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.

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. 

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...

WHY PAINTING IS LIKE WRITING, PLUS ROW80

It sounds like the start of a bad joke:
Why is painting a room like writing a book?
I don't know, why is painting a room like writing a book?

 I hope you weren't waiting for a punch line -- I'm fresh out of punch lines, too tired from painting.

Okay, okay.

WRITING A BOOK      

What should I write?
Idea!
PREPARE
Research/Brainstorm
GATHER THE RIGHT TOOLS
Notebook, notecards, sticky notes, whiteboard, pens, computer
WRITE
Halfway through your idea changes
Suddenly in a tight corner -- how do you write out of this?
Move things around
Want it done so badly, it's all you do in your spare time
First pass -- done!
Needs fixing
Re-write
Think you're done, until someone else looks at it!
Fix the misses
Done! Still, it never matches what you first envisioned

PAINTING A BIG ROOM


What should I paint?
Chose colors
PREPARE
Tape baseboards, remove wall plates
GATHER THE RIGHT TOOLS
Paint, brushes, tape, rollers, ladder, screwdriver, hammer, cloth, newspaper
PAINT
Halfway through, you realize you have to paint the room 2 different colors
Suddenly in a tight corner -- how do you paint behind the weight machine?
Move things around
Want it done so badly, it's all you do in your spare time
First coat, in certain lights it looks done
Needs second coat
Think you're done until your husband comes in w/ the mega light
Fix the mixes
Done! Hey, it looks better than what you thought it would.

So, here's what I learned. It does eventually get done. If you have the right tools, it's a hell of a lot easier. If you prepare, it goes so much faster (sure it's a pain, but worth it in the long run). It feels damn goodly to be done.

So, yesterday, I loaded Pages on to my iPad -- it's easier to bring to work than the laptop -- I can bring it anywhere. That's part of the right tools. I'm concentrating on the re-write right now. that's part of needs fixing. Plus, the whole thing just made me excited.

That's it -- sort of a check-in.
How are you doing?

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?

FIN.

Not really, just for this ROW80!

How did I do?
Not really sure, had lots of poofy dogs, lots of life and lots of doubts.

However, I have a new understanding of my WIP and what I need to do, and, more importantly, how to do it.
I also realized how to fix a finished manuscript. Figured out what was missing, like, a plot, motvation and mythology.

I was going to take next round off and then I thought, why? Where would I get my motivation, my pats on the back, or my kick in the arse? Right here dummy. At ROW80.

So, I'll see you next round!

ROW80 CHECK IN and recalculation: : :

Recalculating: : : :
I have turned left when I was suppose to turn right and now my writerly GPS (which has a lovely British accent) needs to recalculate.

And that is where I am. In need of recalculating.
I started round 4 with  a dose of reality, a mere 100 words a day, some check-ins with other ROWers, and a few blog posts. It was, for the most part, doable. Kinda boring, yet, doable. Then that hussy nano came strutting into the final weeks of October and got me all hot and bothered and bursting to try (yet again) to write a book in a month.

Damn her. Sort of.

Am I writing waaay more than 100 words a day? Yes.
Am I excitied about my novel? Yes.
Am tired of the ad infinitum posts on loving/hating, wanting to kill the idea of it? Yes, YESS, YYYEEESSSSS!!

Yikes. Not only that, but last night my 12 yo said, "Hey, mom, do you wanna play a board game?" and for a nano (yes, I wrote that) second, I thought, oooh, I was gonna write, I'm behind in nano, I can't play, I need to do this. Thankfully, my mama brain slapped my nano brain, and it shut-up.

My son and I played Scrabble for two hours. It was great.

Recalculating: : : :
I love ROW80, ROW80 doesn't make me think writing should come before playing Scrabble. ROW80 still holds me accountable, yet it does so gently.
I forgot to mention, out printer died, my husband bought a new printer and suddenly everything needs to be moved and purged and redefined...recalculating: : :

So, here's my new ROW80 goals:
ORGANIZE office.
Write a book, get the core of it down, as fast as I can. Without guilt.
Check in with other ROWers
Develope new blog with my sister and mom (fun!)
Have Fun!

How's everyone else doing? Any nano thoughts?

CHRONICLES OF NANO PLUS ROW80

I don't even know what that means...I mean for me. Except, I made the insane decision to join a bunch of other  sanity challenged folks and signed up for nano to write a 50k word novel in the month of November. Ye-ah baby. And now I shall make you suffer as well.

You are welcome.

I've done this dance before, never winning -- that is, never writing 50k. I have however started December bleary and cranky with 36k. Which aint shabby. And while most of it was not worthy of actual paper it was the start and middle and end of a young adult novel. So, what I had girls and boys was a really shitty first draft -- just like Anne Lamott says you need in Bird by Bird. http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life/dp/0385480016

Yay! I had a really (really) shitty first draft. I think I got extra credit for the extent of the shittiness.

I plan on doing it again, only this time I'm aiming for 50k words of crap!

I've somewhat outlined my novel and have scenes brainstormed, so as not to get stuck. So far, so good. I have a respectable amount, not what I need, no. I'm not above cheating though. Here are some of my plans -- already in effect:


I will not use contractions! None of this "aren't" and "we'll" -- those are two words that can magically be made into four!


