WIP Wednesday: Be Your Own Carny
Change can be a good thing. According to Sheryl Crow, it would do me good. And even though I'm a creature of habit, and as much as I would like to cling to what once was, it seems as though the best thing I can do is let go and try something new.
Working from home takes a certain kind of person. One with the drive to get out of bed every morning; one who can both set and meet goals with no Boss Man or Woman looking over their shoulder; and one who, when starting out on that path to the desk, can muster up the gumption to sidestep the landmines of daytime television, irresponsible snacking and the draw of the daily nap.
I am not necessarily that person. I try. Even if I do sneak in a siesta now and then.
Last year, I made myself a schedule. Sure, the planning out of my day was, in part, an exercise in procrastination. As I color-coded each chunk of my day in Google Calendar, I quickly fell into routine and damn, if I didn't feel like I was accomplishing something when I was able to, for the most part, stick to it.
But now, I find myself faltering. I ignore those handy-dandy daily reminders in my inbox. I sneakily hit snooze on the ReminderFox pop-ups under the illusion that if I can't see 'em, they aren't there. And slowly but surely, my productivity has taken a nosedive.
Today, I said enough. New year, time for a new plan of attack. It's obvious I can't do everything I want to do in a day. Time to go with the flow and do what I can.
I've got my freelancing to attend to. My copywriting website to update. My shopping site to revamp, and its corresponding blog to update. Not to mention the 7 or 8 short stories I started as part of my NaNo collection (plus another 8 to 10 half-finished pieces whispering at me from the bottom of my WIP pile).
Seriously, I had pretty much plotted out a space for every one of those tasks on a daily basis. I'm talking "from 10 to 12 will be my Morning Writing Session, after which I'll take an hour for lunch while I conceptualize, write, edit and post a fashion blog, followed by an hour of seeking out new copywriting projects, then depending on the day I either source new markets or promote or market or network all 3 websites, then squeeze in another 2-hour writing session before quitting and starting dinner/laundry/chores/going insane".
Yeah. Do you see what I mean? No wonder I lost momentum. It's a dizzying schedule. And I don't even have any kids (though the cat could rival a room full of toddlers any day of the week).
So, although I'll still be my own personal carny, of sorts, where I must juggle my day-to-day life with my entrepreneurial and creative aspirations, I've come to realize that I can only do so much, and as long as I'm doing what I love, I've already accomplished my goals.
Even if there's always another load of laundry waiting to be done.
WIPS:
- after a month and a half of no fiction writing whatsoever, I finally got back to work on my NaNo 2009 WIP. Story 1: boring. Now i know why I've been putting it off for so long. So, I've taken a new approach, started working on a new intro and I think I'm getting excited about it again
- Looked at upcoming fiction deadlines to see what interests me, where I want to submit pieces to, and came to the realization that I need to clone myself if I want to do it all. Doing it all well is another story. Either way, I've got the remaining NaNo stories to pick through – hopefully at least one will match with an upcoming deadline to give me some sort of direction on which one to work on first
- As part of my personal challenge to do the 500 Words A Day Challenge, I actually managed to get just over 1K today. Woo! Can we say "icon upgrade"?
If you’re a writer participating in WIP Wednesday, post a link to your blog in the comments! Fellow WIP Wednesday participants:
-
Cate Gardner: WIP Wednesday: Dead Pearls Floating
- Mercedes Yardley: WIP Wednesday: Whoomp! (there it is)
- Barry Napier: Hurry up and wait
- Jennifer Tatroe: WIP Wednesday: The Voice
- Aaron Polson: WIP Wednesday: The Big Feelings About Genre
WIP Wednesday: Getting Back On Track
November fried my brain. I knew December would be devoted to decompressing, and then getting amped back up for the holidays. So now it's January and time to get back into the swing of things.
My word count on fiction projects for 2010? Zilch.
So far, most of my time has been spent getting into the routine of writing articles for Examiner, promoting said articles, and working on my other websites (Indie Collective, styleFLASH & Outstanding Ink) as well as giving this one a bit of a facelift.
At the end of 2009, I toyed with the idea of re-opening my online boutique (I was a jewelry designer/knitter/crocheter for a long time). Who am I kidding?! I barely have time to sleep these days.
I'm starting to discover that I may very well be a workaholic. I can't seem to turn my brain off at night. The cogs keep turning, going over article ideas, stories I want to write, emails I need to send, etc.
So, the fact is, I haven't written anything new, other than articles. But at least I'm still writing. Unfortunately, the perfectionist in me isn't happy with that!
So, I've decided to take part in Inkygirl's 500 Words A Day Challenge!
The good news? I've been here before. Last year, I started my Writer's Accountability Chart and this week, I've been slowly getting back into the routine of not only using it, but using my blank board as motivation to work toward checking off some of the categories daily.
