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Sep 6

Summer 100K Results & Beginning of Short Story September

I haven’t finished typing up everything I wrote for the months of July and August 2016, but as I said before, I didn’t hit 100K words. I still estimate that it will be closer to 10 – 11K in words. This is a huge feat when you consider I had barely 1, 000 words this year. Once I finish typing it all up, I’ll give the final results (hopefully this week). So what happened that kicked my productivity into overtime? Here are a few things:

Change of Routine

July chugged along and I didn’t have much success, so in August I threw the game plan out the window and radically changed my routine. Up until that time, I had been an evening writer. My routine was to wake up, have a breakfast, work (I work from home full-time now.), workout, shower, dinner, and then finally write. You know what? By the time I got my workout in, showered, and ate, the last thing I felt like doing was writing. I just wanted to turn my brain off and watch TV or surf the net.

I had tried working out in the morning, but I couldn’t do it. I’m an early riser, but I liked working out at the end of my day after sitting in front of my computer. I was used to writing in the evening, because that’s what I did when I went to an office. But once I started working from home, I had no evening commute. So I got lazy and pushed the time further and further back until I was writing at the same time some TV show was on that I didn’t want to miss. (Side note: I don’t have cable so no DVR.)

So I told myself starting in August I was going to write first thing in the morning. I woke up and before I got dressed, looked at the news, or ate any food, I would write. And it worked. The pages started to pile up. Chapters got finished. I no longer felt worn out or tired when I wrote. I also didn’t feel guilty about staring at the TV, or going out at night. Before I would beat myself up for not writing, but now I could say – I got some writing in this morning. I’m good.

Consistency

Not everyday was perfect. I missed 6 days in August. But today is the 22nd day in a row I have written some fiction. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t want to break the streak. That can be addictive. I would say to myself You’ve made it 10 days, why not go for 11? And I would pick up my notebook and get a few words down, happy as a clam that the streak was still alive. Some days I still had to write at night, but mostly these were morning writing words. They were the first things done before the rest of the world got moving.

Speed

I have accepted at this point in my writing life, I am not a fast writer. I don’t get 1,000 words written a day. I get closer to 200-300 words done. While I admire those that can churn out fast copy, it’s not me. Frankly, I’d rather be slow, but consistent. The words do add up. Maybe one day I will build up my speed, but right now, I just want to be consistent again. Once in a while, I will do a marathon day, but that will burn me out. Yesterday was Labor Day in the US, and a holiday for most. I spent about 5 hours or so finishing a story. I happy it’s done, but I don’t want to do that everyday.

Conclusion

I’m going to stick with this routine until it doesn’t work anymore. That’s the most valuable thing I learned. When your routine doesn’t serve your needs, it’s time to change it. You might have great success.

Also I want to make a note that it is time for my annual challenge to myself called Short Story September. I started in 2014 writing a new short story every week. Last year (2015) I tried writing a story everyday, with not so great results. So I’m back to a new story every week. I’ve already started the story for this week and hope to be done by Saturday. I’m also writing a novel, so I may switch things up and work on that this month too. Either way I want 4 new short stories and/or 4 new chapters.

Submissions are also chugging along. I’m at 55 rejections, and I have four currently out for consideration. Hope to have a few more by the end of the month.

Thanks everyone for reading. Happy Writing!

 

Aug 30

Not Going to Hit 100K, But That’s OK…

I have two more days until the end of the challenge, but I already know I’m not going to hit my goal for the summer. I’m bummed, because I wanted to really knock it out of the park. I’m so jealous of those people who can easily write thousands and thousands of words in a short amount of time. I guess that is a speed I’ll have to build up to.

But I’m still pretty proud of what I did do.

As I said before, I hand write almost everything. So I haven’t typed up all my words yet for the summer. I believe it will come in around 10-11K worth of words. Not bad considering that is one completed short story and I’m deep into chapter three of my novel. I’m so proud that I actually have two completed chapters of my novel. This is from almost nothing at the beginning of July.

I’ll take it.

