ROW 80, cha-cha-cha

Feeling much better about a lot of things. Seem to have a handle on my goals, here's the scoop:

Edited 5 pages a day--check! 

Extra special stuff:
I've joined a health challenge with a group of co-workers, point based. Lots of "healthy" competition ;).
Every day I wear my pedometer and I try to do two cardio things--walking and riding the stationary, ice skating and walking...you get the picture.

And because I love to see our team in the top three, I like to add big numbers! Yesterday I broke 20k steps on my pedometer and walked (ran for a micro-second) at the activity center for an hour (yay!) while my youngest had baseball practice.

How's everyone else doing?

Row 80 Check-in, Late Again!

I blew right past last Sunday's check-in and now I'm late for Wednesday's.

Clearly, something's wrong. With me. ::sigh::

I was doing pretty good through Sunday too, really should have posted on a high note.
Last week, I did get three hours butt in chair--with some good advancement in the editing/rewriting.
Then, kaplouey!!!

I'm changing my goals...again. 

There's a part of me that is so disappointed in myself, for not rocking this last goal, for changing my goals again, for so many things... luckily, there is a louder, bossier part of me that says, "who gives a rat's ass? Do, what you have to do. And if that means changing your flipping goal every check-in, so be it!"

Without further ado, my new and improved goals:
Writing:
(Got this from Chuck Wendig's terrible minds kick butt blog)
Edit 5 pages a day
If writing is needed--added scene, expand a scene, write 350 words a day

Exercise:
Minimum of 22 minutes a day of one of the following:
Brisk walk
Run
Ice Skate
Stationary bike
Yoga
Pilates

Here I go again...I'm off to check on all of you.

The Lost Check-In

Holy lost check-in Batman! I completely forgot to post (or check-in with other ROWers) on Sunday!

What is up with that?

I don’t know.

Last check-in I decided I needed to change, re-word and re-imagine my goals. Here’s what I came up with:

BUTT IN CHAIR THREE HOURS A WEEK

Not on Facebook, not on Twitter, not on Pinterest

Working on manuscript—some manuscript lurve

I did get some work done this past week, got a couple scenes fleshed out, but I know I can do more. If I just stay in my chair.

Hope everyone had a more productive week than I did! Tell me about it.

Hello Wednesday!

Well now it's Thursday...nearly Friday!

Okay.
Wrote three more pages so far this week. Think I have to re-write my goals, I'm making that one of my goals for the rest of this week: rewrite goals!

That. Is about it.

Except

I'm in the middle of another change. At the beginning of last year I had a huge change--I was promoted and moved to a new library. Writing it makes it sound insignificant, but it wasn't. I had been at my old library for 15 years, I had connections with the patrons and the staff was my family.

Now I've made new connections and I love my "new" library...so, of course, I am gearing up for another change. I've been asked to supervise (circulation staff) two smaller libraries (I co-supervise at a large library right now). So, now two more libraries to get to know, staff and patrons alike.

I am bittersweet. It feels as if I have just found my land legs and now it's back to sea. But I am always up for a challenge and I know how lucky I am to have work--especially work I enjoy. I hope to be able to focus on writing again. Soon.

How's everyone else doing?

ROUND & ROUND & ROUND OF WORDS

Hi Rowers!

A (short) List of Awesome:
Made dinner with youngest, in which a bacon weave was involved!

Filmed dog and youngest in popcorn catching contest!

Goals:
Having a weird time, pulling the proverbial teeth to get anything written. I have a you-know-what storm of happening right now, but I don't think that's it.

I was thinking about this as I folded some laundry--some good ideas can come whilst folding boxers--my characters came to mind and how they might feel about me NOT writing.

Which is when I started asking them questions...
Look, I know that sounds flaky, but it happened, and I went with it.

Here's what they said:
Me: So...what are you guys doing?
Van: What are we doing? What are you doing? Seems like a whole lot of nothing.
Eva: That's harsh. You don't have to be mean Van. Although, he kind of has a point.
Me: Okay, okay I know what you mean. I can't seem to get back in the story.
Eva: What helped you before?
Van: I hope it was the sex.
Eva: Oh, you!
Me: He's kind of right, when I made the big push to finish a lot of it was sex.
Van: Yes!
Me: But I think more than anything I love the banter.
Eva: Yes, I love it too. Never thought I was one for bantering, but he just brings it out in me.
Van: Really, I'd never guess.
Eva: There you have it, and that's why I have to say it to her.
Van: Touche.
Me: Ha! Okay, maybe I can do this now.
Van: Well, I hope so, I really want to get back to the...banter.
Eva: Hahaha...me too!

