1st Week at Camp NaNoWriMo

My first week participating in Camp NaNoWriMo has been less then stellar. I have written. Not daily, but I have gotten some writing done. This week I really need to bust my butt and get in gear. I've got a 4 day weekend coming up, so that will be fantastic. My aunt is taking R and I for pedicures with her on Friday and I promised R we would go to the humane society to see about a furbaby on Thursday. Other than that, my goal is to spend the time writing and relaxing, much the same way I would at a writer's retreat. 

My goal this week is to catch up on time with Camp NaNoWriMo and make significant headway with my WIP, if not completely finish it.

Camp NaNoWriMo

While I'm sure I've heard of Camp NaNoWriMo before, most likely it was mentioned in an article I read somewhere at some point in time, its not something I paid attention to before this year. When a friend's Facebook post mentioned it and that she was setting a goal in minutes and not words I decided to check it out and joined. I set myself a goal of 30 minutes a day. To challenge myself. My goal is to finish one story and get at least halfway through a second.

I've been assigned to a cabin randomly. I asked to be placed in an LGBTQ cabin, and have met some pretty nice people.

So far this month, I haven't written more than 6 minutes, which sucks. So, I will be writing at lunch time and will probably be going to Barnes and Noble or Biggby to write this evening after taking R to work.

Procrastinating

Procrastination.

I swear it serves no good purpose. It's a self-sabotaging mechanism to keep me from achieving my goals and dreams. I want to be a full time writer living in a real house instead of the trailer I do live in. But I can't do that if I don't plant my butt down at the computer every night or almost every night and write. I can write long hand at work and transcribe it. And if I do that every night, I get closer to finishing this book. It's gone from 75K to probably 100K. It actually, may cross that mark, but I still have to go in and clean it up. I was hoping to have it done by the end of June, I mean I've been working on it for about 4 years. It needs to be done. I have other stories to tell. I don't have the hours in the day to write 15K in one week. That part isn't procrastination, but my reality with a day job. The procrastination comes in when I look back at the weekend and realize that I didn't touch the project that needed to be touched. Part of that is because I was bringing another project to my writer's group, however, that is changing and I will bringing Behind the Masque. At least until it's finished.

I intend to finish it by July 15th. I took the Thursday and Friday off before that for family stuff, which was moved to a weekend, so that gives me 4 full days that I can write. But, hopefully, it'll be done before that. 

Work-Life Balance

The best bosses I've had at the day job understand and practice a work-life Balance. Even when pursuing a dream, that work-life balance is necessary. As writers, it's easy to forget that we need to balance work - our writing and life - time with friends, family, pets. There is also the underlying guilt that accompanies that time - I should be writing or a good writer is always writing or thinking about writing.

This past weekend has been sort of a forced re-balancing. Because if you don't re-balance willingly, your mind and body will make you. One way or the other. I had every intention of writing Saturday - because I really do like seeing all of the boxes filled in. But I didn't. I stitched. I crocheted. Then I babied my arm and shoulder for the rest of the weekend. I may have partially torn something - muscle/tendon/ligament deal - in my arm. Which means repetitive motion hurts. A Lot. Sunday was spent being nice to my arm and pouting because I couldn't do any of the things I find relaxing. I did write for about 15 minutes before I went to bed last night.

I'm hopeful that this means good things ahead for me.

Blessings,
Simone.

Re-establishing My Writing Habit

It's not a routine. Not yet. Routines have set schedules and steps that are followed. But I'm firmly on the path of re-establishing my writing habit. And that is a huge deal!  I've been writing stories since I was 10.  I even wrote a letter to an editor of a publishing company, who actually wrote me back. I didn't intentionally stop writing, but I let it go by the wayside. It became less important, the thing I was willing to give up to do this or that. Because it was such a part of me, I didn't realize that I would have a difficult time writing habitually again.


I use my Bullet Journal to track my writing. After several weeks of inconsistency, I think it's starting to pay off, because now I DON'T WANT to write a 0 under minutes or miss coloring in a box. I may only write 15 minutes still, but I'm writing every day. That is important. It establishes or re-establishes a habit. That habit is what will help me attain my goal!



