek
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