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Posts tagged ‘Writing Challenge’

Nov 9

I’m Not Doing NamoWrimo, but maybe you should?

There’s a lot of controversy this year surrounding National Novel Writing Month. There has been plenty written (and discussed on YouTube), so if you want to know the ins and outs of the story, I urge you to look it up. I’ve never really been a fan of the challenge, but I do see where there are some advantages.

The first is community. Writing is a lonely activity and joining a community of like-minded people is comforting. I think that one of the primary reasons I continue to write is because I have a critique group and took classes off and on throughout my city. Also, I have recently joined the author community on YouTube (here’s my channel). Having encouragement and people who push you to continue on with your writing will help you overall your career.

The next advantage concerns how far you are in your writing life. If you’re just starting out and you always wanted to write something, this may be a perfect opportunity to try. All you have to do is commit for 30 days. This can test your stamina and whether or not you are really ready to embark on this adventure called a writing life.

For some this is exciting. For others, this is exhausting. Either way, writing challenges are not for the weak! A few years ago, I did the one year, one hundred rejection challenge. It pushed me to submit a lot (and I did get an acceptance). It also numbed me to the sting of rejection. It never feels good, but I also realized it wasn’t the end of the world if a story came back rejected. Also a few weeks ago, I tried the “Write 10K in a Day” challenge. I only got about four thousand words, but still, almost quadruple what I normally write, so I think that was pretty good for a first try.

The biggest reason, I don’t to NamoWrimo is… well, I haven’t really focused on writing a novel for most of my career. I tried writing one from March 2020 to March 2022, but that was a failure. I’m back at it again, but I’m also writing (and rewriting) other stories as well. Since most of my writing has been short stories, if I were to try and write for the challenge, that would be 10? (or more) stories in one month. That’s a lot for me. I don’t think I could stick with that and would probably burn out.

And we are not trying to burn ourselves out from writing.

If you have a solid routine and you’re getting after your work, forcing yourself to do a challenge that may hinder your writing is a bad idea. Nothing wrong with trying if you want to, but only you know for sure. Funny, I actually don’t know a lot of writers who do it. We’ve all just been plunking away at our own pace and aren’t really to embark on a change for a whole month.

Because of the controversy this year, some are choosing to write, but not participate formally with the organization, or they started new challenges (which I love). So I guess the bottom line is do what is best for your writing career. Ultimately, it is you and the page. Whatever is the best way for you to grow and create is the answer.

Me? I’m focusing on getting this first draft of this novel done by December 31st. I’ll be doing another 10K day on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving here in the US) and try like hell to push as many words as I can for the next few weeks. Between this blog, the new channel, and my fiction, my plate is full.

Happy writing everyone. Stay safe this holiday season!

Apr 30

I Did It! 30 Straight Days of Posting!

Hearts stand for the days I wrote.

Here we are at the end of the month. It was either March 30 or 31 when I decided to embark on this expirement. I figured I shouldn’t think about it too hard. I would go for it and see what happened.

For the first few days I didn’t even want to say publicly what I was doing. Many times I say I will do something and then life happens and I don’t get to it. So I thought I would post for a while and, if I made it to day ten, then I would say something. Not only did I make it to April 10, but all the way to day 30.

So what did learn by doing this?

First, as I said earlier, I do have the time to write. This month I had a birthday, worked full-time, had some personal and professional bad news, and had all the everyday pressures we all have. Also this month was arguably the biggest month for pop culture. Through all of this, I managed to post everyday. Sometimes it was late at night, but I posted.

Second, my fiction writing fell way behind. Although I wrote everyday, I didn’t write much fiction. Easter was the big fiction writing day, because that post was very short. I figured most people would be busy. This is partly why the posting will scale back to one a week. (I’m thinking Wednesday.) I want to keep up the daily habit, but apply it more to fiction.

I have a big goal this year to write 100K. Plus I want to fix this problem with my novel and finally finish it. Also, I have 5 more short stories to write this year. Clearly, I have no shortage of projects that need my attention.

Thanks to everyone who read and shared these posts. It was fun. Maybe I’ll do it every year in April.

And a big HELLO to all the new people who are following!

Apr 20

Twenty Days Straight and Still Going

It’s day twenty of my little experiment to write everyday for a month. So far, it hasn’t been too hard, but we’re coming to the end of the month, and usually this is when things get tough. Ending of stories are difficult and, if you don’t get them just right, the reader can be unsatisfied. Endings are an art form.

One of my favorite pieces of advice about writing is that an ending is, “Endings are inevitable, but not predictable.” I want readers to leave my stories thinking, “Of course that is how it ends.” So far I’m 50/50 with most of my stories. Sometimes I change the ending, because the beginning has changed too. Sometimes I leave it alone. (My story Future Virtual Love had and ending I never changed.)

I’m not sure how I’m going to feel on April 30th. Probably proud that I accomplished this task I set myself. No one pushed me to do this, I was ready and decided to try. I also know that on May 1st, I’m going to write because I am used to the routine now. I may not share it on the blog (it will probably be more fiction.), but the habit is there.

