Oh dear! The weeks have gotten away from me. I've been severely neglecting this blog, and A Round of Words in general for the past month. I could blame it on finals and spending time with my family and starting my new job, but really, when isn't there something happening in my life to distract me?
As for my goals, I'm about half-way to where I want to be with Zombies!!, plus today I had a bit of a plot break-through, so I may be able to pull this one out. I'm totally stalled on 101, though. Just...completely stuck. I'm going to let it sit for a while, maybe all summer, and see if I can get into it again. I still really love the idea, I'm just not sure where it wants to go.
Instead of dwelling on all the slacking I've been doing, I will share with you what I HAVE been doing in the scant amount of downtime I've had between finishing school and starting work.
I read the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy, and I might summon a blog post about that soon, but suffice to say I enjoyed it and I'm waiting for a friend of mine to finish book 3 so I can read it. I also have read Demetri Martin's new book This is a Book (and, actually, MET Demetri Martin at a book signing while I was at it). In the same vein, I'm currently reading Tina Fey's Bossypants, which is as hilarious as promised, and surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly) pointed and poignant. I just love her. I think I could write an entire blog devoted to my love of Tina Fey. I'll settle for writing up a post about her and probably Amy Poehler and Kristin Wiig and a dozen other hilarious ladies once I've seen Bridesmaids again.
Speaking of which, some good movies I've seen include the aforementioned Bridesmaids (seriously, this is a movie for all dudes and ladies who enjoy hilarity with a side of soul-crushing hopelessness topped off with a happy ending), Midnight in Paris (which is my first Woody Allen movie--for shame!), Hangover Part II (okay, yes, it is the first movie all over again, practically to a T, but damn if I didn't die laughing in the theater). I also went through most of Stanley Kubrick's stuff during reading week (because obviously, I wasn't studying, who does that?) and I have to say I absolutely loved Fullmetal Jacket and I am definitely adding that to my list of all-time favorite movies.
In other news, So You Think You Can Dance has finally started again! I honestly could not wait for this show to be back on the air and I'm so glad it is. Now if Weeds and True Blood would start again I'd be all set this summer...
Showing posts with label ROW80. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ROW80. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
ROW80 May 4 Check-in
Happy Star Wars Day everyone!
This week is "Dead Week" at school, also known as "RRR" week, which to me stands for Rest, Relaxation and Re-organize the sock drawer. It also means I have plenty of time for writing!
The downside is that I have not been utilizing that time, because I've become very invested in, erm, sleeping. Sleeping as much as humanly possible. It's actually becoming a bit of a problem. Getting up late really drastically affects both my mood and my productivity. It affects them negatively, is the thing. So, starting tomorrow I must go back to getting up before 10!
I have been writing almost every day, which is a plus, but I've only been churning out about 200-300 words a day, which is...decidedly not a plus. I figure if I just power through this rough patch, I can go back to writing up to 1200 words a day. I find trying to divide my time between three projects is a little taxing, so I'm planning to focus on Zombies!! until the semester ends.
Gahh! Even this blog post was kind of tough to crank out. I think they call it Dead Week because you just feel like a dead person. Or...dare I say it? Like the undead. End-of-the-semester zombie-ism. Hopefully I can get past it.
EDIT: After writing this post, and after a brief English final review with my favorite professor, I sat down and wrote...drumroll...1300 words! Here's to breaking through rough patches through sheer willpower. And lots and lots of iced tea.
This week is "Dead Week" at school, also known as "RRR" week, which to me stands for Rest, Relaxation and Re-organize the sock drawer. It also means I have plenty of time for writing!
The downside is that I have not been utilizing that time, because I've become very invested in, erm, sleeping. Sleeping as much as humanly possible. It's actually becoming a bit of a problem. Getting up late really drastically affects both my mood and my productivity. It affects them negatively, is the thing. So, starting tomorrow I must go back to getting up before 10!
