Monthly Update 02 - October 2016

Hello lovely cupcakes! Here is my second monthly update, and I have to tell you I threw half my goals over board during this month.
As some of you may know I started working 40 hours a week and I am currently not only physical but also mentally exhausted. I am happy with my life, I manage to hit my writing goal of 200 words for Project A most days, but yet I did not get as much done as I wished I would be able to do.

I am proud of having written more than 18.000 words for Project A so far, for I normally quit after less than half that number. And I did fill some of the major plot holes ( I wonder, though, why plotting A always makes me end up finding new things for the sequel. Gosh brain, concentrate on one thing first!), so I am still proud of what I did this month.

Figuring out how I can use the short amount of free time during work weeks has been a real challenge, but I changed my way of using to do lists and found a new way of motivating myself, so I am quite positive that I am on a good path and as soon as work is turning into a routine I hope to become even more productive.

Today, for the first time in what felt like forever I had time to take my dog for a walk in the forest, I love this time of year, every falling leave speaks bliss to me - as Emily Bronte once said. And of course I came home with a new poem and a new idea. But lately an old enemy has reappeared in my writing life: Self doubt. I read in an online article about the traits of successful writers, that one has to shove self doubt aside until the work is finished and then allow critique to make it better. But I am struggling with self doubt. Is my writing good enough? Am I getting better at it at all? Shouldn't I just quit because there is no way in life I can finish this project anyway?

I am determined to push through. I am determined to finish this novel, but I haven't really found a way to deal with self doubt, except of course to ignore it. Have you encountered this problem? What did you do? I would love to hear your tips, or maybe your problems, down below in the comments. (If you do not wish to comment you can send me an anon message here.)

So what am I planning to set as goals for the new month? It is November and in an insane moment I signed up for Nanowrimo. Yes, the girl that can't even write 200 words each day is now trying to write 50.000 words in one month. Truth be told I already have a list of scenes I can work on for Project A, so I should be set for the first few weeks... I do not know how I will combine it with my already busy schedule (I have two weekends of travelling ahead of me next month) but I do not wish to complain. Nano is a great chance to motivate me, to force myself to write every day. Because let us face it if I do not glue my but to my chair I may never finish this thing. And I cannot let self doubt win, can I? This book is important to me, though many people in real life don't think I will ever finish it. I can prove them wrong. I can do this somehow.

And if not, well then at least I tried. And being a part of something is always more important than winning, right? Have you joined NANO yet? Have you done before? Tips or questions? Leave them down below or in my askbox. And together we may survive November ;)

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." 

- Scott Adams

Love what you do, promote what you love!

M

Discipline and Motivation

One of the biggest problems I encountered with writing has - and probably will always be - my own motivation. New things make me always so excited, and it is easy to plot and work on a new project for hours. But writing is about more than just the few early days of excitement, the promising empty first page, and the smell of a new story.
Writing is about sticking to it. You have to continue to type away until you are done with the story, until the first 80.000 words are written. Because if you stop before that mark, you will never finish it.
I often lose motivation as soon as a new shiny idea appears in my head. So how does one stay motivated and continue to work on a project until it is finished?

Good question. I yet have to figure it out myself. Something that really worked for me this month is the word count. I kept my daily dose of words very small. I can reach it within 10 minutes of concentrated work. That means if I have a good day I can write more than the goal intends for me and be happy and proud afterwards. If a day isn't that good I can try to at least reach that small goal and am not discouraged at day's end. Every word brings me closer to that final number.

Having three different projects in three different stages does help in some way, too. If I do not feel like researching for one of the projects or spending hours trying to figure out a problem with the plot I can take a free day from that one project that bothers me and concentrate on one of the other two. That way I can stay productive and clear my head to start working on the first project with more concentration and energy.

Early this month, on the 4th to be more precisely, I started working at a new place and that was a huge step for me because now school is over and adult life with all its responsibilities begins. That caused some changes in my daily chores. I leave the house at 6.15 am and get back at 7.15 am, even later when I have swimming practice, and I am exhausted. Always so exhausted. That of course left me with no time to write at all. My brain just felt empty in the evenings and the first week left me without a single word written. So what did I do?

I went back to the word count. 200  words a day. Ten minutes. Nothing more. I asked myself why I can't write, because I am exhausted in the evening. But I am awake during the first half of the day and can still power through things. Naturally I cannot write during work. So I got up ten minutes earlier each day. 4.45 am. And I used those ten minutes to write. I wrote more than 200 words after a day and I found that two things happened because of that simple change in my habits.

Firstly: I manage to get my wordcount done. I am on a seven day streak now and the week felt a lot more productive through adding this ten minutes of writing. I am closer to my goal of finishing this book then I ever was to finishing something different to a short story then ever before.
Secondly: I feel better. I am more motivated when I can head out of the house already marking something off of my to do list. I did something. I achieved something. And the day has only just begun! Who knows what else will happen? I am happier. I feel better. Writing is my cure once again, and this time because I am disciplined enough to go through with it each and every day of the week.

"If I waited till I felt like writing, I'd never write at all." - Anne Tyler

How do you keep yourself motivated? Any tricks or treats after you hit a certain goal?

Love what you do, promote what you love!

M