“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius?
I’ve been making changes and adjustments now that I find myself at the end of my fourth week. Editing of my first book will be moving up to the front of my priority list for a while. At least until I get the feel I need to continue forward effectively. There are now fixes I need to make and some reacquainting to do.
You can view my updated Row80 goals here and visit the list of other participates over here.
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Have you ever found yourself thrown into a situation with a group of people where you were all striving for a similar goal and in that excitement you pushed forward only to find your work wasn’t as good as it could be? I’m finding that my word sprints are not turning out the desired results I need right now. I can do better. So, are they a waste of time? I don’t know yet. Maybe I’ll be in a better position to judge when I return to them better prepared. But I sit here knowing that all the recent work I have done on my novel will require more reworking in the editing stage than they usually do.
I will not be discouraged. As Confucius said, it’s not in the falling, but in the number of times we pick ourselves up. I am dusting myself off and attacking this problem from a different angle. My inner ear is open and receptive to the voice whispering the proper course I should take. I’m jumping on it without fear or hesitation. I’m choosing the positive outlook on this situation and on life. How about you? Where do you stand on things in your life, on your goals? Do you need to reevaluate, or are you cranking out your goals like nobody’s business? May motivation fuel you.
Now for the nitty gritty:
❤ Write forward on my WIP every day. – I should probably adjust this goal as I haven’t been getting to this on the weekends, plus my focus has shifted to editing (see below). Worked on WIP 5 out of 7 days: 2 days of editing and 3 days of writing.
❤ Write 2100 words a week on my WIP (an average of 500/day). (Added 2/4) Any word count good/shift to editing. – Added 2523 words to my manuscript this week, writing only three out of the five days.
❤ Edit the first two books in this trilogy. – Began with the first chapter on Thursday. Got to the second chapter on Friday. I hope to get more done tonight.
❤ Complete & fully participate in Bob Mayer’s Write It Forward Workshop. – The class was a little slow this week. We just got a new lesson that I have yet to turn in. The lesson got lost from my laptop to the printer. Need to try again so that I may stay on top of that.
❤ Blog 3x a week, plus one Row80 update. – Check! Friday’s post was short on words but I think a lot of the readers like that. Correct me if I’m wrong. A total of 2515 words.
❤ Comment on/visit/retweet at least 12 blogs a week. – Check, by like 1000!
❤ Discover at least 1 new blog a week. – I believe there were several. Yay!
❤ Read 2 new books and finish the one I am on by the end of the 80 days. – Still working on the same book I started with. I may have to pull an all-nighter to finish it. There just isn’t time during the day to read with the kids schedules and other responsibilities. *Sigh*
❤ Exercise 3x a week: to include 75+ sit-ups, 20+ push-ups, 10 pull-ups, & cardio. – Total fail this week. 🙁
❤ Make more time for the family (somehow :)) – Working on it.
I know this sounds sad on my part, but I am finally getting some of those holiday decorations put away. We also had a “thing” happen that required I empty the entire pantry, boom it, clean it and re-stock it. Yay – fun. Can you hear my sarcasm seeping through? I got that done, despite how time-consuming it was. I suddenly have a ton of open space in there that I didn’t have before. Wow! You know what that means. I can buy more stuff!
Things haven’t gone exactly as I had planned. Am I going to let that get the best of me? No. I have faith in myself and what I am doing. I will move forward with just as much determination as ever before. I will simply adjust my sails. If ever the same notions are nagging at you I hope you will do the same.
Thank you for dropping in and check up on me and my progress in the Round of Words in Eighty Days. I appreciate your time. I understand how very valuable it is. May you have a rich and rewarding day and week that follows.
🙂
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Wow you have a LOT of goals. Its amazing that you’ve kept up with most of them. I know that when I do writing sprints, I’m not writing the best content I could ever create. I’m treating my first draft as just getting the story out. It will be during the editing stages/re-writing stages where I will really start adding details and refining the language. But everyone has to find their own style. If taking it slower and producing a better first draft is what works better for you, then use the “sprints” merely as time when you work on the WIP.
