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 - Mid-December

I'm really not sure where 2017 went to. I do know that I've been looking forward to 2018 since the last couple of days in November.

I started Bullet Journaling sometime around September/October of 2016. I discovered it earlier in the summer, but wasn't sure how it would work for me. I have a day job and a teenager. Some things are routine and other things come out of left field. But it became tremendously helpful as R and I started planning for graduation and college. One of the Bullet Journaler's I follow is Boho Berry, one of the books she mentioned last year and again this was Lisa Jacobs - Best Year Ever 2017 and Best Year Ever 2018.  The idea sounds good - plan for business or life and how to improve them to get where you want to go. My goal is to be a better me, to be the writer I want to be, that I know I can be. So, I look for the books and the tools that will help me be the best me possible.

I hemmed and I hawwed,  then I decided to purchase the e-Book version of the Best Year Ever 2017, which was on clearance, to see if there were enough principles, enough ideas that I could use. And, there seems to be. Lisa's books are really meant for online entrepreneurs who have direct sale products. But, I think with some slight modifications the exercises will work for me. I'm still hammering out my 2018 goals and plans, when I do, I'll share. Because if I put it out to the world, then I'm responsible - accountable for those goals in a way that keeping them private doesn't make me do. I can fudge more, ignore them easier. Harder to ignore or fudge something when you talk about it with others.

Goals:

At the end of November I mentioned that I was changing my daily goal from an hour a day to 15 minutes a day. I started that November 27th. I think I've missed 4 days of writing since then. 3 of those were this past week - Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. One of the days I wrote for an hour and a half and wrote 1300 words. That is phenomenal for me. So, the 15 minutes a day works. For me. So, I'm going to continue it. 

I have been reading - not always daily, beyond my morning routine. I finished Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, which is dark and interesting - fascinating. I can't wait to read the rest of the series/trilogies.


I started Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Which is SOOOOO different from the Movie, but it's an easy read. I started and finished Your Best Year 2017. I'm challenging myself to read more and different next year. I need to put a few more finishing touches before I mention that though.


I'm working longer hours at the day job, which I don't particularly like, but it's helping to pay my bills, which keeps my stress levels down, which means it's actually a bit easier to write. I write by the seat of my pants, but in my own life I work better when I have a plan - even a barely working one - that lets me deal with whatever issue is going on in my life.





This week, my goals are:

+ Write 15 minutes a day
+ Finish my Series Bibles
+ Finish purging the crap in my house.
+ Schedule an appointment to get a quote on the plumbing for my house.
+ Read 30 minutes a day.

 What are your goals for the New Year? Do you have a plan to succeed?

Blessings,
Simone.

From the Writer's Desk - Mid-September Check In

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by.  It's hard to believe that next week it will be officially fall, never mind that Pumpkin Spice, Carmel Apple, and Apple Cider everything are out and about.  Along with Halloween decorations. This is my favorite season.  I finished Write by Karen Peterson and am reading The Write Type by her.  I've adapted some of her exercises to my own use.  I may go back and follow the exercises exactly, but I'm not sure at this point.

I had hesitated to add dailies to my bullet journal, because I have a day job Monday through Friday with a schedule that doesn't change.  But, recently I started adding them along with my weeklies, so that I can keep track of my writing time better and any other tasks I want to get done.  I don't add a time line, because at the moment I don't see the need.

My weekly goal is to spend 7 hours on writing or writing related tasks.

The first week of September - 4th - 10th -- I wrote sentences for 2 hours, people watched for 1.5 hours, and worked on my website for 8 hours.

The 2nd week of September -- 11th -- 17th -- I wrote for 4 hours, researched a variety of things for 7 hours, and worked on my website for 8 hours.

So, for both weeks, I met my goal! Which makes me really happy.

I'm going to continue with my daily tracking, because I have to check in with myself daily on whether I made a goal or not. If not, what did I do and why.  There were a couple of days when nothing got done because I was either taking care of family or self-care was more important.