I have been writing almost every day, which is a plus, but I've only been churning out about 200-300 words a day, which is...decidedly not a plus. I figure if I just power through this rough patch, I can go back to writing up to 1200 words a day. I find trying to divide my time between three projects is a little taxing, so I'm planning to focus on Zombies!! until the semester ends.
Gahh! Even this blog post was kind of tough to crank out. I think they call it Dead Week because you just feel like a dead person. Or...dare I say it? Like the undead. End-of-the-semester zombie-ism. Hopefully I can get past it.
EDIT: After writing this post, and after a brief English final review with my favorite professor, I sat down and wrote...drumroll...1300 words! Here's to breaking through rough patches through sheer willpower. And lots and lots of iced tea.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
ROW80 May 1 Check-in
Oh man oh man I missed the last check-in! That was only because I was enjoying delicious food and wine in San Francisco though, so I figure it's okay.
My semester is wrapping up so I've been ostensibly busy with writing papers and studying for finals and things, but I've done pretty well this week. If I can write another thousand words by the end of today I'll have met my word goal (5,000 words a week.)
Zombies!! has been going, but at a more plodding pace than before. It turns out I am really, really rusty writing action scenes, and I've basically had to slog through like two and half chapters of action the past few weeks. Pretty much done with that chunk though.
I haven't made any progress on 101 this week, but I do have a new project to work on! It's another short story, and I am writing it for the recently announced Machine of Death volume 2! Hurrah! If you aren't familiar with the original Machine of Death anthology, I suggest you get familiar. It's a collection of short stories all based on a concept that spawned from one of my absolute favorite webcomics. I am definitely not missing a chance to submit to volume 2! I hope to be done with the first draft of the story by the end of the month so I will be ready to submit it by the deadline, which is July 15. It means I'm adding a little to my RoW80 goals, but I think I can manage.
Well, until next time, go check out some of the other RoW80 people or go take a look at my A Picture a Day project on tumblr.
My semester is wrapping up so I've been ostensibly busy with writing papers and studying for finals and things, but I've done pretty well this week. If I can write another thousand words by the end of today I'll have met my word goal (5,000 words a week.)
Zombies!! has been going, but at a more plodding pace than before. It turns out I am really, really rusty writing action scenes, and I've basically had to slog through like two and half chapters of action the past few weeks. Pretty much done with that chunk though.
I haven't made any progress on 101 this week, but I do have a new project to work on! It's another short story, and I am writing it for the recently announced Machine of Death volume 2! Hurrah! If you aren't familiar with the original Machine of Death anthology, I suggest you get familiar. It's a collection of short stories all based on a concept that spawned from one of my absolute favorite webcomics. I am definitely not missing a chance to submit to volume 2! I hope to be done with the first draft of the story by the end of the month so I will be ready to submit it by the deadline, which is July 15. It means I'm adding a little to my RoW80 goals, but I think I can manage.
Well, until next time, go check out some of the other RoW80 people or go take a look at my A Picture a Day project on tumblr.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
ROW80 April 24 Check-in
Holy smokes, it's nearly been a month of this crazy ROW80 life!
Since I don't particularly feel like complaining how I've only written 200 words this week, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about all the wonderful things I feel ROW80 has brought me. Even if this particular week wasn't particularly productive in terms of the actual challenge, I do think it's a good example of how ROW80 has extended its influence into all parts of my life.
Truthfully folks, and this is brings me a bit of shame to admit, I haven't really Been a Writer in a number of years. That is to say, I haven't regularly written/revised/brainstormed/etc. for any period longer than a couple of weeks since I was about fourteen. I guess I can blame this on high school or something, but there are plenty of people out there who maintain full-time jobs and write routinely, so I think it's a failing of my own character for the past few years.
So now that I'm starting the process of writing routinely again, I've noticed a few things. The first of which is that it makes me happy. Really, truly happy. I don't just limit this to good days of writing, either. Obviously a day where I can sit down and mash out 2,000 words in two hours is going to be a good day. But there's a much more long-term effect going on. I feel productive. I feel like a person who is contributing to the world in some way, even though so far I'm the only one reading the crazy things I write. I feel like an interesting person. I feel more engaged with other people. All of these "side-effects" may not come as a surprise to you, but they did surprise me.
