Year: 2014

Day 18 of No More Zero Word Days

Lynn

Day 18 has been one of those days that would have been, without a doubt, a zero word day, if not for my desire to keep my streak alive, and my mini sized requirement. I had just enough willpower to get 52 words out, and that was it.

I have to delete more. I have been pecking away at the novella for the last few days, thinking about some stuff, and trying to figure out where I went wrong, if I even went wrong, because maybe the problems weren’t even real and I should have just kept going way back when. I don’t know.

What I do know is that I have to delete some stuff, but I don’t want to do it tonight, because I am done.

Yes, I know I said I wasn’t going to state intentions, but I feel like I have to state this intention: I am going to finish this book. Tomorrow, the next day, or the next, but I am going to finish it. Even if that means gutting it and starting over and writing hell bent for the end.

That said, I do have a major problem. I’ve done so much tinkering that I can’t actually remember what’s in the book and what isn’t and that’s … not a great thing for me. I don’t do revisions, and I don’t do them because once I get to this point, I can’t untangle my messes. I can’t let go of stuff in my head that should be, was, or was meant to be in the book. I can’t scrub it out. I can’t unthink these things and the confusion is extremely … confusing! I’m not sure how I’m going to do this. I might have to sit down and delete another chunk and then just read through the book as it is three or four times to solidify in my thoughts what’s actually there in the book. I read about half of it today. I could do that. There was some great stuff there that surprised me. And that’s why I’m now wondering if I screwed up nearly a month ago when I deleted a bunch.

There’s just no way to know.

Day 17 of No More Zero Word Days

Lynn

Finished another successful day. 168 words, I think, although I’m pulling that number from memory. I squeezed out 41, then got on a bit of a role as I tried to get the next 9 so I could call it a day. :) I was (am) in quite a lot of pain, and I’m just happy I didn’t skip writing altogether!

Undersold

Lynn

I think I undersold the sunburn. I hurt so bad last night that I have no idea how I’m going to write today. Every time I move, my skin feels like it’s trying to tear free from my body.

I’m trying to see the bright side of this. About the only thing I can come up with is that at least it’s only on one side of my body. Meaning at least I can still sit on my bottom!

Day 15 & 16 of No More Zero Word Days

Lynn

Yesterday I wrote 90 words by 10 a.m., just before I took off for a day of fun.

I wrote 61 words today before lunch, even though I squeezed them in right before the line started forming at the big family cookout! ;)

I ditched the change to my mini habit that set my deadline at 10 a.m. I’m considering another option, and I plan to try it out tomorrow.

Mini Habit Revisions

Lynn

I’m trying to create a habit out of daily writing. I’ve been trying to do that by having one simple rule: Write 50 words before lunch.

What I find myself doing though is squeezing my writing in at the last minute because I exercise right before lunch. I’m having to stop writing just as I get on a roll.

That’s a problem, because taking advantage of the natural urge to keep going past the basic requirement you’ve set for yourself is supposed to be one of the major ways mini habits benefit you—getting yourself started with willpower and taking advantage of momentum. This happens to me almost daily with my exercise. There have been many days where I’ve told myself I’m just going to do a few minutes, and yet I almost always end up sticking it out for at least 30.

That’s what I want to see happening with the writing. But because of the timing of it, that can’t happen without me making a conscious decision to mess up my working-really-well exercise and lunch routine. I know I could just get started sooner, but … if it was as easy as that, I would have already been getting started earlier. I’m a natural procrastinator, and even using willpower doesn’t change that. My deadline is lunch, and my subconscious has already decided it’ll be done by the deadline but not a moment sooner.

So, starting tomorrow, my one simple rule will change: Write 50 words by 10 a.m.

I don’t like it quite as much, because that’s a hard deadline. The reason lunch works for me is because I can just push lunch back by however many minutes necessary to make sure I get my words in beforehand. Hard deadlines are, well, hard.

But I want to get started earlier in the mornings and I just don’t know of any other way at the moment to encourage that habit, so this is what I’m going to try.

