Check-In

I adore that Pep Talk! My youngest showed it to us this week--one of his teachers had shown it to him. This is the kind of thing that should go viral!

I have done not a thing since Sunday, Wednesday always catches me unaware, which is why last week I didn't even catch it that Kait hadn't posted a check-in...and, to be honest, mid-week is usually too frantic for me. But I thought I'd give it a go.

I have two goals: write a scene a week and research one item from my manuscript list.
I think I need to add sponsor goals--mainly because I'm pretty good at those!
Plus, I had a hard realization that I need to be a much better planner--I'm pretty well organized with most things, but sometimes I equate talking about something as doing it!

New list

Write one new scene OR an hour of revisions a week (this still seems very small, but I don't want to scare my muse)

Research one item from the manuscript list a week (really! What is keeping me from doing this?)

Show up as a sponsor (which I have, thank goodness) and be myself. Both of which I want to continue doing.

Be accountable. In my personal and professional life. This one is harder to quantify...I need to come up with a system: a calendar or white board or reminder list, I don't know. If anyone has any brilliant  ideas or apps for that, would you let me know? I can remember things like, put more money in my
son's school lunch account, but not that my hair appt. is two days from now.

How's everyone else doing?

AN AWESOME LIST! AND A CHECK-IN

Okay, totally stealing, er, borrowing this from Karen Rought

{{{LIST OF AWESOME}}}

I know! Right?

Because, sometimes I think our brains latch on to lists of SUCKAGENESS too easily, and we need to stop that. 

Right now.

This minute, this second! 

In fact, not only do I want a list of awesome, I want a box of awesome as well. And, why not? Then, if suckageness scrapes at my door, I can simply look in my box of awesome and be reminded of the pure joy and awesomeness of life.

1. I won an hour of creativity coaching from the awesome Jennifer Blanchard
2. Started watching Downton Abbey! I know. What took me so long?
3. Jamie Ayres is going to visit my blog on Feb. 5th! We'll be celebrating her new release YA 18 Things Jamie's going to be writing about 18 Things You Should Know About Writing--can't wait!
4. Found out my 20,000th day of my life will be August 28th of this year. Seems preeeetttty important. It also happens to be my mom-in-law's birthday. Here's the calculator 20,000 Days
5. I get to see the best sunrises driving my youngest to school.

ROW80

I'm stopping there, for my actual check-in.

I had changed my goals to two simple things:

Write one scene a week Done! Yay!

Research one item a week (from list for manuscript) I didn't do this! And it surprises me, because, usually I'm all over research. So, I will do this today. 

I didn't realize how hard it would be to make actual changes--adding new scenes, etc. to my draft! It was easy to write: this is needed here, more description here, deeper POV etc. but to open the manuscript and start typing was something else entirely.

Inertia had won.

Now, it feels as if I've cracked through something--one thing Jennifer said was: the time is going to pass anyway, you may as well work on something. And I know this! I just didn't think about it in regards to my writing!

Small wins are still wins.

So, how are you doing? Any awesome things for you? Any small wins?

What Just Happened?

So, if my goals had been to get my house sparkling and organized, groceries bought, some meals made and in the freezer and every bit of laundry done, I would have nailed them.

Yay! For my house and family
Boo...For my writing.

And, even though those things needed to be done, preeeetty sure it was resistance nudging me to do them. I was too busy to write, couldn't possibly sit down for a second, I had things to do!

Important things.
Things that have nothing to do with my dreams.

Well, that's not fair to my family. I love having a welcoming home, home-cooked meals (most of which are prepared by my husband) and organized closets--and I love doing these things for and with my family.

I also like being a well rounded, well read,  creative doer. And that's for my family too.
Because, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

I'm recommitting to my goals (re-wording them as well).

• write one new scene a week
• research one item a week (from list for WIP)

That's it. For writing. I have some other goals for other creative endeavors, but these will come first.

Hope everyone else is having a productive ROW!

CONTROL? I DON'T NEED NO STINKING CONTROL

There is a moment of clarity as your car careens sideways across a street that is now a skating rink, right before it jack-rabbits up the curb scooping out snow and packing it in around itself:

Huh, you say to your brain, I have no control!

The next thought is...well, maybe we'll leave that one alone. Suffice it to say, no one was hurt, I met a lovely woman (whose yard my car landed in), I was not the first car in her back yard...nor the last, I had a nice chat (really!) with a city salt/plow driver, he was kind enough to take three passes with the salt truck on that crazy iced-up curve, and I got to stay in my car as the tow truck driver winched my car out and then dragged it out--it was fun. Really.

Life is like this.

And sometimes writing feels this way too. Which isn't altogether a bad thing. When we take our feet off the brakes of our imagination, brainstorms, first draft or fifth, we can end up in unexpected places!

Now, on to my check-in for ROW 80 

First basic pass on manuscript: complete 

Had to add this next step: 

Second pass, making extensive notes in notebook--which big scenes need to be added, what new research is needed, where to really deepen POV: more than halfway

What I'm loving the most about this process (a process I put off and off and off because I didn't know how to start) is I'm finally seeing the book and how it will/could look. I've been writing this book forever--constantly setting it in a corner for unruly behavior and then picking it back up again a year later. I love it that now I can see its potential.

Can't wait to see how everyone else is doing...

Row80 Goals and Check-In

Really boring title, sorry!

Haven't posted my goals, yikes!
Okay.

GOALS
short term:
Finish making notes for last 40 pages of manuscript
Should be done today!
long term:
Deep edits for entire manuscript:

1.Write new scenes--filling in holes and deepening plot
2.Heighten description--5 senses
3.Deepen POVs and or fix--get inside their head
4.Write 250 words a day and/or 1 hour of manuscript work a day

So, what's gonna help me get there?
I have examples of deep point of view (I literally need these as eyeball/brain receptor reminders) printed out.
Keep learning! Review notes from workshops, read etc.
Keep to my schedule (w/in reason)

Since I just posted my goals, my check-in is more how I came to ROW80 again. I haven't done ROW for a year--still saw the facebook updates, but didn't commit. I've declared 2013 as the year I publish, so...I thought, I can't just sit around and wait for it to fall in my lap--well, I could, but that would be sad.

Jumping in with both feet, recommitting to ROW80 as a participant and a sponsor!

How are you doing?

Okay, Okay, Okay.

2013 is absolutely the year I'm published. Got it? Good.

This is not so much a resolution as it is a realization--and the realization is:

If this is what you want to be doing, than why the hell are you not doing it? Every. Single. Day.

Every
Single
Day

Seriously.

So here I am letting it be known that I am serious, so there. 2013. I am so not kidding.
I'll be joining the fab writers of A Round Of Words in 80 Days starting Monday January 7th, I didn't join in  the fun of ROW80 much last year, pretty half-assed--not this year though, this year I am in full-assed! I'll even be sponsoring this go around.
take the ROW 80 pledge here

I'll have my goals figured out next time, but for now, I'm very happy with the big one:

Published in 2013!