So, while my ROW80 goals may have fallen by the wayside this week, I do not feel that I have failed myself in any way. I'm finishing up my semester. I'm making awesome plans for the summer (see post below on how I scored a paid internship in LA!) I feel like I've got a handle on life in a way that I haven't before. I'm attributing this, in part, to ROW80 for encouraging me to have goals and make plans and stop just waiting around for things to happen. When I'm writing, I'm making things happen and asserting my control in this weird, fictional universe, but I think it's bleeding over into my actual universe. In the best possible way.
Since I don't particularly feel like complaining how I've only written 200 words this week, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about all the wonderful things I feel ROW80 has brought me. Even if this particular week wasn't particularly productive in terms of the actual challenge, I do think it's a good example of how ROW80 has extended its influence into all parts of my life.
Truthfully folks, and this is brings me a bit of shame to admit, I haven't really Been a Writer in a number of years. That is to say, I haven't regularly written/revised/brainstormed/etc. for any period longer than a couple of weeks since I was about fourteen. I guess I can blame this on high school or something, but there are plenty of people out there who maintain full-time jobs and write routinely, so I think it's a failing of my own character for the past few years.
So now that I'm starting the process of writing routinely again, I've noticed a few things. The first of which is that it makes me happy. Really, truly happy. I don't just limit this to good days of writing, either. Obviously a day where I can sit down and mash out 2,000 words in two hours is going to be a good day. But there's a much more long-term effect going on. I feel productive. I feel like a person who is contributing to the world in some way, even though so far I'm the only one reading the crazy things I write. I feel like an interesting person. I feel more engaged with other people. All of these "side-effects" may not come as a surprise to you, but they did surprise me.
So, while my ROW80 goals may have fallen by the wayside this week, I do not feel that I have failed myself in any way. I'm finishing up my semester. I'm making awesome plans for the summer (see post below on how I scored a paid internship in LA!) I feel like I've got a handle on life in a way that I haven't before. I'm attributing this, in part, to ROW80 for encouraging me to have goals and make plans and stop just waiting around for things to happen. When I'm writing, I'm making things happen and asserting my control in this weird, fictional universe, but I think it's bleeding over into my actual universe. In the best possible way.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
ROW80 April 20 Check-in
Well...I more or less managed to get nothing done so far this week. I've been caught up in a flurry of cover letters, resumes, phone-interviews and bouts of anxiety as I try to secure a internship in Los Angeles for the summer. A summer that is creeping up on me quicker than I expected! I honestly can't believe my freshman year of college is almost over, but I suppose that's for another post.
In any case, I can't quite get away with saying I did nothing on my ROW80 stuff this week, because I am still faithfully taking pictures every day (although I was sadly without my camera for one of the best moments of today--catching a squirrel red-handed as he snuck into the open window of a parked car!) Additionally, I got a lot done Sunday, which according to the way we Americans read the calendar, is the beginning of the week. So THERE. In fact, I wrote over 2,000 words on Sunday alone, and got some more out of 101. I'm starting to see the broader picture of that story. Maybe. I also tried out a new coffee shop to write with. I'm not sure it was an entirely positive experience, but perhaps one day I might go back.
Anyway, I realize it's been a while since I actually linked the ROW80 website, so here it is. Go give those guys some encouragement instead of this failure!
In any case, I can't quite get away with saying I did nothing on my ROW80 stuff this week, because I am still faithfully taking pictures every day (although I was sadly without my camera for one of the best moments of today--catching a squirrel red-handed as he snuck into the open window of a parked car!) Additionally, I got a lot done Sunday, which according to the way we Americans read the calendar, is the beginning of the week. So THERE. In fact, I wrote over 2,000 words on Sunday alone, and got some more out of 101. I'm starting to see the broader picture of that story. Maybe. I also tried out a new coffee shop to write with. I'm not sure it was an entirely positive experience, but perhaps one day I might go back.