I will use many pretty adjectives. Many glorious and florid and descriptively seductive adjectives (adverbs as well)!


Full names only! Just like Stanley Gardner in his penny a word Perry Masons -- Tess O'Dell, and Sebastian St. Camael, and Miss Margaret Carmilla, thank you very much.

Duplicate statements ie: "You are a fool! A complete and total idiotic fool!" See? Instead of her saying, "Idiot!" with only one measly word she's saying a slew, a veritable slew of 10 words. Hah!

That's what I've got so far, as I think (and use) more, I'll let you know. Tongue firmly in cheek.

ROW80

I'm kicking a** for my ROW80 goals, well, for my daily word count Row80 goals, since my goal was 100 words a day, last I checked I was at 8,000+ for November -- but I'm changing some of my other goals. 

Blog posts: I'll aim for 2 -- both check-ins, since I've been missing those.

Check-ins with other ROWers: I'll still aim for 5      

Think that was it

I'll also keep you posted as to my nano state.

Are you a participant? Are you a mental basket case? Not yet. Tell me about it.

ROW80 Check In

http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/
So far so good. The weekly goals seem to be working. What is it in me that I almost hate to admit this -- as if the Universe will say, "Oh, look, she thinks it's working...bwahahaha! Let's wreck it!"

Idiotic, I do believe in positive thinking. I do, I do.

Words: 800 -- almost half way to my 7 pages
Edits/Revisions: 1.5 hours, not quite where I wanted to be, but not panic time either.

Feeling good. Gonna stay that way.

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.

ROW80 Checking In...Hello?

Okay, so, not an auspicious start.

GONE BLONDE: Looked at some things that I wanted to change...thought about changing things. Set it aside.

BETWIXT: Wrote (and by 'wrote' I mean hacked) almost a page.

See what I mean?

I do have a couple blogs written, long hand in notebook at home.
Sheesh.

Hope everyone else did better. I have high hopes for this evening.

A Round of Words in 80 days!

Hello Jules Verne. Alright, not quite. Yet, still exciting. I'm setting my goals for the next 80 days of writing, and you could too. Here's how: A Round of Words in 80 Days

A challenge that understands I have a life. Thank you!

So, my goals, and I do have them:
Revise GONE BLONDE one hour a day
Write BETWIXT one page a day
Write MY BLOG three days a week (cheating w/ music videos is alowed)

There they are...for now.
I'll post updates and first chapters soon!

Tracker Jacker

There is something in me that hates keeping track. I'm part of a writing loop group -- which is, suprisingly, nothing like a loup garou -- we keep track of each day we meet our writing goals, once we hit 100 days in a row there is great rejoicing in the land and such.

I have never hit 100 days -- I'm sure I've done it, but I won't keep track. Can't keep track -- I've tried calenders using stickers, and smiley faces, and well, I've tried those two things...and I can't keep track. When I try to keep track I stop writing.

So, I've decided to embrace it. Which is what I do when I can't get rid of an annoying thing about myself, or others -- I embrace it. I seem to write more consistently when I don't keep track (kind of like a diet, when I say I'm going on a diet, I crave the donuts!)

It's almost as if I have to trick myself into things. If I don't think about writing, or having to keep track of writing -- I write. The minute I set up a schedule and put times on a calender, I may as well turn on the TV and veg. 'Cause, nothing's getting done.

I can trick myself into getting an inordinant amount of stuff done. If I don't schedule them or prepare for them, I just do them. Sounds ridiculously easy. And it is. I trick myself into exercising by staying in my PJs and not thinking about it -- sometimes the preparation for something makes my brain think it's actually done it. Stupid brain.

What do you trick yourself into doing?

So I was thinking I should probably write about writing. I like to call myself a writer--I figure the more often I call myself that, the better the chances are that I'll actually believe it--and I started this blog with the intention of it helping my writing in a nebulous sort of way.

If I whine about it, it (the writing) will come.

That seemed valid.

So my work in progress, or WIP (or WHIP--as in it's thrashing my behind) was a bare bones rough draft--choppy and lacking in exposition, but the creeky skeleton of it was down on paper...until the fatal flaw was pointed out to me--twice, damnit. I bravely dissagreed, because, really, what do published authors know anyway?

Oh.

I read my rough draft again, and again, and again. Cue arrow shot--straight to my writerly heart.

I. Had. To. Start. Over.

Over. And not just, oh well I'll write a new fresh story, no. I love these people, and I had no idea what "You have to kill your darlings," could encompass. A turn of phrase here. A whole loverly scene there. M-o-t-i-v-a-t-i-o-n...killed--changed.

And then, to twist the knife, as I'm re-writing my darling, I realise there are things that need to be changed again {{{again}}} because I've decided something worked better here. And my whole being wants to go back to the beginning (because, it's a very good place to start--or so I've been told) and change the things that need changing so my story will make sense right now.

But I don't. Because I know--know--more things will change and then I'd have to change the first part that leads to the second part and the party of the--you know what I mean. So, I stop myself from going back and just move forward.

And I realised, tonight, that that is a cool analogy for life.

You can't go back and change the first part, just so this part makes better sense--you can only move forward. And make this part--this right now part--the best part it can be.