Like One Step Forward, Three Steps Back

So another week has come and gone, and some writing has been done. Not a lot, but some. I had one really good morning of writing in the middle of the week where both ideas and words simply flowed. It was great. 

I am at a delicate point in my story so I find myself, not struggling exactly, but being careful in my composition. On one hand I know that I just need to write, to get the words, the story out of my head and onto the page. After all there will be plenty of time to revise and edit, and find the perfect words and way of telling later. On the other hand I still find myself editing as I write which causes a good amount of delay. 

But I’m writing. Which is better than I’ve been doing since last Christmas. 

In fact, I’ve added nearly as much to the story in the past 11 days as I had added in the previous 10 months. 

So whatever else, it’s good I’m writing. 

Writing Report: November 5-11 (2pm) 

Time Spent Writing: 2 hours (+ a good deal of editing time)

Words Written: 1450 

Total Words Added to WIP this month: 2984 

Until next time... happy writing!!

Accountability? Let’s See...

Sunday evening check ins. 

Yeah. This time around at NaNo I am ABSOLUTELY doing this. I’m going to take a few minutes at some point during my Sunday (right now I’m in the middle of cooking dinner for my family) and just check in to let you know how my writing week has gone. 

Because accountability makes a difference. 

Even if I’m the only person who ever reads the post, simply setting a day where I have to post about the week’s efforts - be they successful or epic failures - it makes a difference. It means I have to actually look at what I’ve done, or not done, and report it. 

Because maybe when I share that I’ve had an amazing writing week someone out there will say “That’s great! Keep up the hard work.” Maybe I’ll get a few virtual high fives. 

Because maybe when I report that it’s been a rough week and the results only amounted to a grocery list and a to-do chore list, someone else may tell me “Just keep at it. Every word matters.” They may commiserate, they may offer advice or suggestions or, or, or. 

Or maybe I won’t get any kind of response in return. Except I’ll know. I’ll have been accountable to myself at the least. I’ll be able to look at the writing I’ve accomplish in relation to the amount of time I spent writing, the amount of time I wasted, and all the various things I have to do otherwise. 

I know some weeks will be really good. Some weeks may simply be alright. And some weeks may be really ugly. Whatever the week’s results is okay as long as when Monday rolls around I sit down and keep working on it, keep writing, and keep trying. So... 

Writing Report: November 1-4 (approx 6:30pm) 

Time Spent Writing: approx 4 hours 

Words Written: 1534 on WIP + roughly 600 in blogs

It’s been a busy family weekend with football championships and other kid events going on so I didn’t have as much time to write over the weekend as I would have liked. We went over the family schedule earlier today for the month and it looks like the rest of the month will be better. 

I guess we’ll see how the next week goes.

Stumbling in the Dark

It’s been a pretty dark place around here the past year, in so many ways. And silent. My god the silence - even the crickets haven’t made a peep. I’ve had no inspiration, no ambition, and every time I’ve actually sat at a keyboard to write (since January this year) has resulted in some newly developed but very creative procrastination techniques. 

I’ve done a lot of reading. A lot. A LOT. 

I’ve spent some much needed time with each of my kids. 

I’ve played quite a bit with graphic and cover design. Still not precisely to a level where I’d want to actually charge someone money for my efforts but I’m getting there I think. Slowly. 

I’ve moved the furniture around in my house three times - everything is essentially back to where it was in the first place now - and I’ve probably donated 100lbs of clothes to charity between myself and my four minis. 

But words. 

Words have been hard to come by. I’ve needed something to give me the kick in the ass that would get me back to work, back to writing and so... 

I did the thing again. I signed up and got set up to NaNoWriMo again. 

I guess we’ll see how that goes. 

Fingers crossed... though maybe I shouldn’t cross them, that may just make it even more difficult to type.

You can find me there (if you’re interested) as @LDFerris 😊😊