Hi Nicole! I have been to workshops where they talked about writing the first draft in a bare bones style. That’s not how I work. I see everything in extreme detail, so I capture it that way the very first time before I lose it. I think my word sprints would go better if I had a better handle on where my story should be headed right now. But it took two books for one character to fully come out of their shell and another character I simply neglected to develop before this point. I have changes to make so that I understand everyone and the situation better as it now stands. Then the sprints will probably be more productive. I have done many away weeks where I have done nothing the entire time but write. I know I can do a productive sprint. I just need to have a better handle on my current situation. Guess I have some figuring out to do this next week. *sigh*
Hi Debra. Keep going, you are doing amazingly at the moment. I didn’t have the most productive January when it came to my own writing but I am now motivated after reading your post 🙂 Good luck with editing and writing your books!
You’ve put a smile on my face that I could motivate you. Yay! You need to follow up your book with another, and another, and another. And I’ll never stop! 😀 You just keep writing Emma! Thank you for your wonderful encouragement.
Debra, if someone’s looking for inspiration, they need look no farther than your latest blog post! Good job! You’ve accomplished a lot this week, and I look forward to following your continuing progress…
Best wishes,
Edward
http://read-write-listen.blogspot.com
Thank you so much Edward! I’m sorry it took me so long to say so and go looking for your blog. I just fished your comment and several others out of my spam last night. Oops. How did that happen? You clearly don’t belong in there!
Your words came at the right time. Isn’t that amazing how that works. 🙂
You’re doing great, Debra – hang in there! And YES – blog posts at 500 or 1000 words are just fine – don’t make them too long! In today’s rush rush world, a long blog post can get skimmed…and then words of wisdom are lost.
Just my .02! Hugs honey!
I think I struggled more with the word count in the beginning. Now I tend to cap them at 1000. Less is great! I’d prefer to go that direction if I can manage it. Sometimes my subjects have so much info that it’s a challenge.
Thank you for the blog design compliment. I wanted something that matched my log line. It’s good to know it loads faster. 🙂
P.S. – Love the new blog design – it also loads faster!
sounds like your week wasn’t so bad – you have a lot of life in your life:) finding the right way can take time sometimes and isn’t always the same for each WIP – whichever works for you all the best
keep smiling
Thank you Alberta! You’re right. I need to find the right way for me. I think I’ll take your advice and I hope you do the same! May it be sincere. 🙂
You inspire me – you do so much, yet when there are things you can’t manage (though they seem few) you maintain a positive out-look. Good for you! 🙂
Thank you Shah. I am only human, so like everyone I do have my moments, but at the end of the day I always remember what’s important. Life is too short to let all the little things get us down. This is a journey and we might as well enjoy it.
Debra, you just made me very tired, my friend! You are doing a LOT. Keep up the good work and don’t get discouraged. Great job! 🙂
Thank you mj. I didn’t mean to make you tired. LOL I do tend to pile it on. But then I’m a busy mom. When am I going to get the things for me done if I don’t push myself? What was that? Is somebody cracking a whip? 😉
Hang in there Honey – you certainly have a LOT on your plate. Be kind to yourself. I LOVED the video. It got my adrenalin going. Just remember “all things in moderation”. Don’t expect TOO MUCH from yourself. You can’t be everything to everybody all the time. Luv and Hugs
I will do my best to remember that one. *winks* I am hanging in there. No worries.
Debra, I don’t think words written is ever a waste of time. We may not realize at the time what we’re learning, but there’s always something to be gained. It’s what people in other professions call “practice.” Of course you can do better – we always can! But is it reasonable, given the other demands on our time? Sometimes not, but it’s always something to work for and strive toward. You did a lot this week despite the pantry mess, so that’s worth celebrating! Keep up the good work and good luck with this week’s goals.
