Once upon a time my Dad told me he didn't make plans because things rarely, if ever, go as planned. Part of that was because he was an on-call corrections officer. Be that as it may, it is nevertheless a truism. Things get in the way, stuff comes up, life happens. I have had a bit of a hard time with writing for the last couple of years and it's been really hard to get back to where I was in terms of being comfortable and pumping out as much as I would like to be pumping out. I've had a lot of set backs and sometimes, in the past, when I thought I had overcome them, I would find myself back in a rut a few days later.
I have very high expectations of myself. I never stop striving to improve and be better than my best. As much as that is a very good trait, I think sometimes that it hurts and hampers me. Last night Amanda even told me that I need to allow myself to write crap. More importantly I need to allow others to see that 'crap' along with the 'good'.
A good, working support system is something that I need to find. My parents, as much as I love them, aren't going to really cut it anymore. My mother is terribly biased and my father is afraid to give advice because it seems every time he does, things don't turn out so well within a story. His words, not mine. I can't possibly continue to rely solely on Amanda. So perhaps a workshop? I could be ready for one.
Also, I need to quit holding myself back from writing. I've been afraid of it a little bit. I've kept telling myself that I can't write until I've researched this or that, until I know the layout of a house or the area that the characters live in. I'm stalling and poking about. I just need to do it. I already have the first chapter plotted out, time to get on with the show.
I think it is time to set some more manageable goals.
1. Write at least 1,500 words on a story, not on blogs, every day.
2. Work on setting up a workshop group.
3. Read at least 10-20 pages a day in any given book, but not let the reading take over writing time.
4. Actually write out the notes for my dragon story and my Kitsune story.
5. Spend at least ten minutes a day on vocabulary building.
I'm glad you've looked at your goals and set up some that are going to be manageable. I think that the reading will be easily accomplished since we are sort of doing a nightly reading before bed time, now the trick is to stop getting caught up in the details and just let the words flow. Take it from Julia Glass, write first and fact check later. Don't fall so in love with the research that you forget to actually write the story. <3 And, yes, a workshop group would be perfect!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about broaching the subject of a google hangout for a workshop. That way we could do it remotely in case of work/school/and location hindrances.
DeleteAs for details... I really do have to draw up the house and ground plans for point of reference for myself. Don't worry it won't take me too long... That is once I get a pencil and paper.
Those are great goals.And Amanda is right, sometimes you just have to write some crap. You never know what you will come up with when you just sit and write without bogging yourself down with research and all that fun stuff. And a workshop group is a good way to go, especially to see how others view your work - you just have to remember that there is always THE ONE that thinks they know everything. (I have one of those.)
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