Anyway, I realize it's been a while since I actually linked the ROW80 website, so here it is. Go give those guys some encouragement instead of this failure!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
ROW80 April 17 Check-in
Good, good week! I got to see one of my favorite bands play on campus yesterday which was extremely fun and wonderful. If you've never heard them, you should definitely check out The Dodos. My favorite song is Red and Purple, but pretty much all of their songs are winners. Horny Hippies is also good. (I have gotten a lot of really good music lately and I think it's contributed somewhat to the excellent writing sessions I've been having.)
As for writing, things are still going well with Zombies!!, but can't say the same for 101, which is officially on the back-burner as of right now. I had to devote a lot of time to applying for internships in LA for the summer this week, but despite that I managed to surpass my word goal for the week!
I actually wrote the most words last night, which was a surprise in a bunch of different ways. For one thing, I'd already accomplished my word goal for the week. For another, I had not planned on writing at all, in any way. I was just sitting at my computer (welcome to the world of my exciting Saturday nights) and suddenly felt ready to write the next scene. So I did. (To the excellent soundtrack of Sleigh Bells' Treats .) And I managed to do that thing where I leave off in a place I'll be excited to pick up at next time I sit down. I rarely accomplish this because my instinct is just to keep writing until I don't have anything left. But I happened to get interrupted last night so...hooray for interruptions? I guess they can be a good thing every now and again!
As for writing, things are still going well with Zombies!!, but can't say the same for 101, which is officially on the back-burner as of right now. I had to devote a lot of time to applying for internships in LA for the summer this week, but despite that I managed to surpass my word goal for the week!
I actually wrote the most words last night, which was a surprise in a bunch of different ways. For one thing, I'd already accomplished my word goal for the week. For another, I had not planned on writing at all, in any way. I was just sitting at my computer (welcome to the world of my exciting Saturday nights) and suddenly felt ready to write the next scene. So I did. (To the excellent soundtrack of Sleigh Bells' Treats .) And I managed to do that thing where I leave off in a place I'll be excited to pick up at next time I sit down. I rarely accomplish this because my instinct is just to keep writing until I don't have anything left. But I happened to get interrupted last night so...hooray for interruptions? I guess they can be a good thing every now and again!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
ROW80 April 13 Check-in
Today is a beautiful day!
I don't know if it's ROW80, the fact that it really feels like spring (finally!) or just all the coffee I've been drinking, but I am in the best spirits I think I've been in since the beginning of the semester. I am wearing adorable outfits, waking up early (well today not included), and just generally feeling like I am kicking ass and taking names. So that's all very nice.
This week in Zombies!!
I have already written a combined 4,000 words on Zombies!! and it's only Wednesday. I even took yesterday off from writing so I could trek out to SF to visit my cousin. Although I guess I didn't technically take the day off entirely because I did scribble out a skeleton of a scene while I was on BART. That then became the scene I'm currently entrenched in today. I'm hoping after I take care of a few dumb school things I can finish off that scene and maybe even reach my weekly word goal today!
Does that mean I'll be taking off the rest of the week? No, but I might have to take it easy with writing because I do have two papers due next week, so I imagine a big chunk of my weekend will have to be devoted for that, so it's just wonderful luck that I'm doing so well on word goals this week. I didn't even plan it or anything.
There is still no new progress on 101. I'm reading The Road right now though (as well as Their Eyes Were Watching God -- for the second time this year -- for English) and I'm hoping this will spark something for me for my short story. The Road doesn't have too much in common with my short story, but somehow they seem linked in my mind so we'll see.
I am hoping to post something on this blog that is not just ROW80 check-in business. Might not happen this week (because of aforementioned papers) but we'll see.