And then I wrote, now this was pretty late, and I only wrote one page, but it was one page that wasn't written before!

I realized how much I miss these characters, and I want to make their story as rich as I can. So, I'm doing it for them. 

ROW80/Red Door(!) Check-In

Aack, I'm late! Probably because I did a dismal job on my writing goals:
1,417 words added. I guess it's not horrible...not horrible is okay.

Still reading both craft books.

Finished painting the entire back of the house -- porch and everything. At one point I was almost in tears -- transitioning from high ladder to porch roof...gah! I don't mind the roof, especially ours, with a nice little pitch -- I was on a high ladder all day and I think my adrenaline got the better of me.

Extra added bonus of a shiny newly painted door -- red! I have always always always wanted a red front door.

But nothing else is painted on the front of the house yet.

I go back to work tomorrow, plan on stocking-up on all the research books I need. Which gets me more excited than I can tell you.

How's everyone else doing?

ROW80 Check-In the Second

Feeling pretty positive about my goals.
Pages/Words: 
Added 2581 words to my first draft (150 pages goal -- knocked off 10+ pages). woot!


Craft Reading:
The War of Art (have been for the last month  (I read and re-read and re-read) by Steven Pressfield. Pressfield is lyrical and persistent. He continually opens my eyes to Resistance.
The War of Art

250 Things You Should Know About Writing by, Chuck Wendig.
Chuck Wendig writes in your face, laugh out loud, reallyreallyreally no holds barred stuff we all need to hear, or read.
 250 Things You Should Know About Writing
Here's a sampling of one of the categories:
25 Things You Should Know About... Writing a Novel
1. Your First And Most Important Goal Is To Finish The Shit That You Started
{{{One of my favorite lines (because I'm so freaking guilty of it:}}}
Your hard drive is not a novel burial ground. {{Okay, two lines}} It's like building your own Frankenstein monster -- robbing a grave, stealing a brain, chopping up a body -- and then giving up before you let lightning tickle that sonofabitch to life.
A link to Chuck Wendig's blog: Terrible Minds

That's about it for now. Hope everyone is doing great.

She Shoots...She Scores! Goooooaaaaaallll!

Wishin' and hopin' and dreamin'...are all good things, but I need something concrete and apparently with an end date attached, and schedules maintained and some kind of measurable GOAL.

Yes, it's that time again, the start of a new round of words in 80 days -- ROW80! Click on the pretty ROW80 pic at top of page and you can find out all you want to know about this fabulous group.

It always feels so good to start fresh, cleansed of all my writerly sins, like: sloth and...sloth.
So this round I'm setting my goals a little differently. Stop your snickering, I am.

Working on two (2, count 'em) manuscripts. The first one is a complete -- ahem -- YA paranormal, BETWIXT, that needs a complete re-write. The other, my YA paranormal historical steampunkish...thing, GODDESS IN THE MECHANICA -- this one still needs some brainstorming and outlining and, you know, the writing of the frakish thing. Parts are written, I just need to understand more of it.

Okay.
Sundays   Anything goes -- if I get stuff done, it's a bonus.
Mondays 8 a.m. edit BETWIXT for 1 hour.
Mondays 9 a.m. brainstorm/outline GODDESS for 1 hour
Tuesdays Lunch break toss-up: either edit or write
Wednesdays Lunch break catch-up on other ROW80ers
Thursdays 8 a.m. edit BETWIXT for 1 hour
Fridays (every other) 9 a.m. brainstorm/outline GODDESS for 1 hour
Saturdays  Anything goes...

Also, weekly:
Ride stationary bike 3x
Write one blog post beside ROW80 posts
Write one blog post for new venture w/ mom and sister: Those Kennedy Women!

I have never been this specific before...let's hope it works for me!
What's gonna work for you this go a round?

Yikes! A Late Check-in

Life! Lots of life and hardly any writing -- that's about it for my check-in!