 

Every morning after I complete my Miracle Morning Routine, I set a goal for the day. Most of the time it is to write 1 hour on Behind the Masque, because I want it finished and I keep missing my self imposed deadlines.  I also write down my mood at that moment.  And a reward. Right now, I'm on a stitching kick, so that is my reward if I make my goal. Although, honestly, I may stitch even if I don't make my goal.  Then at night I write down what I actually did, my mood, and where I was. The section under that is what I read for the day.   You can see on this day, I did write, but not on what I wanted to, so I didn't make my goal, but it does count on my tracker.

My goal this week is to write 7 hours on either Marked or Behind the Masque.  I also want to read for 30 minutes a day and to go through one box stacked in my office.  My big goal is to have my house completely de-cluttered by Halloween.

What are your goals for the week? What do you want to accomplish this week? This Season?

Blessings,
Simone.

From the Writer's Desk - Wrapping Up August

In about an hour I'm taking R to get her/his books for school. S/he starts college on the 5th. Where has the time gone? Not just summer, but the last 18, almost 19 years. Today also marks 12 years since my dad passed away.  One week ago R's father passed away. Time has a way of dulling the sharp edges of sorrow.

Last week, my goal was to write for 7 hours. Working on any type of writing or pre-writing task for a total of 7 hours during the week.
Great goal. I know I managed to write - actual in the seat, putting new sentences to story - writing for 2 hours.  The rest of it - I don't know, because I didn't track it. I didn't sit down at the end of the day and write down what I actually accomplished that day. So, poor planning on my part, means I have no way of knowing definitely if I made my goal or not. So, today I need to start tracking what I work on.

I also was going to read 30 minutes a day. This is in addition to the 10 minutes I read first thing in the morning as part of my Miracle Morning routine. I stitched this week more than I read. Again, that lack of tracking accurately is coming back to bite me. I didn't read every day. I need to.

So, my goals for this week are the same as last week.
Write 7 hours - equals 1 hour a day.
Read 30 minutes a day.
TRACK WHAT I WORK ON!!

I have a Bullet Journal, it's easy enough to create a log - maybe incorporate it into a weekly or daily spread - where I can track/log what I work on, what tasks, and what I read. I'll share what I come up with.

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.

From the Writer's Desk -- Looking Forward in 2017

According to an article I read on History Channel's website, The History of New Year's Resolutions, the tradition of promising to make the new year better than the last one dates back 4000 years ago to Babylon -- they were promises made to gods, that if kept brought reward and if not - caused one to fall out of favor with the gods. Now-a-days resolutions are made - some with very serious intentions on keeping them, and some half-hearted or half-baked with little or no intention.  Some are doomed to fail before they begin due to the nature of the resolution.

I have started a new Bullet Journal that I hope will help not only keep track of things, but also help keep me focused on my goals. My biggest goal is to become a full time writer.  I like my day job, I love the organization I work for, but I would rather be writing. I'm still trying to work out how to stay writing when life stress gets overwhelming.

* Ideally, I want to write 12 books, my goal is 5.

* Write 365,000 words -- which sounds like a lot until you realize it's only 1,000 words a day.  Some authors manage 6,000 - that's my goal, but I still have a day job and life stress, so, 1,000 it is.

* Read 26 books
      3 Classics
      3 Non-Fiction
      20 - Whatever

* Blog Weekly


I've broken my big goals into smaller chunks, come up with a reasonable time line for my day that I think will work.I plan on doing Quarterly Reviews to see how I'm doing as well as a year-end review to see what I accomplished.

Weekly Goals, January 2-8

Write 5 times a day, 500 words a session
Blog on Wednesday and Friday
Read 30 Minutes everyday


I intend on keeping my resolutions this year.

Simone.

From The Writer's Desk - Best Laid Plans

November was NaNoWriMo. I had my writing plans laid out, and a new book to work on. Then a switch in procedure at the day job and added a lot of stress meant, I wrote maybe 4 times the whole month. I did manage to get some reading and cross-stitching in.

