Every week my blogging task is becoming harder and harder. I think I'm in a good steady state with my writing and I feel like I don't have a lot of new stuff to talk about... yet.
I like writing this blog because its good practice, it keeps me on a schedule, it forces me to come up with a new topic every week and because my adoring fans would be devastated if I missed the opportunity to blog... you know, both of 'em.
Last week I talked about how much my reading impacts my ability to write. I am happy to say that I am back into the reading swing of things and almost finished with a book in which I spent more than 2 months on page 50.
In addition to reading again, I set out with another plan of attack. I had set aside one night a week for writing. For me it was usually Wednesday nights. The entire night was devoted to writing and I did nothing else from the time my kids were in bed to the time I went to bed.
Of course there were a few problems with that. First, I was spending about the first 45 minutes to an hour going back over what I had written the week before to maintain my consistency. I didn't want my character to draw her bow in the scene I wrote tonight if she had already drawn her bow and was holding it in the week before.
The second issue I was having was that I felt like I was giving up all the other stuff I wanted to do just to write. I wanted to write, but I didn't want to sacrifice everything else I love doing in my free Mommy time. I thought back to a conversation a friend and I had about writing. He mentioned to me that he tried to stick to the 750 words a day challenge. So I decided to a little research.
Really the 750 words a day challenge is to get the juices flowing in the morning so you're ready for a day of writing awesomeness. But it can be used just to motivate people to getting some writing done everyday.
Since I don't have the luxury of getting to write as my full time job I thought maybe I can write 750 words a day in my book. I tested myself and 750 words took me about 45 minutes on a bad day. So many shoes on Facebook....
So I decided to commit myself to spending at least one hour every evening I am home to writing. Monday nights is for the blog and a girl has to get her floor hockey games in, but that leaves plenty of other nights in the week.
By doing it this way I found that I actually spend more time during the week writing, and I get a lot more down on paper. I'm also never going more than 2 days since the last time I wrote, so maintaining my continuity is a lot easier as well. I read the last few sentences and I'm off and running. The last thing I found is that since it really only takes me an hour to accomplish this goal, I get the writing done, then it's off to read my book or catch up on those TV shows I can't seem to break away from. I also feel less guilty when I need a night off and decide not to write because I'm only taking a extra day off, not a whole week. That was a slippery slope to never finishing my book.
So this decision has really worked out for me and hopefully it will help me get the manuscript finished up that much faster. I'm sure editing is going to a whole new adventure all its own!
On a side note, I have been hearing a lot from you guys in person or in other messages that you're enjoying the blog. The happiness I feel when I hear these things cannot be described in words. Please keep the comments and chats coming! It's really inspiring and motivating to hear what you guys have to say. I'm even more impressed that so many of you expressed interest in reading the book once its finished! I love talking about what I'm trying to do, this blog, and even your own writing experiences. I'm a very social learner and I love to hear what you've gone through. I am learning from people everyday and maybe I might be able to help you out as well!
Thanks so much for reading. :-)
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