Hey, if I can write through my birthday, the last season of Game of Thrones, Avenger: Endgame, and Easter — I’m good.

Also, tomorrow is Easter, so the post will be very, very brief. Holidays should be with family and friends, not staring at a computer. And if you don’t celebrate Easter, have a happy, relaxing Sunday. Read a good book. Watch that GOT premiere! Do something good for yourself.

Apr 18

About Burnout

Ah! It’s Beautiful Spring Again!

Spring is always a great time to renew oneself. Something about the new flowers, the fresh greenery, and the mild weather makes us all feel refreshed. Awake. It’s also a time when I tend to want to write more. I sometimes have these big, scary goals for the summer and think to myself, “I can do this!”

But this year, I’m trying a different approach. As I stated in an earlier post, I’m working on balance this year. I read lots of articles about people not getting enough sleep, not eating well, not taking vacations, and neglecting their mental health. Everybody is grinding, working on their hustle, and trying to make ends meet by working a bunch of jobs back to back. While I do think there is a time and a place to burn the midnight oil, I don’t want that to be my everyday life.

I believe that sleep is the most important thing you can do for your health. As someone who has gone through bouts of insomnia, not getting enough sleep causes me all kinds of other problems. I don’t sleep, so I’m tired in the morning (and all day long), so I reach for caffeine to get me through the day. I make poor choices on food (opting for things with a quick energy) and find myself tired but not sleepy at night. So the cycle repeats.

Now that I have a better handle on my health, I find myself getting a good 7-9 hours of sleep a day. I’m rested, more focused, and ready to tackle the day. I also find myself making better choices with my diet and I’m more productive. I honestly don’t think I could’ve done a blog post a day for a month challenge a year ago, when I felt so bad. Now look, we’re eighteen days in and I haven’t skipped a day yet!

Working like a crazy person may seem great and might even be fun for a little while, but I don’t think it is sustainable. After 20 years of working a full-time job and writing fiction, I know how important it is to find a balance. Your body only has so much give as you age. And mentally, it can take a toll to wake up and realize that all you’ve done is work and not built a real life.

Same is true for the other side. If you’ve partied a decade of your life away and not gotten serious about the kind of life you want to build, you may be shocked at how much time you’ve wasted not going after your dreams. Burnout from an immature life can be just as damaging as being on the grind all day, everyday.

Maybe that’s why NanoWrimo hasn’t really appealed to me. I’m more slow and steady, with my writing. Other aspects of my life, like getting out of debt, I could go crazy on for a short period of time, but not writing. A few pages, or paragraphs, a day is my speed. The story gets written and I get my sleep. Maybe this is why I am still writing after all these years. I haven’t suffered burnout from it. I write at a steady pace (although not much) and don’t get sick of it.

Balance, that’s where the magic is for me. With it, I can do the impossible.

Apr 11

Finding the Time

Cherry trees have blossomed.

One thing posting everyday has taught me — I have time to write. Sometimes it feels like I have zero time. My day job has drained me, or I have plans that take me away from my desk all day. Most days, however, I have a few minutes to write.

Went to the doctor this week and she encouraged me to get back into regular exercise. I thought, When is that going to happen? After work, no that is writing time. It’s going to be first thing in the morning for now. Maybe later I’ll change them. I used to be a “write first thing in the morning and workout in the evening” person. We’ll see. I can always change if I think the routine isn’t working.

In the past, people have always said, “When I have time, I’ll write.”

I always respond with, “You’ll never have time to write. You have to make time.”

But you knew that didn’t you (if you are a fellow writer)? Now I’m learning that I have to make time for everything else. Heck, even my grand plan to watch all of the GOT episodes before the season premiere on Sunday went awry. Last Sunday, as I started, I didn’t realize that Killing Eve was having a marathon. So GOT went on the back burner, Sandra Oh needed me now. And that day I still had to fit in a blog post, writing, reading more my friend’s novel, and grocery shopping. And some folks have way, way more responsibilities than me (like kids or aging parents). We do the best we can by making time for the important stuff.

And this month long challenge reminded me that I do consider my writing important. That I can carve out time to write (even a few paragraphs a day) among the craziness of life. This is important to me and I can make time for it. Everyday.

Apr 10

A Little Experiment

One of my goals this year was to grow my blog viewership. So I’m trying a little experiment this month and posting every day. Some of my regular readers probably noticed this already. I went from barely posting once a month (if that) to posting everyday. So far, I’ve made it.

I did this not just to gain more followers, but also to challenge myself write more. Way, way back in 2001-2002, I wrote a column for an on-line site and posted twice a month. It was fun, but I left because 1)no pay and 2) took me away from my fiction. After a few years, I missed it and then I started this blog. While I kept writing here in spurts, I do want to get more regular. Hence, the challenge.

I know for sure this won’t be a regular, everyday thing. But I’m thinking in May I may scale back to twice a week. But for now I’m going to keep publishing a new post everyday in April. (Yes even when GOT and Endgame are released. I may write them early and schedule the post.)

 

 

 

 

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