I don't know if it's ROW80, the fact that it really feels like spring (finally!) or just all the coffee I've been drinking, but I am in the best spirits I think I've been in since the beginning of the semester. I am wearing adorable outfits, waking up early (well today not included), and just generally feeling like I am kicking ass and taking names. So that's all very nice.
This week in Zombies!!
I have already written a combined 4,000 words on Zombies!! and it's only Wednesday. I even took yesterday off from writing so I could trek out to SF to visit my cousin. Although I guess I didn't technically take the day off entirely because I did scribble out a skeleton of a scene while I was on BART. That then became the scene I'm currently entrenched in today. I'm hoping after I take care of a few dumb school things I can finish off that scene and maybe even reach my weekly word goal today!
Does that mean I'll be taking off the rest of the week? No, but I might have to take it easy with writing because I do have two papers due next week, so I imagine a big chunk of my weekend will have to be devoted for that, so it's just wonderful luck that I'm doing so well on word goals this week. I didn't even plan it or anything.
There is still no new progress on 101. I'm reading The Road right now though (as well as Their Eyes Were Watching God -- for the second time this year -- for English) and I'm hoping this will spark something for me for my short story. The Road doesn't have too much in common with my short story, but somehow they seem linked in my mind so we'll see.
I am hoping to post something on this blog that is not just ROW80 check-in business. Might not happen this week (because of aforementioned papers) but we'll see.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
ROW80 April 10 Check-in
Official Round of Words in 80 Days site.
So not a lot has happened since the last check-in, except I decided to re-orient how I do these check-in things. Rather than go day by day, which invariably results in some pretty boring commentary about my day-to-day life, I'd rather just talk about how each of my projects is going between check-ins. Cool? Cool.
To recap, these projects include:
1. Zombies!! Full-length novel. The plan is to complete 50,000 words of the manuscript by the end of ROW80
2. 101 short-story. The plan is to have this first draft finished by the end of ROW80
3. Write 5,000 words total each week, split up however I want between these two projects.
4. Take a picture every day!
Zombies!!: So, things have been progressing nicely for Zombies!! and I think the entirety of my word count total for this week came from that (which says something about how short-story writing is going for my perennially short-story-phobic brain, but more on that later). I am currently 9,000 words into the manuscript, although I should provide a little bit of a caveat to that number and say that around half of that was written before ROW80 even started, and that most of these 9,000 words are essentially 2nd, 3rd or even 4th drafts of things I have already written in the past. There are a few areas where I have literally just lifted passages of texts that existed in earlier incarnations of this project. So the numbers for this first section are a bit misleading, but even taking that into account, this is going smoothly. Since last check-in, I have added a total of 3,100 words to the manuscript, although like I mentioned before some of that was technically written before. I am just getting to the point where I can move beyond where previous “drafts” of this have left off, so that’s quite exciting.
101: Now that this project is no longer a shiny new idea, I have started to realize that, oh, okay, I need to actually be getting at something with this, and so far I just haven’t hit upon what that is. So this project has been a little stagnant this week, but I haven’t lost hope or interest. I feel like I just need to wait and be patient to figure out what is tying this thing together. So far it stands at a loopy, disjointed 1,500 words.
Pic-A-Day: My picture-diary project is going swimmingly. I have held true this week and taken (at least) one picture every day, including a bunch of this nice drive I took with some friends last Sunday (technically before ROW80 started I guess but oh well!) Pictures can be perused on my Tumblr. They’re kind of mixed in with some other silly things, most of which have very little to do with my actual life, so there’s an interesting juxtaposition there.
Before I go try to tackle today’s writing session, I just want to quickly thank any and all of you fellow-ROWers (and any non ROWers) who have stumbled onto this little blog. Thanks for giving me a read, and thanks to everyone who has popped in to give me words of encouragement! I am trying to be a little more open about reaching out to people in this crazy world, and that includes internet-people too! So I may be stopping by some other ROW blogs and I might just leave a comment or two.
