Fridays and new goal

I always thought Monday would be the worst day creatively for me. After all, I was back at work after the weekend. Why wouldn't I be tired and slothful? Turns out Fridays are the hardest day for me to be creative. Maybe it's because the work week made my brain tired. Maybe it's just that I need the extra time to transition from the day job to the weekend job.

No new words tonight. I did reread what I wrote last night. I think the bones of it will stay but it definitely requires fleshing out. At least I'm past the first hurdle with this part of the storyline.

I've added a new writing goal for 2014: send out one submission per month. I sent January's on the first. I have one ready to go for February. (The market is only open for that month.) Once Alpha has given me feedback on Falling, I'll revise and have it ready for March. (That market closes March 31st.)

I'd like to sell a few of them but that is not within my control. I can only send them out and hope for the best.

Little epiphy

While waiting for something to load for work today, my mind wandered. I was thinking about the 'don't wanna' scene and what follows the point where I stopped. I knew what the overall result would be but realized that 'thing' wasn't going to be able to happen in the moments between the two actions. It needed a little longer.

Which made me realize what the POV character would try to do and why it would fail. "That will make it even worse," I said to myself. "Which means that's what I have to do." And is another reason I never, ever want to meet my characters in real life.

Title: Chaos Unleashed
Words Total:35,839
Words Today:521
Reason for stopping: Finished the scene
Music: Unwoman - The Fires I Started Instrumentals

Jan 21

First part of the hard scene is written. Tomorrow, I'll face the rest.

Title: Chaos Unleashed
Words Total:35,318
Words Today: 205
Reason for stopping: It's getting late & I have to work in the morning.
Music: None. Nothing seems to fit.

Sundays are made of this

I did not finish the "I don't wanna" scene tonight. I did make progress on it.

Title: Chaos Unleashed
Words Total:35,113
Words Today: 223
Reason for stopping: It's getting late & I have to work in the morning.

Tomorrow's goal is to finish the scene ... no matter what.

Okay

I need to write today.

I know I've been procrastinating because the next scene is one I don't want to write.

Time to take a deep breath and face it head on. (Wish me luck.)

Sundays pass quickly

No actual words today. I spent time finding the most recent version of my novel among the many bits and pieces of files. The bits & pieces are now tucked away in a folder for sorting through when I have time. Most can likely be deleted without issue but I have a feeling some of the information may be missing in the 'full' version.

I've been thinking about writing retreats for this year. I am currently planning a trip in May which will see writing happen - likely accompanied by tea and/or coffee and late night talks. I'd like to have at least two more. Perhaps a weekend with like-minded friends. Perhaps another trip to Kingston. (I'd count World Fantasy but I know the writing time will likely be minimal.)

At least I finally found out how to easily set the first page for my manuscripts. (Don't ask. Let's just say what I call something and what the program calls the same something are not the same.)

January 11 - Editing

One of the good things about writing the story so quickly is that I still remembered most of what I'd written. (If I've been away from something for a long time, I'm almost always surprised by something I find in the file.)

I was also doing small edits of the previous day's work as I went. Not my usual way of doing things but it seemed to work for this story. I did a quick edit on the whole thing (managing to add 20 words to the total) and have sent it off to my alpha reader for her input.

I'm not sure what I'll work on tomorrow.

Well then - January 8 - 10

The first full week of 2014 of the day job is done.

I did manage to write every day, even if I didn't make my goal of 500 words a day. It's okay though. I did write every day. And tonight, with exactly 500 words, I've come to the end of the first draft of the new short story. Tomorrow I will print it and read it all the way through for the first time.

Woo! I finished something and it's only January 10th!

Title: Falling
Words Total: 4,652
Words Today:519 / 355 / 500
Reason for stopping:First draft!
Music: Gotan Project/Unwoman/Kitchener Rangers game

January 6 & 7

I didn't sleep well the past two nights and I'm back at work for the first time since Christmas Eve. My brain seems to take offense to both those things.

I did write last night, though word count was not very high. Tonight, I did manage to hit my 500 words. Don't think the characters will be impressed with where I left them but ...

Title: Falling
Words Total: 3,278
Words Today: 236 / 523
Reason for stopping: Sleepy am I.
Music: Toronto Maple Leafs game/Gotan Project

Press not a falling man too far! - January 5

Title: Falling
Words Total: 2,519
Words Today: 402
Reason for stopping: It's getting late & the next scene needs more focus than I currently have
Music: Kitchener Rangers game/Gotan Project/The Strombo Show

I didn't quite make word count for the day but I did write. I've been a bit distracted today since it is the last day of my vacation. I'm hoping tomorrow goes well and I can make up the extra words that I missed today.

Okay, I'm just hoping I write at all. I have an appointment after work, so I won't get to writing until late. Fingers crossed that the work day goes smoothly so I'm not also dealing with a headache.

Help me, I think I'm falling (January 4)

Words were a struggle again today - partly due to my feeling off, partly due to not knowing exactly what happens next in the story. There is some irony in getting through the holiday season without being sick but feeling it now.

Title: Falling
Words Total: 2,117
Words Today: 523
Reason for stopping: Made word count
Music: Gotan Project

January 3

Another cold day and cold apartment. I wanted to nap more than write but I did make my word count.

Title: Falling (I think that's going to be the final name)
Words Total: 1,594
Words Today: 510
Reason for stopping: Made word count & it's a good place to stop
Music: Unwoman & Gotan Project

Tomorrow's forecast is for warmer temperatures. Perhaps there will be more than the minimum amount of words too.

January 2

Tonight the words came slowly - in part, I think, due to my being tired.

Title: Trapeze (working title)
Words Total: 1,084
Words Today: 515
Reason for stopping: So tired. But I get to put a star on the calendar.
Music: Gotan Project

New Year - New Goals

Welcome to the new year.

One of my goals (I don't use the R word) is to write at least 500 words most days. (I say 'most days' because I don't want to set myself up for failure.) All going well, there will be update posts - most days.

Title: Trapeze (working title)
Words Total: 569
Words Today: 569
Reason for stopping: It was a good place to stop for the night.
Music: Gotan Project