500 Words was one of my targets, and although I'd like to do more (told you…workaholic/perfectionist), I need to be realistic. With everything else that's going on, 500 words of fiction (on top of whatever daily articles I produce) seems like a good fit for now.
So, what are your writing goals for 2010? Or your life goals even? Besides reading and writing more, I'd like to write some letters, spend more time with family & friends, and continue to strive for my dreams.
If you’re a writer participating in WIP Wednesday, post a link to your blog in the comments!
Fellow WIP Wednesday participants:
- Jeremy Kelly – WIP Wednesday: The Driven Snow
- Katey Taylor: WIP Wednesday slides in under the line
Weeky Writing Check-in: May 11 to 17
There is one constant in my writerly life – as much as I try, wish for, and convince myself that THIS weekend is THE weekend I will get some writing done (with THIS meaning every and any weekend in question) – inevitably, life does seem to get in the way.
I try not to beat myself up for that. Because we all need a break every once in a while, and as long as I get a respectable amount of work done during the week, I allow myself the weekends to watch crappy TV, go for ice cream, talk naps and generally reboot.
That being said – it was Victoria Day this past weekend, so I indulged in all of the above, including a drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a little picnic and a stroll along the Niagara River.
Like any good writer, I do carry a notebook with me in case the Muse makes an appearance. But it was nice to get away for a few days and miss writing enough that I am ready to tackle the week again.
So, here's how I did last week:
Works-in-progress:
- Moral Hygiene: still reworking it. Currently see-sawing between which character should be the protagonist (as you can see from my previous post)
- Castlehill Story: starting to think about this one again, as I hope to finish MH soon so I can work on something new
What I Did Well:
- Drove some traffic to the ol' website with new blog posts
- Started networking a bit more with new Twitter peeps
- Working on a marketing strategy for my fiction writing, embracing the fact that it, too, is as much of a business as my freelancing and realizing that just by building a website doesn't necessarily mean the readers will come – gotta go out and find them!
- Tweaked my Writer's Accountability Chart: changed the 250 task to 500 – because 250 words is simply not enough of a challenge to me, even on my busiest days
- Continued adding to my Idea File
What I Can Improve On
- Didn't get to my Friday 5 this week. Oops! I think I'm going to need to come up with an alternate "chore" for those times when I can't write that much no matter how much I want to (specifically when I am editing and there is no need to add 5000 words to a story)
- As I said above, try to write on weekends (maybe every other one)
I know for sure that I've improved upon last week's productivity. I think I should give each sticker a point amount or something so I can be more accurate in grading myself. That might just take some of the fun out of it, though. I also feel that my productivity will go up now that the shows I watch have ended for the season.
TILT – May 14, 2009
For the uninitiated, TILT (Things I Love Thursday) is a weekly column started by Miss Gala Darling in which she professes her love of things big and small, sparkly & sequined.
These are the things that made me happy this week:
Being productive, cutting out stickers for my Writer's Accountability Chart, a new Rimmel eye crayon in Tribal Punk, looking forward to the long weekend (even if it's going to rain!), meeting so many cool new people on Twitter, seeing that the landscape has really begun to bloom, more Egyptian Hieroglyphs on Lost, 2-hour season finales of some of my fave shows, that feeling in my stomach when the masked man showed his 'face' for the first time in The Strangers (though I did feel the movie dragged a bit), finally seeing a special on Egyptian Mythology on Discovery Civilization Channel that I haven't seen before, red grapes, hair scarves, window shopping, dreaming about owning a pair of Fluevogs, my new Moo Card holder from Dear Sukie, planning to get together with long-lost friends.
So – what about you? What are your TILTS?
The Waiting Game
So, the arrival of Northern Haunts wasn't quite as monumental as I thought it would be.
Let me preface this by saying that this is my first publishing credit, you see? So I think I deserve to be a little excited, am I right?
Anyway…I got my acceptance email from Shroud at the end of August. I think I literally did a somersault or two (I would have done a cartwheel but my upper body strength is somewhat lacking).
After the elation wore off, that's when the torturous Waiting Game began. I waited…and then I waited some more. Then…the news. The books have gone to the printer. Yay! But then the ice storm hit. Boo! Wait a sec…printing is back on. Yay! Oh no…the proofs need a little tweaking. Boo!
Finally, the word went out on the wire – The Hardcovers Are Coming! The Hardcovers Are Coming! Can I get an order of 'Woo' with a side of 'Hoo'?!
I was okay with the waiting from that point. Tim, Editor Extraordinaire of Shroud has been a joy to work with. Plus, I kept myself busy with other projects, secretly daydreaming about that glorious day when the mailman would plunk a huge box, stacked 10 hardcovers deep, on my doorstep. But then various online writing buddies who were also in the book started reporting that they'd received their copies.
That's when the itch began. I managed not to scratch it for a few weeks but I finally caved and ordered myself a paperback from Amazon last week. It only took 9 days to get here. Imagine my excitement when I found out there was a parcel waiting for me! Squee!
