Sunday, February 21, 2010

I have a goal

Osiyo~

I have nowhere to go today so, of course, the weather is perfectly clear outside. Isn't that the way of things? I mean, you make plans for weeks in advance, and the day of the event you can't go because 'Mother Nature' decides to play a trick on you and muck up the weather.

It's not just the weather outside I have to contend with, however. It's the weather inside. Inside my house, inside my head. Unfortunately, I can't blame Mother Nature for these 'natural disasters' because more often, than not, they are of my own making. I am speaking of self discipline and writing, of course. My dad had a plaque once that read "I love work. I can sit and look at it for hours"...that's me on a bad discipline writing day. I can read anything and everything in the house and not get tired of reading. But when it comes to writing I just stare at the previously written words, read them over and over, for hours without adding a single word more. It's downright irritating when this happens because I can't very well call myself a writer if I don't write!

I am proud to report that, though I didn't exactly shut off the Internet yesterday, I finished chapter four (and, though its words not written as yet, I have a beginning for chapter five planned)! That adds up to 1639 words- or just under 7 pages- of hard earned progress. Not my best work for one day, granted, but it equals 5 1/2 days worth of writing at 300 words per day! Okay- now to confess- I am NOT a mathmatician by any stretch of the word (obviously, since I can't even spell it), so my numbers may not be exact in words per day, pages, or all those factors. I wrote that
many words consecutively, but my over all word count for the day was actually 1897, which includes a few additions and changes here, and there throughout; minor edits to what I've already had critted.

So- I'm off to try to beat yesterday's word count and get to chapter six today, maybe even chapter seven if all goes well. I need to finish this book before the contest ends! (Remember I entered my first contest with the first 10 pages of this story.) That gives me a little over 6 weeks to write and begin edits before the third week of April to reach my goal. To help me, I'm working on getting a word meter put in here so you can all kick me when I start to slack again.

In the mean time, feel free to check out some of the web sites, and blogs I have listed in the sidebar. Or, if you have any favorites you'd like to share- I'm always looking and adding, so I'll check them out.

Dodadagohvi~

4 comments:

Rachel Lynne said...

Hey! Any progress is good progress, right? I know how you feel because I didn't write more than two pages this weekend and I wanted to finish Chapter 6 so Monday is a heavy load if I want to stay on target. My deadline is March 31st!
On writer's slump (I refuse to call it a block when I'm just not motivated!) I take the dog for a walk. Once around the pond to view the egrets and try and spy our resident blue heron and my mind is cleared, at least momentarily.
Good Luck!

Calisa Rhose said...

Progress is good. Even if it's two words to fix something I don't like. Good job and strive for more next time! Too cold to walk here right now at 20 degrees. I read or watch a program or nap. lol

Hi y'all! said...

I know what you mean about discipline - I have a lack of it lately. Deadlines are good - I plan to set one tonight and stick to it no matter what!

Calisa Rhose said...

Good luck Melinda. I need to reset mine and stick with it no matter what.