Another great thing? For the month of August I have written 23 out of 29 days. (I don’t count today,  because I haven’t gotten my writing finished. BUT I will.) I still have two more days of writing to go. I plan to use them to finish another short story.

In a longer post (probably over the weekend.), I’ll go into more depth on how I did as well as the final word count. And an update on my submission journey.

Later folks!

Jun 30

100K By September 1st!

We’re well into summer and half the year is almost gone. I’ve been so unproductive this year that I’m a bit frustrated with myself. But I keep telling myself that what gets done gets done. I just wish I could get more done.

Don’t we all wish that?

My home search is on hold right now. Here in the DC area, home prices are so competitive that it is really hard to get a place. Plus I still have some debt from JHU. So my plan is to pay off the debt, then look into buying something. In this market, every thousand dollars makes a difference. On one hand I’m sad I won’t be able to own something now.

But I also started thinking about other expenses coming in the near future. The last thing I want is to have a mortgage, school debt, and other stuff like a car, etc. No thank you. I’d rather pay off the school debt, save for the house, and then save for the car. No more debt.

Seven years ago, I was debt free as I paid off the last of my undergrad loan. That was such a freeing moment and I want to have that feeling again. It’s addictive to have no obligation to anyone.

When I was 16, I took the “Strong Interest” test in high school. Number one career recommendation? Author. Annual salary? $16K.

Yep. I knew I was in a low paying career from the beginning.

But when you don’t have debt, a small salary will allow you to be very comfortable. I just slipped up and made some no so great decisions. Still, I got an MA out of it and over all I still think it was a good decision.

So, yes, my financial life takes up all my thoughts. Writing has fallen by the way side. It’s a three day weekend here in the US. I hope to get something done. I am still submitting. A story I submitted a year ago finally came back rejected and a few others are still in the que.

Can’t say I’m not persistent or patient.

I need to attack my writing goals like I attack my debt. So I’m making a goal right now that I will write 100K in the next two months. That is my writing goal. It’s a big one, but hey, aim high right?

I think I can do it.

May 10

Grown-Up Decision for 2016

At my last writing, I bemoaned my slow writing pace and that hasn’t changed much. I’m still squeezing it in when I can, trying to write every day. But other life things have sometimes pushed it to the back. Some I will discuss here. So if you just want to read about writing stuff, I’ll write about that first. And then get into the other pressing life stuff.

On the plus side, I have gotten some writing in and managed to submit a few more stories out into the world. On May 1st, I got my #50 rejection. Not bad. Not bad. I still wish I had more submitted, but I’m still trying.

I also finished a few books, so I’m reading too. I never understand why some writers aren’t reading books. It sounds crazy, like a musician that doesn’t listen to music, or  an actor that doesn’t watch TV, film, or plays.

Make time to read. Make time to write.

But sometimes life just has a way of wiping out those goals.

For me, it started last winter. I focused on writing, submitting, and getting my chapbook together. I renewed my lease on my apartment and didn’t think too much about it. After all, my rent only went up sixteen dollars. Not much. Not enough to worry about.

And then all of my other bills started to got up. Not huge amounts, but enough that I felt the squeeze. Twenty dollars here. Ten dollars there. I’ve always been a very careful, budget conscious person. Working in publishing will never net me riches, but I always did the best I could. I worked through grad school and did my best to be frugal.

But when I sat down and did the math, I was shocked. My rent and utilities were sixty-percent of my take home pay! No wonder I was feeling the squeeze.

I’m just one of the many people who are stuck in this economy. My salary has flat-lined, but my expenses keep going up and up. I decided that if I was paying this much in rent, I damn well better own something. I want to buy a house.

And the thought of owning a home scares me. It’s a big, grown-up, adult decision that I have managed to avoid. Renting allowed me to cut and run, if things got hard. Don’t like the neighbors? Move! Sick of the area? Move! Not so easy when you own the home. No leaving when things get hard. You have to stay and fix the problem (or I guess you could abandon the home, but that never ends well).

