New Blog!

No, I won’t be abandoning this one–don’t worry!

I was recently inspired to start a new blog tracking my writing progress. Whether that’s words written for my current WiP or a new one or even just working on an idea or outline, the goal is to keep me writing at least a few hundred words a day.

I got this idea from my other writing friend Corra McFeydon over at From the desk of a writer. She’s doing something similar: blogging each day to let others know about her word progress, whether that’s a novel, short story, poem, etc.

So, here’s my new blog, detailing my writing accomplishments every day–or every few days.

The Writing Saga

I’ll write a brief summary of what I wrote, the challenges I encountered and the amount of words written that day. It’s also a way to hold me publicly accountable…so if I post “zero” words for my update, you all can get on my case for it.  😛 I’m going to try and update this every other day or so for the indefinite future  in order to get me in the habit of writing on a regular basis. I’ll set it up as follows:

Words Written
Time Spent
Difficulties
Goal for Today

That’s pretty much it! I’ve a separate link over on the right side.  I hope you’ll follow me and perhaps even be encouraged to start one of your own. 🙂

Post-NaNo and All That Follows…

So, I’m just realizing that today is actually the start of December. 😛

November seriously went by faster than I could blink. It seems like it just started, and that I was preparing for NaNo and all the write-ins. Now it’s all over. I’m always a little sad at the end of NaNo–it’s something I look forward to for months and then it’s all over so quickly. But that’s always how it goes with anything you’re looking forward to–it comes and goes so quickly that you hardly realize what happened.

Anyway, now that NaNo is over and I’ve reached my 50K goal, there’s another one I have yet to meet: finishing the first draft. By January 1st.

It should be easy for me after last month, yet I always have an incredibly hard time continuing the writing spree after November 30th. The last two years I’ve failed miserably at this, always coming up with excuses as to why I couldn’t finish the draft. I can already feel the excuses attempting to materialize in the back of my head, but I’m doing my best to try and vanquish them before they take hold.

I believe the biggest obstacle I have throughout the year in writing is keeping myself motivated and accountable. So, a big favor to ask of my loyal readers–help keep me accountable. Ask how I’m doing writing-wise and if I refuse to answer, keep badgering me about it. I know writing is supposed to be a “solitary” profession–at least that’s what many say–but I thrive under people holding me accountable. If it’s left up to me, I guarantee I will fail. Every. Single. Time.

Perhaps I’m weak in that sense, or maybe I’m just more of a people person than I originally thought–or a combination of both. But it’s who I am, so I should embrace it 🙂

Anyway, I’m going to try and write at least 1K today. I’ll definitely let everyone know if I met that goal–or failed–tomorrow.

Project: Keep Writing

Of course you all know from some of my recent posts how I’m struggling through finishing my first draft. I know it’s because I’m making excuses, but I seem to have gotten stuck in some sort of sick cycle where the excuses just keep coming…

Anyway, while I was reading agent Nathan Bradford’s weekly publishing links, I was directed to a post by one of his clients, Jennifer Hubbard. What she said somehow finally broke the cycle of excuses: Just. Write.

That concept is something I keep failing to grasp. I’m always second guessing my plot and where my story is going, which is probably why it’s been nearly two years (more if you count the whole pre-planning stage) and it’s yet to see the words “The End” grace the page. And because of all the second guessing, I get frustrated with the book and avoid it.

For some reason, the ONLY time I’m able to take those simple words to heart is during NaNoWriMo. The rest of the year, I’m struggling to follow it.

It’s like there’s some psychological block that prevents me from continuing.

Anyway, I need to stop finding excuses. TODAY. 😛 So, starting next week, March 30, I will be working diligently on my novel. I’m making a word count goal for myself too–I must write at least 500 words every day.

I’m calling this Project Keep Writing. This is also an open invitation to any writer out there who also feels like they’ve stagnated in their first (or second or third) draft. Basically, it’s to get me (and anyone else) in the habit of writing EVERY DAY. Think of it like a variation on NaNo, only there’s no word or time limit. It’s basically to finish whatever project  you are working on (or whatever project you want to start), whether that’s the first draft of a novel or nonfiction book, editing a second or third draft, finishing a short story, or compiling a poem(Also for those of you who have a project idea but have yet to put the words on paper, here’s a way to finally start!)

Obviously this isn’t very strict on rules or guidelines, but I figure that even if one or two participate, it’s more likely for all of us to keep the habit up 🙂 It’s kind of like the whole strength in numbers thing and also a way to keep one another accountable. 🙂

There’s no time limit for this; it’s basically to keep up the habit of consistent writing. I’ve found that once I stop that habit (like when Dec. 1st rolls around at the end of NaNo), it’s much harder to start up again.

So, loyal blog readers, can you help me stay accountable? 🙂

Feel free to join me on this little project, too. I’m already looking forward to it!

Chrysanthemum Promise: Work in Progress

I’ve set up this blog to detail my progress through my novel, Chrysanthemum Promise. I’ll post pages detailing a summary, setting up research, rough chapter outlines, and character bios, as well as how I am progressing (or not progressing) each day. It’ll be interesting to see how much will change over time, as this is still fairly rough and only the first draft that I am working through. My goal through this blog is to help me stay accountable and keep writing or at least actively working on this every day until it gets published–for it WILL get published someday, whether that’s next year or when I’m 50 (which is 26 years away for me).

Thanks for following me on this journey. I’ll be updating more tomorrow; right now I’ve posted a brief summary page, tomorrow I’ll try and post a bit more detail on what the book is about or something along those lines.