So not a lot has happened since the last check-in, except I decided to re-orient how I do these check-in things. Rather than go day by day, which invariably results in some pretty boring commentary about my day-to-day life, I'd rather just talk about how each of my projects is going between check-ins. Cool? Cool.
To recap, these projects include:
1. Zombies!! Full-length novel. The plan is to complete 50,000 words of the manuscript by the end of ROW80
2. 101 short-story. The plan is to have this first draft finished by the end of ROW80
3. Write 5,000 words total each week, split up however I want between these two projects.
4. Take a picture every day!
Zombies!!: So, things have been progressing nicely for Zombies!! and I think the entirety of my word count total for this week came from that (which says something about how short-story writing is going for my perennially short-story-phobic brain, but more on that later). I am currently 9,000 words into the manuscript, although I should provide a little bit of a caveat to that number and say that around half of that was written before ROW80 even started, and that most of these 9,000 words are essentially 2nd, 3rd or even 4th drafts of things I have already written in the past. There are a few areas where I have literally just lifted passages of texts that existed in earlier incarnations of this project. So the numbers for this first section are a bit misleading, but even taking that into account, this is going smoothly. Since last check-in, I have added a total of 3,100 words to the manuscript, although like I mentioned before some of that was technically written before. I am just getting to the point where I can move beyond where previous “drafts” of this have left off, so that’s quite exciting.
101: Now that this project is no longer a shiny new idea, I have started to realize that, oh, okay, I need to actually be getting at something with this, and so far I just haven’t hit upon what that is. So this project has been a little stagnant this week, but I haven’t lost hope or interest. I feel like I just need to wait and be patient to figure out what is tying this thing together. So far it stands at a loopy, disjointed 1,500 words.
Pic-A-Day: My picture-diary project is going swimmingly. I have held true this week and taken (at least) one picture every day, including a bunch of this nice drive I took with some friends last Sunday (technically before ROW80 started I guess but oh well!) Pictures can be perused on my Tumblr. They’re kind of mixed in with some other silly things, most of which have very little to do with my actual life, so there’s an interesting juxtaposition there.
Before I go try to tackle today’s writing session, I just want to quickly thank any and all of you fellow-ROWers (and any non ROWers) who have stumbled onto this little blog. Thanks for giving me a read, and thanks to everyone who has popped in to give me words of encouragement! I am trying to be a little more open about reaching out to people in this crazy world, and that includes internet-people too! So I may be stopping by some other ROW blogs and I might just leave a comment or two.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
ROW80 April 6 check-in
Well, the time has arrived for my first official Round of Words in 80 Days check in!
I actually slightly changed my goals since my first post on Thursday. I got a little more ambitious, what can I say?
So to recap, my goals are:
1. Work on short-story (working title: "101")
2. Write first 50,000* words of full length novel Zombies!!
3. Write at least 5,000** words per week
4. Take a picture every day!
*this used to be 25,000 words
**this used to be 2,100 words
Monday -- So, I have to admit I got very excited after officially signing up on Thursday. I started writing stuff before the official start date. Which was good because I didn't get a whole lot done on Monday since I had a psych test the next morning. I did manage to get some writing done in the hour I had between English and my study date (at Cafe Strada, of course. I may have to dedicate an entire blog post about Cafe Strada soon, but just trust me, it's....it's magical) so that's good! I do not have an actual word count on what I got done Monday, because I am atrociously bad at keeping track of word counts. More on that later.
Tuesday -- My amazing roommate's 19th birthday was Tuesday so I had to spend a good amount of time taking care of IMPORTANT BIRTHDAY THINGS, but in the evening she had to get some work done, so I made her go to Strada with me where I spent 90 minutes happily pounding out the end of Chapter 3 of Zombies!! I also had time to transcribe the notes I'd jotted down for 101 during lunch.
Wednesday -- This is today. I've just sat down to write in the library. Probably could have spent the afternoon being more productive, but I really want to finish Breakfast of Champions before my dad sends me my copy of The Road so I spent a moderate amount of time reading (and napping).