This is part of my monthly habit tracker. I like seeing all of the boxes colored in.It shows me that I'm doing what I feel I need to be doing.

This is part of my daily spread. Simple. Easy. Works for me.  I set up the week ahead of time. I go in daily and update my tasks and goals. At the end of the day, when I plan for the next day and fill in my logs and trackers, I fill in the number of minutes I wrote.

Yes, we went to see Black Panther yesterday. It was as good as everyone is saying it is.  I can't wait until it comes out on DVD so I can see the words I missed.

Blessings,
Simone.

From the Writer's Desk - March Wrap-up

March was an...interesting month. We'll go with interesting. I got a promotion at the day job. That brings more money in, which should lighten the financial stress enough to free my brain to do what it needs to do, which is write. But with the new job and a new boss (at the same time) means I'm doing double the work. I'm also working more hours. Which negates the whole extra money less stress part. For now.

At the end of March, technically, the middle. My birthday is on the 17th - St. Patrick's Day. That was the deadline I set to get Behind the Masque done, at least the first draft. It didn't happen. I knew at the beginning of the month it probably wasn't going to happen because of everything happening at work. But, on my birthday I decided I was going to write on my lunch period. Instead of cross-stitch. Which is relaxing, but not helping me get my book written.

My goal is always to write 15-minutes a day. I'm trying to re-establish my writing routine. Which is very hard when you've been away from it for any length of time. Writing at lunch gives 15-30 minutes to write. I write long-hand. Scribbling notes in the side and in my writing journal for things I need to take of or deal with when I go back to do revisions.

This weekend I finally transcribed my hand-written pages into typed pages. Doing some revising as I went, including adding an entire scene. It works for me. For now. Writing processes evolve over time and with need.

By The Numbers:

Goal --

15 minutes a day for 31 days (average should be 250 words per 15 minutes)
* 31 writing days
* 465 minutes or 7.75 hours
* 7,750 words

Actual:

* 7 writing days
* 285 minutes or 4.75 hours
* 3,702 words
 
I would really like to be at 1,000 words a day, which would put me at about 90,000 words for the first quarter. But, I didn't make it.

Quarterly Numbers:

Goals:
 
* 90 Writing days
* 1,350 minutes or 22.5 hours
* 22,500 words (ideally, 90,000)

Actual:

* 19 writing days
* 17 hours
* 12,065


It works. Not where I want to be, but I'm getting there.

Blessings,
Simone.



 

From The Writer's Desk - Time to Re-FOCUS

I love these old desks  with all of the cubby-holes and drawers and spaces. I would love to have one in my house. Although, I think I might prefer a reproduction so I won't be afraid to use it. The craftmanship on these is gorgeous.

I've allowed myself to get distracted with all of the shiny and the worry and the stress from everywhere else, which is affecting my writing and most importantly, my desire to write. It's hard enough to find the energy and desire to write with the venom and hatred that seems to be showing up every where without the added distraction of hobbies or day job stress.

I did manage to write 2. 25 hours - yeah, except, it was only on 2 days, not 15 minutes a day. The idea of a lower goal like 15 minutes a day is actually to help me re-establish my writing routines. Setting time aside during the week - like an appointment didn't seem to help this time. But, I'm going to try it again. Hopefully, it'll work. Or help.

GOAL MET! I did manage 2 hours of research for Behind the Masque. Yeah! There is more research and decisions to be made though. :)

This week's goals:

* Write 15 Minutes a Day.
* Spend 2 Hours on Research for Behind the Masque.

Do you have goals? Weekly? Monthly? How do you stick to them?

Blessings,
Simone.

From The Writer's Desk -- Almost March!

The temperatures are starting to warm up and stay up. It's still probably a little early, which mean summer could really suck this year. The warm weather means we've gotten rain instead of snow and the snow we did have has melted. The city has parts that are flooded because the rivers and creeks are over flowing.

