Tag: revision

I Think I Might Have Found the Solution…

…to my complete inability to get anything done writing-wise.  Something that eliminates a lot of my tendency to procrastinate, and allows me to focus on a project for a short period of time.  What is this magical solution?  Setting the timer on my phone for 30 minutes.

Yes, this is something super-simple that I probably should have thought of before, but I didn’t.  I was trying to bribe my Muse into coming to work today, and said “Okay, if I can just write for 30 minutes, I’ll be happy.”  So, I set my timer for half an hour, pulled up my manuscript of The Fall, and started writing.  I managed 3-4 pages before the timer beeped.  It was a short enough time period that I didn’t get distracted, but long enough for me to actually get something accomplished, which made me feel about a thousand times better than my usual “You lazy bum, you didn’t get any writing done at all today!” vibe.

It worked so well that I tried it twice more.  I managed to revise an entire chapter in the zombie story from 3rd-person to 1st-person POV.  And I also did 14 chapters in the revision outline for the Werewolf story (less than ten to go).  It may not work for everyone, but it’s worth a shot.

If anyone has any other ideas, ways to get over the lack of inertia and start working again, I’d LOVE to hear them!

time

 

 

Lost: one Muse. If found, please send home ASAP

I’m proud to say I’ve actually made progress this week.  Not on writing.  I haven’t done any actual writing this week.  Sigh….Muse?  Where aaaaare you?  Hello? Okay.  This is what my progress on The Fall looks like over the past few weeks:

dear cursor

You’re right:  nothing.  No writing.  But it’s only Tuesday….Apparently, my Muse has taken off for parts unknown.  Knowing my Muse, “parts unknown” is probably code for “a beach with a hammock, a never-ending margarita machine, and a cute cabana boy.”  I digress.  Where was I?  Not on a beach….

I did, however, manage to do my revision chapter outline for seven chapters of the werewolf story this morning.  I also converted an entire chapter of the zombie story from 3rd person to 1st person POV.  That’s trickier than it sounds…I’ve done short crits for two people in my writing group.  Written several blog posts for my other blogs.  And looooots of homework.   Yay for homework.  Except not.

Goals for the rest of the week:  Convert another chapter of the zombie story.  Finish the revision outline for the werewolf story.  Write another chapter of The Fall.  Survive.

 

 

Bribing Myself

So, despite loads of homework and reading for school, I managed to do mini-outlines for two more chapters in the werewolf story. Progress, although of the infinitesimal, snail-like variety. Three chapters down, 29 to go…but it will get done. And I promised my best friend/co-writer that I would convert ONE chapter of our zombie story to first-person this weekend. I’m also thinking about trying out Scrivener. Anybody out there used it or have any opinions or comments about it?

I also have this sitting on my desk, waiting to be read:

Personal bribery at its best...
Personal bribery at its best…

I know, I know. The Wheel of Time series has dragged on forever. I’ve heard all the complaints. Seen all the bad reviews for the series in general. I know. Also, I don’t care. I haven’t opened it yet. IF I get all the stuff done that I need to this weekend–homework, writing, revision, blogging, cleaning, re-decorating, planting–THEN I will start reading it. If not, well, it’ll have to wait. It’s been years since I started reading the series, I don’t think a few more days will hurt me.

I’m the tortoise

So, school started again today. Not that I went. Um, the roads were pretty crappy this morning due to a winter weather system that moved in early this morning, and after watching news and traffic reports for a while, I decided I didn’t really want to risk driving 25 miles to school on the first day of the semester. Yes, I hate missing class. But at least this was a day that would have been at least partially taken up with going over the syllabus, which I’ve already read. So instead of risking my life with crazy Texas drivers who freak out at the first snowflake (and let’s not even talk about ice), I stayed home. I did quite a bit of homework. Yeah, I know, it’s the first day of classes. But the more I get done during the week, the less I have to do this weekend. And with 17 hours this semester, there’s a lot to do.

Despite my busy schedule, I still want to keep up with my writing. That means I have to set small goals, instead of my usual over-the-top, all-or-nothing method. With that end in mind, I’ve decided to do a very brief chapter outline of the werewolf story, to make revisions a bit less overwhelming. So I outlined the first chapter today. Granted, it’s maybe 5 sentences, but it’s progress, and I plan to do more work on it the rest of the week. I also plan on converting one chapter of the zombie story to first-person each week, and I also intend to get in at least one writing session a week on the new story. In addition, I’d like to keep up a twice-weekly blogging schedule. That doesn’t sound like much, but I do have two other blogs, so that’s a bit more time-intensive.

This week I’m focusing on baby steps. The tortoise won the race, didn’t he?

Where Have I Been?

…that’s a good question. Let me see if I can give you the simplest answer. (Simple. Ha. There IS no simple answer. But I’ll try to explain.). For the first time ever, I started NaNo but didn’t finish it. I think I wrote about 18k words, and then hit a wall. Not a wall in my writing, a wall in my life. For the past four months, I’ve been struggling with depression. And also, apparently, denial. But about halfway through November, I hit this wall, and realized I wasn’t getting any better on my own. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t focus on anything (Good luck with writing…). I didn’t want to be around people. I was sad and hopeless all the time. Thank God, I have good friends, some of whom have been through this. I finally listened to them, saw a counselor and my doc, and now, six weeks later, thanks to meds and some other changes I’ve made, I’m feeling MUCH better. It’s hard to overstate just how much better I feel now. I feel like myself again. And that is SO nice.

I’ve started being active in my crit group again. I’ve started revising my Werewolf story (again). I’m even planning on starting a new story, if not today, then Saturday. And I plan to start blogging here regularly again. I’m back. You’ve been warned….

Happy Dance!

Do you have any idea how much time it takes to type in 92k-worth of novel revisions? Somewhere in the neighborhood of 13 hours. How do I know this? Because I did the entire type-in on the werewolf story this weekend! It. Is. Finished!

My legs and back ached from hunching over my keyboard. My eyes were crossed and bloodshot. My wrists hurt. I had finger cramps. But finally, at almost 11 p.m. last night, I finished it. Running spellcheck was almost anti-climatic.

I’ve been so focused on this revision for the past five months, that now, with it done, the sensation of not having anything to work on has me feeling a little lost. (Okay, to be honest, I’m feeling like one of the survivors of Oceanic flight 815, but that’s another story.) I don’t do well with nothing to do.

Fortunately, I have a query letter and a synopsis to write. And beta readers to get the story out to. And a partially written novel to finish. And that other revision I’m in the midst of…

There’s no rest for the wicked…or is that the weary?