Read Another Book—8 of 60

Lynn

Another book down! I read a cozy mystery this week, Strictly Murder (The Verity Long Mysteries Book 1) by Lynda Wilcox.

Strictly Murder - Lynda WilcoxIf it weren’t for the fact that the whole reason I started this reading challenge was so I could get through the backlog of books I have to read, I would definitely buy the sequel and start it next. I enjoyed the book a lot.

I do hope I’ll get to the other books in the series sometime, since the reviews make a case for books #3 and #4 in the series being even better, and then there’s a novella too.

This reading mini habit I’ve been working on, 2 pages of fiction a day, never less, more if I want, seems like it’s really going to keep my fiction reading on track this year.

NOTE: I decided to make an effort to read more books this year. And since I have so many unread books, I set a goal to read at least 60 of the books in my backlog by the end of the year. Here’s the log if you want to see how I’m doing.

Day 14 of No More Zero Word Days

Lynn

Ha! It’s been 14 days now. I haven’t missed a day of writing on at least one of the 4 novels I most want (and need) to finish asap.

I wrote 69 words for one story and deleted 98 from another, so technically, I’m not necessarily going to end the day positively unless I squeeze in just a bit more writing, but hey, it counts.

Having such a small goal has helped make this possible. I suspect that if I’d set my goal above 50 words a day I wouldn’t have made it to 14 days. I just did a quick average on my spreadsheet and I’ve averaged 164 words a day over those 14 days. That’s really not that bad, considering. That said, I’m about to change things. Nothing drastic, but I think I need to change my mini habit.*

Tomorrow I’m going swimming. I love swimming, and I’m hoping I won’t burn in the sun since tomorrow’s high is supposed to be around 83° F. I’m also hoping I’ll come home rejuvenated and ready to enjoy the holiday weekend. I need a break. A real break, not one that’s caused by procrastination and anxiety—something I can enjoy. I need more of those, and fewer of the other.

*Posted! Mini Habit Revisions.

Day 13 of No More Zero Word Days

Lynn

Finally, a breakthrough! For 13 consecutive days I’ve written more than 50 words each day before lunch. Today, I wrote more words of fiction than I’ve written in a day since June 6.

Today’s total stands at 590 words. I had 623 on one story but then started working on a different project after lunch and went backwards with my word count because I deleted more than I added. But—one of my stories has 623 words more in it today than yesterday and that makes me happy. :D

It’s possible I’m not done for the day, but I feel good about ending the day here if I am.

I’ve been away from all my stories too long. I could feel that while I wrote this morning. Too many details wouldn’t come to me without effort, and some didn’t come to me even then. I had to leave a note for myself in the story to look up someone’s name. Usually I can go right to that kind of information, but I haven’t read through the 10,000 words that are already written in at least a month, possibly longer. I started the book on April 11.

I should read my stories (those that I’m actively working on), all of them, from the beginning, but that’s 63,000 words, and I don’t want to. I don’t usually have to fight this hard to read my own stuff. I mean, I usually do it for fun. :D And I’m a re-reader.* So … at first I was worried that it meant something was wrong—with all 4 of the books I’ve been working on! Then I realized that my disinterest in reading and writing signaled more about my state of health than about the state of my books, so I added some daily exercise to my routine, and more recently, daily reading.

*Books are almost always better the second time around. Without the tension of worrying what’s going to happen, I can enjoy the anticipation of the good stuff more. :D

I’m currently at the 70% mark reading the next book in my reading challenge. This one’s a full novel. My effort to create a daily reading habit consists of a 2 page a day goal. I’m reading considerably more than 2 pages most days, but I’m happy to say that I’m not letting it overtake my life as I’ve had a tendency to do in the past.

And I just had a thought. I can add a daily reading habit to my days for my fiction too. Another mini habit. 2 pages a day. I already store copies on my Kindle using the Send to Kindle app, so this isn’t going to be any trouble whatsoever, unless I catch up to myself. In that case, I’ll just start over at the beginning. Or, you know, write faster. ;) Or even read previous books in my series again, so I can stay immersed in my worlds.