So, over the last two weeks, I have written about 450 words. in 1.5 hours. I do have a section to add. And figure out how I'm going to do a couple of things. I may be rewriting part of a scene to make everything work before I continue on with the story. I have my notes for revisions when I begin those. Then it will be out to beta readers before submitting it to my publisher.

I had every intention of finishing my WIP by February 21st, because I want it done. It's taking me long enough to write. Oi. But, between having to work late and home stuff that simply didn't happen. Hopefully, in March I can take back my writing time. I liked writing on my lunch break, but sometimes I need to do something else because the stress level keep rising. My laptop also doesn't travel anymore. I don't mind writing long hand, it's a nice change, but some of the story on the computer and some in a notebook makes continuity more challenging.

So my goal for March is to Finish Behind the Masque.  

My goals for this week:
* Write 15 minutes a day
* Spend 2 hours on research for BTM.


I hope you're successful at your goals this week.

Simone.

From the Writer's Desk - Is It Spring Yet?

I am so ready for spring! It's interesting. I don't have a diagnosis for Seasonal Affected Disorder (S.A.D). I know people who do, but I know this weekend I was definitely after some natural light.
The fact that 2 feet of snow fell in just about 24 hours sucked, but I don't think it had anything to do with needing natural light. 

I have crappy windows in my house that let the wind in, so every fall I cover them with plastic, then I hang blankets over them followed by curtains. So, for pretty much the entire winter, there is no natural light in my house.

Both on Saturday and Sunday, I threw the blankets over the curtain rods and opened the curtains. I at least got filtered natural light.

I had a long, productive weekend. Friday, I took the day off from the day job for appointments. I decided to teach myself to knit. Saturday, I spent cleaning and decluttering and helping R with Algebra homework. Sunday, I stitched and shoveled. Sunday night, I finally wrote.  I wrote 834 words in an hour and 15 minutes.  That was the extent of my writing and writing related activities for the week. Well, that and deciding I need my current WIP finished by February 21st, so I can submit it by my birthday in March.

My goals this week are unchanged, because I didn't meet them last week.

* Write 15 minutes EVERY day
* Work on the Smuggler's Cove Story Bible - 2 hours.

Whatever yours goals this week, I hope you are successful.

Blessings,
Simone.

From the Writer's Desk - January in Review

It is the first full week of February. By this time I should have February mapped out in my Bullet Journal, along with my review of January and my focus for February plus a couple of other things I need to write down - like gifts for people. I'm no where I need to be.  The last couple of weeks feel like a crappy mixture of the flu-cold combination crap trying to take over and stress.  At the day job we are going through a leadership change and staffing changes which is causing more work and stress for everyone. I haven't really felt like doing a whole lot of anything. Which really sucks because 2018 feels really promising. 

January Review:
My primary goals were:
+ Write 15 minutes everyday
+ Finish Behind the Masque
+ Work on the Story Bibles for Smuggler's Cove and Bissari Confederation.

What I Accomplished --

I didn't write 15 minutes everyday. In fact, I only wrote 7 days out of the whole month. Here is the interesting part though.  If I only wrote 15 minutes every day in January that equals 465 minutes or 7.75 hours (7 hours 45 minutes). However, 5 out of those 7 days, I wrote more than 15 minutes. I actually wrote 510 minutes or 8.5 hours. If you average 1000 words in an hour, that works out to be 250 words in 15 minutes. So, that would have a monthly total of  7,750 words. What I actually wrote was 6,230 words. That's because some of those 15 minutes I only managed 25 or 85 words, while others I hit 409. A quick scan through my log, shows I average probably 150-175 words every 15 minutes. That's not too bad. Not really. 

I didn't finish Behind the Masque. I thought I was closer to being done. My original word count goal is 7,000 words away. The story end is actually about 30,000 words away. Oh well. I will tell the story to it's completion then worry about word count. I do want to submit Behind the Masque to my publisher by my birthday, so that means I need to have the first draft finished by about the 21st of February. I need to put it up for a couple weeks before I start revising it. 

Working on the story bibles is nice and non-specific. I started them, so the goal is technically accomplished. But, I'm not finished. So, not really.