I did get 2 hours of brainstorming
I did not get 2 hours of outlining

I did put on a Holiday party
I did get an interview for a higher position
I have gone to several wrestling meets
And a band concert
And a Holiday get-together

My goals for this next week (and I do mean week, now through next Wed.):

Set in Bite Size Pieces, or Fun Size!

Write one page of outline, just one -- a start
Add one page of new writing to ANYthing
Floss every day.

That's it. That. Is. It.
Sheesh!

Okay, now to check on some ROW80 friends...

OUT WITH A WHIMPER...

So, I realized I haven't been around lately. Oh, I've been around -- to lots of blogs, just not at my own blog.  Natalie Hartford visited and said she liked my goals -- er, um, those were from the first week in September. Talk about a slacker -- actually, let's not.

It's all good though. I'm already motivated for the next go around. I'm just not going to try for the big bang.

Think Small


Yup. No grandiose goals of finishing a WIP in 17 days, or brainstorming an entire plot in a caffeinated induced state of delusional genius-osity. Nope.

ROW80 taught me a few things about myself, I really like coming up with goals and I'm really bad at achieving them. Look, I'm a positive person -- I make Pollyanna look like a crab -- but these goals I made for myself were not conducive to me achieving them. I also learned, I have to actually make time to write, can't just wait for it to happen. Sheesh, who knew?

Goals: 
100 words a day -- no. matter. what. I don't care if I do have a life, I can eek out 100 words a day.


2 blogs a week (ROW80 check-ins do not, do. not. count.


Visit (at least) 5 other Row-ers of the 80 a week. 


That's it girls and boys. This makes me ridiculously happy. Baby goals, yay!

Renewing My ROW80 Vows...Vegas Style! Oh, Poop.

Okay, maybe not Vegas style, but I am renewing my goals and that reminded me of renewing vows and that reminded me of my girlfriend and her husband who did renew their vows when they were in Vegas -- with an Elvis impersonator. It was awesome!

I want my writing goals to be awesome too -- or, at least, to exist. And if I need an Elvis to do it -- so be it. See how he's motivating me?

I've been woefully absent from check-ins and am feeling the nagging sense of "not trying hard enough" bouncing in my brain. Sure life has hit me with it's very essence of lifeness, ie: a crapstorm of yuck. But, like all good midwesterners, I know we need that shit manure to grow some fine stuff.

Enough.
Okay, goals:
Write and attach scene cards to Big Board
Write full outline, send to critique partner
Write 2 blogs a week (sheesh, at least)

This is it. This is my awesome. If I can complete this it really will be my awesome!

Happy writing everyone! How's everyone else doing?

ROW80 CHECK-IN

Okay. I've reassessed the situation and have determined I have a problem. Not a huge problem. Just a problem with daily goals.

Tangent:
When my oldest was a toddler and saying no to as many things as she could, her pediatrician told me not to worry about her daily intake of food, instead, look to her weekly consumption.
Oooh. Way less frustration and worry.

Full Circle:
My daily goals keep getting sabotaged, I'm not naming names...alright, by me mostly, still, that's beside the point. Sabotage, that's the point. No, that's not the point. Goals are the point. What can I get done in a week, not necessarily a day.

Realization:
Daily goals are a good idea with a bad outcome.
Weekly goals are (might be) a better fit.

New Weekly Goals:
4 hours edits and revisions on GONE BLONDE
7 new pages written for BETWIXT

Phew.

Mid-Year Resolution...Or Half-Time Gooooal!

I reallyreally wanted to write a blog, have a blog, be a blog. No, not that last one, but I do have a lot to say, just not a lot of people to say things to. I'm lying--I do have lots of people I can talk to, just not a lot of people who will let me soliliquize. Sure, I could sit on my back porch all by my lonesome and utter profound statements to the birds (and we know those statements would be for the birds) but all of us want other ears to hear us...Yes?

So, my point, and I do have one, is if I wanted this, why don't I use it?

Hmmm...good question.

I like writing (and by that, I mean I hate it) I like having a captive audience (spotlights, please) and I like to get things off my chest (because I have no chest to speak of, it can't hold much and it needs to get emptied frquently) so you see this whole blog thing is a perfect fit, unlike my bra.

So, my half-time goal is to blog at least three (3) times a week. See what happens...will I run out of things to talk about? Will I be boring? Will anyone even care?

Who knows?

All's I know is I feel better being able to vent, whether anyone's listening or not.

I don't really have a question for anyone...but feel free to vent.