I just do not write short paragraphs that often. Sorry about that. :D

Results vs. Intentions Take Two

Lynn

Intentions?

I intended to write more tonight.

Results?

I spent two and a half hours shifting the posts on this website into and out of the different categories I have, until I realized what I was doing.

Then I stopped.

I have no idea if the sorting of my posts makes any sense, because I’m not even sure my categories make sense.

What I Learned?

I need to block this website when I sit down to write.

:D

Day 12 of No More Zero Word Days

Lynn

My daily writing streak is 12 days long now. The numbers continue to be minuscule, but I’m excited to be writing daily again. I know, I know, it seems weird to be excited to have written 65 words, but it’s not a 0 on my spreadsheet and these last few days have felt like 0 word days so I feel lucky that I don’t have 0s on my spreadsheet.

That said, I hope I’m not done for the day. I really need to get back to some real writing.

It’s time to raise my daily writing expectations. That’s not to say I’m raising my required daily writing, just my expectations. If that’s possible. I mean, I hope it is. I don’t want to damage my progress, but the fact is, deadlines are looming—and fast. :o I need to write more than 50 or 100 or even 200 words a day, and I need to get started on that ASAP so I don’t screw up the last half of the year.

Also, I’m going to have to power through something that just isn’t working for me in the novella that just won’t end and deal with the consequences. That book has so not been worth it and I have no idea what happened.

Or maybe I do. I’m not writing what I thought I was writing. I stumbled over the focus of the story, and I’ve never recovered. I’ve gotten all tangled up in a rushed ending and I can’t see my way out. It’s like my brain is on a rail and I can’t get off. I keep looking for a different track—I’ve deleted thousands of words trying to backtrack and take a different rail, but I can’t reset my focus. So I’ve been trying to force things. As my current writing woes will attest, that hasn’t worked out well for me, and it’s bleeding over into everything I write until I just don’t even want to write.

I should abandon the book. I know I should. But I don’t want to. I want it done, so I can move on. Otherwise it will haunt me.

I’m serious. It will haunt me.

Read Some More Books—4–7 of 60

Lynn

NOTE: I decided to make an effort to read more books this year. And since I have so many unread books, I set a goal to read at least 60 of the books in my backlog by the end of the year. I’m even keeping a log. :)

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been reading short stories. And although I meant to keep all my reading limited to the backlog of books I have in my personal library, I can’t always help myself when it comes to picking up books that sound interesting. Some of the following were not part of my backlog. :o

As always, this challenge isn’t about reviewing books. I just want to read more fiction this year and this is how I’m staying accountable to that goal. ;)

I recently picked up an anthology and read Just for You by Rosalind James. It was a sweet romance set in New Zealand and it’s a tie-in for a series I haven’t read, but the short story was a successful stand-alone.

After that, I read Patriotic Gestures by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Then I read When Tony Met Adam by Suzanne Brockmann. I stayed up late and read it last night to be exact. I’ve been meaning to read this one for a long time. I should have read it sooner. It was great. I’m a total sap and it pushed all my buttons. I nearly cried. Of course, I get mushy reading angsty romance. That’s probably why I avoid angst, but it was worth it.

Finally, I read Baring It All by Megan Frampton this morning.

All in all, it’s been a good few weeks for me for fiction reading. I enjoyed all these stories. :)

At the moment, I’m about 21% in on a murder mystery novel that I won’t name until I finish, but I’m pretty confident at the moment that I’ll finish it and it will be book #8. I’ve been reading it for a couple of days now, and it’s nicely entertaining! :D

Results vs. Intentions

Lynn

I have a hard time avoiding the trap of talking about my intentions instead of just reporting on my results. I do believe I need to work on that, so for the next few weeks, I’m going to make a concerted effort to not talk about what I’m going to do, and only talk about what I’ve done. :D

Yesterday, I wrote 178 words. It was day #8 of my current streak of no more zero word days (which has a 50 word minimum).

Now, off to write my 50 words so I can exercise, have lunch, and charge this laptop while I do. My battery is at 21%. :D

Also, there’s thunder rumbling outside. So that battery charge needs to happen asap. ;)

Nearby Thunderstorm

Habits Revisited

Lynn

Mini-habits.