 Getting sick combined with stress from work definitely worked against me in January. So did I. There were too many days where I didn't feel like it or didn't have enough energy or had too many other things going on to sit down and write. Writing is a very solitary activity, but I really don't solitude. Sometimes I do. I like my own space and my own area. But, I don't have an office right now and I really do need to replace my desk top computer. I also don't meet up with writerly friends. Part of that is - I won't drive far in the wintertime - Michigan roads - especially the highways - can really suck - and be down right dangerous. The other part is money - I don't always have the ability to pay for an extra tank of gas or food if we are meeting someplace for lunch. I need to find a way to meet up with other writers though. I love being around writers and artists - they get it. Most are supportive and encouraging. 

Goals for February:

Finish Behind the Masque by February 21
Write 15 minutes Every Day
Finish the Story Bibles for Smuggler's Cove and Bissari Confederation. 

Goals for THIS WEEK: 

Write 15 minutes Every day
Spend 2 hours on the Smuggler's Cove Story Bible.

Blessings, 
Simone.

From the Writer's Desk - Where did January Go?

The month is almost gone.  I swear that adage that time goes faster as you get older is true. Sort of. Honestly, I think that time flies, because we live for the weekend.  As in "I can't wait until the weekend so I can..." - go fishing, watch a movie, see my friends, stitch, sew, write, read, bake.  It's the weekend where we live. Many of us. But I don't want to live just on the weekend.  I want every day to be like that. For me, that comes with writing. I would rather be writing.  If I write for a living, which is my goal, then my non-writing hours are filled with other things I enjoy. None of it includes working in cube-farm. My best friend, she loves her day job, which is very linear and in a cube-farm.

I've spent most of January so far trying to find that balance between writing, the day job, and what I need to decompress. Some days, it's just finding time to write. Using the Bullet Journal has been a big help.

Everyone writes different, they have different rituals, different comforts, different environmental needs, different habits. And those change over time.

Sometimes what I need in the way of environment changes - one day it may be my desk, another at Barnes and Noble or a coffee shop. I always need something to drink, but sometimes eating doesn't happen at all, or I'll need chocolate or crunchy, or everything in sight. But, I've found while I like writing with people around - like during write-ins, or finding a corner during a conference to write with whoever sits down, I like my space. I don't like to be too crowded. And I write best in fifteen minute increments. So, even if I'm do a 1k in 1hr challenge, I still break it up into 15-minute increments. My friend Brynn Paulin shared this story about a prolific writer named Anthony Trollope who wrote in 15-minute increments for 3 hours before going to a day job. I find I can waste a lot of time if I have an hour to write. But, 15 minutes - I'm less likely to procrastinate. So, I may write for an hour, but I've done in 15-minute spurts.

With my Bullet Journal, I created a couple of different spreads - one is my Sprint Log

I use my Sprint Log to track the date I work on a specific project, the starting and ending word count of each round, and the difference. My goal is 250 words each round. I use the timer feature on my laptop to keep track. I like it, because it interrupts the music - either from iTunes or YouTube - I'm listening to.

Set up - top of Spread

 Both pages. I write the abbreviation for each title at the bottom.

 The other spread I have is a word count tracker. Coloring in the boxes feels like an accomplishment - that I'm one step closer to my Goal. Each of my active WIPS has a layout. Each square is 1,000 words, and each of the smaller squares inside it are 250 words.

Goals -

So, my goals the last time I posted them were 500 words per session, writing 5 times a week. Or 2,500 words in a week.  Carrying that from the week of the 9th over to the week of the 16th, that would be 5,000 words total. Now, I didn't write 5 times a week. I wrote 5 times total, BUT I did manage to write 7,018 words since the 9th.

My other goal was 2 hours of research and world building. Carrying that over from the 9th to the 16th, that would 4 hours. I totally didn't make that one. At all.

Goals this week are the same.
1. Write 500 words per session, 5 days a week.
2. 2 hours of Research/world building - Forbidden

It's always when I need to be doing something else that I feel the drive to write. I need to sit down and write even when I don't have the drive.

Blessings,
Simone.