But I am also excited by this decision. For the first time, I will be in control of my living situation. All the decisions will be my own. I don’t have a husband, or family help (in terms of money) to make this purchase. I will be doing this all on my own. Already, I have met with a realtor and mortgage broker, seen my finances laid bare, and taken the plunge to -GASP- go to open houses.

(Side note: I find open houses weird. Some people I know love them, but I guess I’m not that curious about how others live. )

You know what? Buying a house is exhausting! I understand now why people say, “It took me a year to find a house.” or “I looked at a hundred houses.” You really do have to look at a HUGE amount of homes. For like months and months. I’ve only been doing this a month and already my weekends are booked up and I find myself watching Youtube videos entitled “House Hunting tips” and “5 Mistakes home buyers are making.” Are we in a housing bubble now? Should I buy in an established area, or up and coming? Condo or single family? Wishlist? Dealbreakers?

So yeah, I’m tired. I still have a day job to do, regular errands to finish, and find time to write, read, and look for a new home. That’s all. Simple, but never easy.

I hope I hit this 500K goal of writing for the year, but I can already tell that I’ll be lucky if I hit 100K. Not matter, what gets done, gets done. I’d take a baby step forward rather than stand in place. 2016 is going to have some major shifts for me, more than I thought.
Now excuse me while I search for some more videos on finding a dream home on a writer’s budget.

Mar 20

Happy Spring 2016!

Neighborhood Flowers 16

 

Happy Spring!

I spent today submitting and thinking of my spring plans. My word count is behind, but the year isn’t over yet. Still plenty of time to get lots done.

Also, I’ve been slow on reading. I realized that I had been reading a mystery story for the last few months. I would read a few chapters, take a break, and start something else, only to come back to the first book again. That prompted me to skip to the end of this never ending book, find out who the killer is, and move on from the book.

It is something that I find myself doing more in my writing. It’s okay to change your mind about the story. Sometimes I need to just set the old draft away, pull up a new document, and start again. The novel that I’m writing now is a restart. Letting go of the old draft saved the story. Of that I am sure.

So my advice to everyone out there is this – It’s spring, a fresh start. If your work (or anything else) is stale. Go back the the blank page and begin anew.

Feb 26

On Productivity and Getting Older

I am notorious for not being productive in the winter months. I don’t know why I am in denial, but here we are again in the winter and I’m not really writing. I see the pattern before me and it is always the same. I write a little bit in the first three months of the year and then sometime around April, I get me groove back and get productive again.

So right now I am woefully underwriting my goal for the year. I was supposed to be aiming for 500K, but so far I have finished 1 story at 1,114.

Ugh!

Right now I’m blaming my back. A week ago, I was jolted awake by my neighbor’s friend banging on their door around midnight. Apparently, her phone was dying and she was trying to wake the person up. Woke up everybody, but the actual neighbor. My back is paying the price for the jolt. I sit now in front on the computer propped up with pillows, drugged up on Advil, and periodically using my heating pad to relieve my strain.

It’s so clear now that I’m getting older.

I was never really in serious denial, but once in a while there is a moment where I realize that time really has passed. In my stories, I find myself writing about people older, wiser, not so fresh-faced. Even when I write about kids, I don’t make them typical. But it has been a while since I wrote mainly about a child.

My novel’s main character is 30 years old. I can’t picture her younger. It seems perfect. When I first started, she was older and had a different profession. But I tossed that beginning and started fresh. It feels much better, more exciting. For the first time in a long time, I can see myself finishing this novel (we will see if I actually do).

It makes sense that a lot of writers get their first novels published in their late 30’s/early 40’s. Yes, there are 20 somethings who get published. I know a few of them. But I’m glad I didn’t get my first story out until I was in my 30’s. There isn’t an ounce of me that wishes for things to be different. The writer that I am now is happier and better for it. The writer that I am now is grateful for it.

Well, the first two months of the year are a bust so far. Let’s see if I can turn things around in March. Heck, I can’t really move around anyway so… where’s my notebook. 🙂

Also just as an update, I’m still submitting my stories. I’m up to 43 rejections. So this weekend I’m going to have to search out some new places to submit.

 

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