Things are calming down at work and stress levels are back to manageable levels.  The day, month, week planning I discovered with the Bullet Journal planning system and the customization that goes along with it, has helped not just manage the stress, but seems to be helping with the productivity.

I'm in the process of figuring out my 2017 writing plans as well as my goals in general.  Ideally, I would like to finish Forbidden by the end of this year. However, if it's by the end of the January I'll still be happy.

So, my goals for this week --

Write 5 days this week (Monday thru Sunday)
Write 500 words a session
Spend 2 - 4 hours on World Development
Focus - Forbidden

Non-Writing -
Go through 2 boxes
Read 30 minutes a day 

Happy Writing and Reading,

Simone.

From the Writing Desk

It’s interesting how some events have me leaving the writing world behind while others have me turning toward it and the hope that can be found there.  The types of events – of stressors may have a large part to do with it.  Stress from a lack of money or environmental/financial stability is more likely to have me leaving my computer and my writing, than one that reminds me that life is short. That this is the Final Run Through, not a dress rehearsal.  There are no do-overs.  The same opportunities may present themselves more than one, but you are never the same person the second or third time that you were the first time.

I have a writing plan, one that I developed using the techniques I learned from a Strategic Planning for Non-Profits class I took some years ago. It made sense to me.  Writing has two parts, a business side and the artistic side. The business side seems to be taking a bit longer to understand than the artistic side, which is completely natural for me. Strategic Planning for Non-Profits fit neatly with-in how I view the business side of writing. The first part of that though, the very first, very basic step is too write.

There are a couple of different schools of thought on that – one is to write every day, another says when the inspiration strikes, and a third basically states life is nuts, schedule it, but don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day.

Pinterest is the black hole of time, and I freely admit to spending way too much time there. But, I’m also a visual person, so I keep boards of stories and worlds I’m working on or ideas that come to me in the form of pictures instead of words.  Because, I suck as an artist and it’s easier to start a board than copy it down or print the pictures out, cut them out, and tape them into my writers journal – which I do. Probably more than I should.

I used to have a goal to write 2000 words a day. That’s fantastic, but not realistic for me at the moment. I have a teenager. They’re involved in band, and they are also dealing with some heavy crap right now. 500 words 3 to 5 times a week. If writing is also my self-care – fantastic, I get to do it. If it’s not, then it doesn’t get done. My goal is to write full-time and not have to work outside my home again.  Not because I don’t like my day job, I do. And I believe in my organization’s mission 110%. But, I would rather be writing. I want to not have leave my house in a snow storm. I want to be my own boss.

I can totally see the following conversation happening with any one of my editors:

Me – I’m taking a snow day, there’s a blizzard out.

Editor – You work from home. You never have to get dressed.  You can write.

Me – Yeah, but it’s snowing outside, and I want to take a snow day. I have the vacation time…

Editor – You don’t get vacation time. You have a deadline to meet.

Me – But there’s a blizzard…

Editor – Deadline…

I have the best editors and have a great relationship with them, so this wouldn’t be a bad thing.  But, knowing my goals, figuring out the steps, and working toward them is the only way to make a dream into a reality.

So, my current Writing Goals, which I’m tracking in my version of the Bullet Journal, which is something I have recently discovered and am in the process of figuring it out and what works for me, are:

Writing Goals - Tracked by Hours

Close-Up -- the numbers are how many hours I wrote that day.  The color of the box represents what I was working on.  I keep track of my word count and WIP in my journal as I write in 15 minute increments and like to know how I'm doing.  I didn't write anything in August.

My 2016 Writing To-Do List is on the opposite page, I pick a colored pencil to use for tracking at random, then keep it in my pencil/pen case.

Reading, exercise, and self care are also in there, but that is something different. For me, a word count works the best. I have started writing more and more in Scrivener, so the page count doesn't work as well, because there are no page numbers unless you take like 4 extra steps, and I have no desire to do that.

I have to figure out the best way to stay accountable here or over on Facebook....