I've managed to finish my two pages with enough time to post here. Quickly. I've not gotten ahead, but at least I've not fallen further behind either. And I'm managing to get the two pages done in the morning. It takes me about an hour to get out of bed to my laptop, making breakfast, feeding the cats, and so on along the way. Then I sit outside with my back against the carport wall, with omelet (a bowl of cereal would be so much easier but I need the protein) and water, in my dressing gown -- and a jacket, for the last two days, because a cold front just passed through. Now I'm getting hot though. Maybe soon I'll get some sort of table and chair out here, but for now, this seems to be working. I was worried that being outside would be too distracting but I think it's no more distracting than having to turn up the music to block out my family was. Possibly less. Oh, and I'm outside because my son gets ready for school at this time and doesn't like having people around in the morning. Fair enough; neither do I.
I feel like I've gone on a really crap vacation. You know; you're away from work, so it should be fun or at least relaxing, but it was stressful and when you get back you find that things are backed up and now you have to work harder than before. Anyway, I'm not sure where the time went. I didn't plan to neglect my writing, it just somehow happened. My last post here had me at 39 pages behind. I was gone for 11 days. 11x2=22. But I did get one page typed yesterday and two today, so 19. 39+19=58. Sheesh, 58 pages behind. I've decided to start writing in the mornings. I used to exercise in the morning, but injuries have curtailed my usual routines, so I've been walking or doing a little light circuit training with a coworker. As a result of that, my evenings are crammed. I'm not certain how well this morning thing will go; it's one thing to get up early and do something physical, but to actually have to think? Well, so far I've managed one page and two. Tomorrow morning doesn't look promising; I'm already late getting to bed, thanks to my daughter's dilatory dish washing methods.
Today didn't go as planned. In the end, I've only managed to get three pages done. Still, that's better than just two. 42-3=39 One of the things causing causing me difficulty is what I suppose are called plot lines. One of them involves the investigation of the antagonists's nefarious doings. I have two main bad guys; one the major bad, the other more of a minor player, more or less sub-contracted to the other. Anyway, I've been struggling with the feeling that I don't have that aspect of the plot organized solidly enough. So I took some time this afternoon to scribble down a rough outline of events caused by the bad guys. It's definitely helped organize things in my head. Next I need to set down the chain of events for the good guys as they investigate. The guy in charge of the investigation at the moment has gone around gathering information and connected a few dots. But I feel rather like I'm trying to herd a bunch of cats. I need to take the time to get it outlined on paper.
Another late start today. I thought about just skipping it today but my better nature -- or the thought of owning up to it here -- prevailed and I got two pages in. They took longer today, just over an hour. I just wasn't sure where I was going with the scene. I think I went the right direction in the end. No work tomorrow, but I can't stay up too much later because I'll be getting up at about the same time to go hiking at 5 AM, then workout class at 7 AM. After that, I'm going to wedge writing in between the various things I have to try and get done tomorrow. My writing goal for Saturday, then, is six pages. Wish me luck!
Two pages in half an hour. That's my fastest time ever; good thing too since I'm running late today. Now if I can just finish up this and a few other things quickly I'll get to bed not too far behind schedule. I write in my room, most usually. And since there are four of us living in a fairly small one story house with thin walls, I have headphones on and music turned up. As it is, I can still hear my son's voice raised in frustration. I don't remember hearing it when I was writing though. So maybe I am getting better at focusing, blocking out distractions. The music itself only caught my attention once, and that was this one song that keeps irritating me. I removed it from my playlist this time. For awhile, I worried that the music I use to insulate me from the noise of my family would prove too much of a distraction. I wonder how many other people here use music, and what sort? At the moment, I mostly have a mix of IAMX and Depeche Mode, with a bit of Josh Groban and U2. The energy and rhythm of most of those songs seem to work for me.
What with one thing and another, I got a late start again tonight. But, two pages in about forty-five minutes. So still staying even, I guess. I'm not sure how my writing schedule will be for the next few days. My husband has a final exam coming up next Monday and has said he might need my help studying for it. If that's the case, my backlog might grow. But I've used some PTO to take the following Friday and Monday off, so I can make up the lost pages and more with that four day weekend. Looking forward to it.
Only two pages again today. And those are done because I typed them both within forty minutes. Maybe I'm getting better at focusing my attention? Here's hoping. I'm going to drag myself out of bed tomorrow morning at 4:00/4:30 to exercise, and hopefully nothing else will get in the way tomorrow night, so I'll be able to get more than just two pages written. I want to chip away more at the backlog.
I only managed to get the daily two pages done today, so I stayed even. But hey, that's better than adding to the backlog. Busy day today. I'm walking a neighbor's dogs while she's recuperating from a car accident, then I made dinner since my husband had school today. Then my daughter wanted to talk and these days I do my best to make time for that; puberty's hitting her hard. So I'm finishing up late. I think my cold's almost gone. If it's even better tomorrow I think I'll ease back into exercising. Yesterday and today even laughing tended to make me cough but my sinuses weren't so inflamed. If I do go to workout class after work tomorrow I won't be home till 6:30, then dogs, then eating dinner, so maybe only two pages of writing. We'll see. Right now, I'm so tired I'm loosing my focus.
So far so good. Four more pages done. What with one thing and another I was up past midnight getting them down, but they're done. Here's hoping my lack of sleep doesn't shorten my patience -- my daughter is slated to clean her room this morning. What doesn't break us makes us stronger, right? Right?? Anyway, I see I've had visitors. *waves hello* So now I guess I'd better stay serious about this new strategy of mine. Nothing like success to keep things real! And on that note, I'll set my goal today to...hmm...hey, yeah, let's amp it up a bit, six pages. It's 8:40 in the morning, plenty of time to get it done. Hah. I'm slightly concerned about one of my subplots; I haven't been able to figure out how to resolve it and I keep wondering if it should even be there. I've sort of tied it into the main storyline, but I'm very unsatisfied with the way I'm handling it and I suspect it's cluttering up the story. I guess when I'm done and finally give the draft a read I'll find out. So I was at 50. Subtract 4. 46 plus my daily 2 pages equals 48. If, no, when I accomplish my goal of 6 pages today that'll bring me down to 42. Progress is being made.
That's what I think I'll use this blog for. I have a paper journal and I keep track of my writing progress there, but since I'm the only person reading it it's not really...official, I guess. Here, there's a chance (however remote) that someone else might see and notice my progress. It's more or less public. As might be guessed, accountability is an issue with me. From what I've read, I'm not alone in that. Writers have all sorts of colorful ways of describing the pain of actually writing; one coined the phrase 'page fright'. Then there are the few who apparently have no trouble putting their thoughts on the page, who in fact enjoy the process, and wonder what all the drama is about. I suppose I fall somewhere in between the two. I don't experience fear or pain when I contemplate writing. Or not exactly. Just trepidation. Which leads to procrastination, most usually. I've recognized this in myself and I've come up with a system. (I'm a great one for systems. Follow-through, not so much). I've committed myself to two pages a day, every day. That's been since the end of November 2009. It's been a fairly rocky road, with the result that I'm now fifty pages in the hole. I'm not going to give up. I figure, if I can do three or four pages a day instead of just two, I can knock out the fifty in a month or two. That's not so bad. So far, I average about one page per half hour. Surely I can carve out two hours for writing, she says optimistically. On the weekends, at least. And thus, today, my goal is four pages. You be my witness.