Oh, I know you’re right Jennette. I may use some or all of it when I return back to that spot. If not, it was a wonderful exercise letting my characters yammer and work things out. BTW, my pantry looks AWESOME now. LOL If I can only keep my kids out of there it should stay that way. 😀
Debra you are amazing! You do know that right?
You’ve accomplished so much, I don’t know when or how you do it! Do you sleep? lol
You’ve written so many fantastic posts this week. Take a deep breathe and let it out.
Let go of the pantry incident. Life happens. It’s the start of a new week! 🙂
Ha ha! Okay, you caught me Karen. I might not have slept last week when I wrote this post. But now, by the time I’m finally responding to you (sorry I was such a slacker this week. You’ll understand better come Sunday) I’ve been getting more sleep than my average! I still need to improve upon that, based on what my kids require. So I’m still trying to figure it all out. I have sooo many blogs I want to visit, and I’m adding more all the time. Notice I totally fell of the grid this week and didn’t get to hardly any. Booo! 🙁
Wow you do have a lot of goals. You are doing great, don’t get down over a few of the hundred you have listed there. yeesh. I’m exhausted just reading it lol. AND you have kids. How the heck do you do that?!
As I do the blog rounds for ROW80 I can’t help but notice how many of us missed the exercise goal. Funny how that’s the first thing to go, when really it should be the last. I’m just as guilty. The only reason I got exercise in this week was because I was in New Orleans taking walking tours lol.
I agree, be sure to pat yourself on the back for all you HAVE done, and don’t beat yourself up over what you haven’t. There’s always this week!
Yes, we all seem to keep our butts in the chair these days. Funny, before I started blogging I exercised 6 out of 7 days and I felt a lot better. I was just commenting to the hubby how I need to change things to fit that back in. But that is probably 2 hours right that. That’s a HUGE gouge out of my schedule and it will affect the social aspect the most. Maybe I go back to and every other day or something. Or shorter work-outs. Ginger’s workouts are fine, but I really enjoyed when I engaged in a serious workout. It actually helped my story building process. Just like August said in one of her posts. It’s true.
I don’t do word sprints. Thought about it for a minute but they just didn’t seem like a good fit right now.
Long blogs or short blogs… I guess I have to say that, while I enjoy longer blogs (read…DAMON!), I could get to more of them if the majority were between 300 and 500 words. Especially the ROW80 updates. I really wish those could be limited to a couple of 5-6 line paragraphs. I’d be able to cheer more people on that way.
You accomplish so much Debra that I agree with everyone else. You deserve a pat on the back…and shouldn’t feel even a little bad for what you don’t get to. I would like to see some changes to your schedule though. Like including some SLEEP, lol. You definitely don’t get enough. I don’t ever get enough but compared to you, I’m like a teenager who does nothing but sleep. 🙂
I agree, shorter posts are easier to get through. I generally keep them under 1000, I’d like to make them shorter if I can, without losing substance or meaning. I don’t add filler just to make posts long. I do like pictures though. It’s just a thing of mine.
Non-writer followers have mentioned how boring the Sunday Row80 updates are so I may switch them up even more and make them more (short) post and condense the update.
I cant believe what you accomplish, Debra. amazing. I need to take lessons from you. well done.
I don’t think you want to take lessons from me. LOL There are some other people out there though that really amaze me. Every time I hit a blog I see that August has already been there. And yet she is posting about taking time for all these other things. How does she do it? I honestly want to know? Of course, she doesn’t have children, does she? That might be part of her secret.
Debra, your list of goals is impressive and, despite feeling overwhelmed, you are working toward achieving them. Great job on the word count – you did in only three days what you’ve planned for five! That’s big. Hopefully this coming week will be better in the exercise department 🙂 I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you, girl.
Hugs.
Thank you Angela! You are always such a doll. I can use all the positive pushes possible this week. It’s been a week of reflection.
thnx to have ur good thought
im very happy to recieve ur good words
gshiva@ymail.com