Topic: WC - Progress Log
Tuesday 6:28pm 20Feb07
I realize I haven't given a progress report in quite some time. Probably months!?
I've been keeping track of my writing hours for 8 weeks now. I'm in my 9th week. I have yet to hit 21 hours in one week and I figure I will eventually. Of course my New Year hasn't started yet, It's a week Thursday. NINE MORE DAYS! At almost 43 years old I'm still a giggly excited child about my birthday, probably because my birthdays in my 40's have been the best so far...but I digress! Right now I count every thing I write, my blog entries, my journal and my novel work... at some point, that may change to just my novel work but we'll see.
I have 4 habits that I'm working toward:
1 - getting up at 4am at least five times a week. 4:30am is close enough, if all else fails. I originally wanted it to be 7 days a week but have since determined that everybody has to sleep in sometimes, especially a sleep loving girlfish!
2 - 1 hour nonstop writing - mind cleanse. Freeflowing all the junk and complaints and rants and funnies and pieces of gratitude. Vomiting every thing in my mind onto the page to free me to work on my writing without inhibitions and distractions.
3 - 1 hour nonstop writing - novel in progress. I just added this habit the other day after getting The Writing Coach's first five days of her ebook.
4 - Weekend Contest - "How much can I accomplish, if I commit?" I've been failing miserably on this one because of groceries and cooking and cleaning and laundry and goofing off and staring into space and napping and watching television ... you get the idea.
Last week I wrote more than 15,000 words in total which as any writers reading this sure know, that's writing to the max for even some full time writers. So I can't be mad at myself for not getting to the 21 hours a week. It will take a lot more discipline and persistence.
Last night, I was close to nodding off at the writing desks so I stopped and did a little Tae Bo and some crunches. I figure I can work in my work outs that way. Get a little shape happening and be ready, when the time comes and that man arrives. ha ha! I want the goals and the man!
On the television front, I've been real good. I've been programming my VCR for the week. I watched Heroes this morning because I have to. That show is FANTASTIC! If I don't watch Grey's Anatomy Thursday night then I'll watch it Friday morning. Naw! I'll watch it Thursday night. If it makes me cry I can go to sleep but going to work after I've been crying all morning just doesn't work for me. Eyes are all puffy. I'm super sensitive. I have no reserves left to be aggressive if I need to be and working with men a girlfish has to be aggressive sometimes. "Am I speaking Swahili? Don't make me tell you again!" ha ha
In the one hour nonstop writing for my novel, I'm finding ideas popping up for other chapters like crazy and I'm starting to see the full novel as if I'm peering over it all in a suspended out of body sort of way. That rocks!
What I've found about the Writing Coach's original 30 days that she did one day at a time back in June is that she really gives you permission or the focus to work on your novel and discover what you will need as you are writing it. It can be so daunting thinking about research and tone and viewpoint and all the mechanics of what goes into the novel. You can stop yourself before you even get any where. And that may be what has been happening to me over the years. Writing is work, no doubt about it but for me it's fun work and sometimes I forget that.
Having read her whole first draft when she posted it on her blog, I'd recommend it wholeheartedly. I'd even consider using her as a writing coach. She's in the U.K. though so I think the long distance calls could make me cry like a baby getting that phone bill. But we'll see once my finances are organized!
So that's me and the writing progress. I find the blogging comes in fits and spurts and that's okay. I wanted Writing Zazen to be more about using writing exercises (writing scales, as I like to call it) and that hasn't been happening as much as I wanted. This blog is about daily practice, sitting down everyday and writing what's in my thick shaved skull and thinking up challenges that I can add or move over to Writing Zazen.
I am focusing more on my real writing goals so some of my blog entries will be write offs. But there are days like today when I post more than one entry so hopefully one of them is worth something. It's not like you have to pay for this crap. Hey, I started to write the blogs to get me writing and I'm writing, with serious regularity. In my world, that's all that matters.
By the way, if you want to drop me a line, ask me a question or send me a comment but don't want to comment at the blog, my email is poeticpieces at gmail dot com. I don't check it daily but I check it. Just put writing2live in the subject line so I don't delete you as spam without having opened. I hate spam!
EY