There’s this thing I do where I set the kitchen timer to run while my tea or coffee brews. By the time the buzzer goes off, I’m usually always doing something else, so I jump up, go into the kitchen, put on my pot holder and open the oven.

Yes, I know. There’s nothing in the oven. But that’s what habits will do to you. I’ve watched myself do this time and again, and yet I still do it without thinking.

That’s why I’m starting to think habits might be the answer to the question of how to get myself writing consistently and regularly long-term.

A few days ago, I started trying to add some habits to my day that will lead to long-term changes. Mini habits. Something I decided to try after reading an article by Stephen Guise at developgoodhabits.com.

Right now, I’m focused on consistency, so I picked a teeny tiny number of words and got started habit building.

My daily goal is to write 50 words (of fiction) before lunch.

I also set a goal to read 2 pages of fiction a day. This fits in with my goal to read more fiction this year. :)

I now have 7 consecutive days of writing behind me. I got my 50 today (133 actually) somewhere between writing the first paragraph of this post and the last. :D

And it feels GOOD. ;)

I did my morning reading…

Lynn

… when I was supposed to be doing my morning writing. Or maybe not.

I’m not even sure anymore when I’m supposed to do what. Not because of a schedule (done with those, remember?) but because my life is one big jumble of time and it gets away from me before I even have a chance to breathe.

Living without a schedule isn’t as easy at it should be: I need a stronger routine. I’m trying to fix that, but habits are slow to form and, frankly, I’m not sure I’m forming the right ones when it comes to writing. :D

I like having a routine though, and I do want to spread it out from the center so it encompasses most of my day. At the moment, the strongest part of my routine is the midpoint of my day. I exercise before lunch and I have lunch about 5 to 6 hours after I have breakfast, whatever time that happens to be.

I’ve added writing 50 words before lunch, a mini-habit in progress, if you will, whose purpose is to help me build up some consistency.

Today’s Count: 289 Words

Lynn

It took an hour of timed writing, but I wrote 289 words on the cursed novella. Think “curs-ed” not “cursed.” :D

Anyway … not that unhappy with that because at least it’s progress and I’ve managed to keep my “no more zero word days” streak alive for one more day.

Update on Personal Challenge

Lynn

Yesterday, I managed to keep my current “no zero word days” streak going with 225 words. I did not manage to get started on my latest personal challenge. I’m not sure if I’m going to attempt to start it today, or just see what I can get before I call it a night. That feels  a little like cheating—do it before I claim I meant to do it, lol, so that if I don’t do it, I can claim I wasn’t trying after all—but I’m just not sure I have it in me to go the distance tonight. It’s already late here, and I came home so tired, napped, and now I have a head full of cotton. :D

That said, I’m going to try to get some momentum going and see where I end up shortly.

Time for a Personal Challenge

Lynn

UPDATE: I’m putting off the start of this until tomorrow. I did get 227 words today though, so yay for that! Tomorrow there won’t be any allowance for exceptions, so I’ll either succeed or fail.

3 days – 2,000 words or more, every day.

Now, caveat. On day 2, I have a funeral to go to, and my kids will return home in the evening after a week away. On day 3, I have to go to a birthday party for my 80 year old grandmother and then to a baby shower.

Getting 2,000 words done around these events could become stressful. I still don’t want to wait to start. I need to start producing words regularly, daily, and 2,000 is doable, even writing slowly. I will need about 4 hours a day to get this done, and honestly, I can’t expect everything in my life to just stop so I can write all day every day. Even if I might prefer it that way. :D

I fight against structure so hard you would think I should have whiplash by now. Some days I feel it, no kidding. :D If I can’t make a decent routine work for me, then I have to find something that will work. :) A word goal is what I decided would be my best bet. I haven’t changed my mind. Long-term, I don’t expect to write every day, but the reality is I do need to write most days.

Also, I need to start using my work space more. My days are just one big blog lately, and I still think I need some kind of structure even if the routines and schedules haven’t worked well for me.