The past week has probably been my least productive writing-wise since I dove back into writing last August. I'm okay with this, because it's been with good reason and my life has been productive in non-writing ways and I've continued to move forward a little bit at a time on my writing. Being honest with myself, there are going to be some more low-writing-productivity weeks ahead of me.
With it being Monday, it's time for my weekly #writemotivation goals status check-in.
1) Read my first draft of "Adrift" and create something akin to a "beat sheet" for it. - As with last week, this is still not started. I do still want to get back to this project, but for the moment, there simply are other projects that I am more motivated to tackle. Right this moment, I'm thinking that I might decide that I won't write a different first draft novel in November for NaNoWriMo if I don't devote at least some serious time to the first draft of Adrift, instead using November to tackle a second draft of Adrift. I don't want to build up a stockpile of first draft novels, after all. We'll see...
2) Have a short story revising day where I get at least three stories into a form where I am ready to send them out for beta or submission. - I scheduled this for late next week. If nothing goes awry between now and then, I should have 7-8 hours where I can work on this. If circumstances force me to defer this, then I'll try to do this in April.
3) Write 7,500 words of new fiction including at least one new short story. - I finished the longer short I had been working on. 7,500 words of new fiction seems a bit unlikely at this point, especially since I'm planning on a revising-intensive day (See #2). I can't rule it out, though. If I could get a couple of good 2-3 hour chunks of time with a solid idea I was ready to write, then I could still potentially make this goal.
4) Keep all my writing routines -- Seinfeld Chain, revised blogging schedule, etc. - On target. As I said last week, this is still my top goal for the month. I feel that if I come through the current "storms" with my routines intact, it will be a big momentum boost when I have more time available again. That said, I'm trying not to take this to the level of superstition or what-have-you. If I break the chain, or miss a blog post, then I just have to get back to it the next day.
5) On 3/31, have one non-time-sensitive blog post written and ready for future use on a day when I'm not able to post something "new." - I still need to finish/polish one of the two most-of-a-first-drafts that I wrote last week. There's really no reason (barring a new crisis) that I shouldn't get this done.
6) Write and submit one or more short stories for the first time. - I still need to mail out my story for the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine monthly contest. It's printed now, though!
7) Decide if I am going to attend Marcon (a local science-fiction convention) in April or not. - This goal has been "met" in that I've decided I won't try to fit this into our schedule. I'll still look into conventions later this year towards my overall goal of attending at least one convention in 2012.
8) Complete a first draft of my non-fiction project. - The main portion of the work is done. I want to work on some secondary portions ("Bonus Features" if you will...) of it before I'd call it complete. This is another goal which I should reasonably be able to complete.
I really do appreciate having the structure around my goals which the #writemotivation folks help provide each other. It would be so easy to tell myself that I didn't have time for writing in my life right now, but that would be an excuse. I haven't had any large successes yet, but I've had small successes and have received lots of input that leads me to believe that the large successes are possible with perseverance and effort. I fully intend to keep on pushing through towards those large successes.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope that your own March writing is going well.
Frankly, I think with everything on your plate, you're doing really well. You should be proud of yourself.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll see that a lot of small successes will end up adding up and you'll be more productive than you realized.
Well done, hon :D Keep it up!
Thanks, K.T.! I feel the same way, and I've tried to show that in these posts. It's not my intention for them to seem negative because I really do feel good about what I've accomplished under the circumstances and that being able to write through this means only good things about my ability to work well when things get better.
DeleteThanks again for the encouragement!
You've got a lot going on, but you're doing really well. Keep on writing! I've sent my short story for the month to my CPs for one last read and then I'll submit it.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great, Christine! Do you know where you're planning to send it first?
DeleteYour list of goals makes mine look like chow mein :-)
ReplyDeleteSo many things that you are accomplishing versus the thing here or the thing there that you haven't been able to fully tackle. But as you mentioned, you're doing well with keeping your routine steady amidst whatever else is going on so that's great. Keep up the good work.
Thank you! That's how I'm trying to look at -- focusing on what I am accomplishing while acknowledging the other items as well.
DeleteYou're doing so good for all the other obstacles that have popped up this month. Keep it up! So what if a few things don't get done, sometimes the ones you do get done in spite of everything else are the best part :)
ReplyDeleteYay Write Motivation! Hope all is well with the wife and family and you'll make your goals whether at the pace you like or slowly these things do get done in time.
ReplyDeleteAlso wanted to note that I tagged you in the 7 Meme that's been going on in the Write Campaign since I see we're both in the same group. Could be fun, no pressure though. I know you have a lot of other things on your plate.
Happy writing!