I quickly opened it, and carefully plucked it out of the box. Then I thought to myself, "Hmm…it's a little smaller than I imagined. Oh well. What page am I on again? Let me just flip to the…what the? There's no Table of Contents. Where's the Table of Contents? And why does it…~flipping pages~…start on…Page 215? Uhhhh…WTF?!"
I was dumbstruck. If I were a cartoon character, there would have been a bubble above my head with a question mark in it. And then it would have popped.
Yeah, that's right. My copy of NH is missing the first 214 pages! The first 58 stories.
Gutted. That's the only way to describe it. This morning, I can laugh about it, but I was a serious mope last night. So, back to Amazon it goes, and again, I play The Waiting Game.
Again, I in no way fault Tim and/or Shroud in this. Everyone who knows Tim knows he's a stand-up guy. Truly awesome.
I blame my bad luck. Trust me…I've learned that in my life, everything is an adventure, from the smallest task to the most monumental. If something can go wrong, for me…it will. ~shakes fist at the sky~
The Moral of this story: Have a little patience.
The Silver Lining: At least I got the half of the book with my own story in it (and a few of my writing friends, to boot)!
P.S. When my hardcovers get here, I'm calling it a do-over. It'll be like this whole Amazon debacle never happened!
Abandoned Places
Remember The X-Files episodes "Home" (with the inbreeding Peacock family) and "Gender Bender" (with the secretive, Amish-type community)? I'm not sure what it is about creepy small towns that I love so much, but I just can't get enough of them.
Maybe it's my "big city" upbringing. Or the weekend road-trips we take in the summer, picking a general direction and simply driving until we end up…somewhere.
Needless to say, these jaunts are an adventure. In fact, there has been more than one Texas Chainsaw Massacre moment. You know – the long stretch of road, the weathered cobblestone streets of small town Ontario and abandoned, falling down farmhouses just oozing atmosphere.
But there's just something about those unknown places that gives me a little thrill.
And well…call me crazy, but I'm up for more!
The only problem? We've gone everywhere! Well, everywhere a full tank of gas and a small stack of CDs will take us. Luckily, I discovered Ontario Abandoned Places. I sense a "What (Creepy Things) I Did On My Summer Vacation" post in the not-so-distant future!
I also love that they have super-secret Members Only locations on the website. It gets my twisted mind turning…I just have to know where they are, what history they hold, what whispers of long-forgotten times can be heard on evening breezes.
So, I'm keeping my camera charged and now have a whole new list of places to visit this summer (and hopefully a notebook full of story ideas). Who needs Disneyland?!
Music: Solar Fields – Movements: Sol
[audio:Solar Fields_01_01_Sol.mp3]
Words Written - Today: 1,172 | March: 1,172 | 2009: 15,111
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Of the Heart
Why can't we be like the Ancient Egyptians, who believed that all of our thoughts, reasoning and logic were done with our hearts, rather than our heads?
What would our world be like?
Would we all be much happier?
The New Normal
It is spring, and all of a sudden my days are spent alternating between morning and afternoon writing sessions, working on freelance projects, and putting together a new shopping guide.
Add to that the continuous networking & marketing for all ventures, as well as trying not to be stuck in front of the computer for so long that my dreams start playing out pixel by pixel much like that of my computer screen, and days and weeks are now flying by furiously.
And I love it.
Granted, staying up past 3am every night is becoming a bad habit again, and I'm sure I won't be so in love with this new "normal" in a few weeks, but for now, I am doing, and doing, and doing some more.
Music: Carbon Based Lifeforms: Tensor
(click to play)
[audio:Carbon Based Lifeforms - Tensor.mp3]
Words Written - Today: 0 | April: 402 | 2008: 402
Motivation
Every now and then, I Google my grandmother (also a writer), hoping to find one of her long-lost stories or something else related to her writing. And last night, it paid off!
I found a magazine called Guide Magazine, which publishes stories "that show how following Jesus makes a positive difference in kids' lives".
They have an online archive, and one of Grandma's stories is in there! It's called Trapped In An Oven. At first, I thought it was too good to be true, but once I started reading and recognized her characters (Lou, Hetty and of course, Bonnie), I knew it really was her story.
I emailed the magazine, and since it is such an old story (from 1968), they only have a few issues left, but they are going to send me a photocopy. Pretty sweet!
Still plugging away on my contest entry for The Star. I am at that stage where the end is drawing near and I am about to start sabotaging myself. I usually begin to panic, doubt my choices and think the story is no good, and begin to think that I should scrap it all and do a new story in super-speed-mode (with only a few days until the deadline).
Do any of you other writers out there do the same thing? Do you ever get in your own way? What's your solution? Give in and risk not finishing in time? Or just stick it out and finish the original one?
Words Written - Today: 0 | January: 0 | 2008: 0