Total word-counts since last check-in:
1. 101: 500 words
2. Zombies!!: 685
So far so good!
I actually slightly changed my goals since my first post on Thursday. I got a little more ambitious, what can I say?
So to recap, my goals are:
1. Work on short-story (working title: "101")
2. Write first 50,000* words of full length novel Zombies!!
3. Write at least 5,000** words per week
4. Take a picture every day!
*this used to be 25,000 words
**this used to be 2,100 words
Monday -- So, I have to admit I got very excited after officially signing up on Thursday. I started writing stuff before the official start date. Which was good because I didn't get a whole lot done on Monday since I had a psych test the next morning. I did manage to get some writing done in the hour I had between English and my study date (at Cafe Strada, of course. I may have to dedicate an entire blog post about Cafe Strada soon, but just trust me, it's....it's magical) so that's good! I do not have an actual word count on what I got done Monday, because I am atrociously bad at keeping track of word counts. More on that later.
Tuesday -- My amazing roommate's 19th birthday was Tuesday so I had to spend a good amount of time taking care of IMPORTANT BIRTHDAY THINGS, but in the evening she had to get some work done, so I made her go to Strada with me where I spent 90 minutes happily pounding out the end of Chapter 3 of Zombies!! I also had time to transcribe the notes I'd jotted down for 101 during lunch.
Wednesday -- This is today. I've just sat down to write in the library. Probably could have spent the afternoon being more productive, but I really want to finish Breakfast of Champions before my dad sends me my copy of The Road so I spent a moderate amount of time reading (and napping).
Total word-counts since last check-in:
1. 101: 500 words
2. Zombies!!: 685
So far so good!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
A Round of Words: Goals
Hello, non-existent blog followers! It has been quite a while since I posed, but rest assured nothing monumental has happened since my last post. At least not to me.
But this coming month is the Round of Words in 80 Days challenge. I found out about this (earlier today...like an hour ago) from Claire Legrand's blog.
I do not know Claire Legrand, but I'm sure she will be thrilled to have her blog linked to and read by my multitudes of followers. Anyway that post kind of explains the whole idea about Round of Words in 80 Days (hereby referred to as ROW80) so I won't get into it in too much detail here. I will just say that I like the idea of it, because it is flexible and because it is personal. I have done NaNoWriMo in the past, and as a college student I'm just sadly not equipped with enough time to attempt it again anytime in the near future. But ROW80 is perfect, because I get to set my own goals and decide what I want to accomplish.
The only caveat to that is that I am meant to check in on my blog (here) every Wednesday and Sunday. This is good, because it means I will be utilizing this blog more often, which I should be anyway.
So, I guess now would be a good time to outline my goals for ROW80. I have done my best to keep them realistic, because I am in college and I do have about 4 more papers, not to mention finals, to contend with as well.
ROW80 Round 2 Goals:
1. Write (yet to be titled) short-story.
2. Write (at least) first 50,000 words of 1st draft of novel (also yet to be titled, affectionately referred to from here on out as Zombies!!. With two exclamation marks.
3. Not a separate goal, but to facilitate #s one and 2, I will set a weekly word goal of 5,00 words. This is just about 700 words a day (a little more), but I don't yet have to discipline to write every single day, so a weekly word count makes more sense for me. If I'm planning to write a short story of about 7,000 words (#1) and 50,000 words of novel (#2) then this works out perfectly. I have already written about 4,000 words of the novel. Just to make the parameters absolutely clear, the weekly/daily word count WILL count words written during planning/outlining stages. Mostly this just affects the short story, since I am almost nearly done with my outline for the novel.
4. Not technically a word challenge, but something I have wanted to start doing: take a picture every day. Of anything. Post said pictures to tumblr, facebook, etc.
So there you have it. My first ROW80 goals. I will be back in a week (Wednesday) to check in on how it's going. (ROW80 starts April 4 and runs until June 23.)
But this coming month is the Round of Words in 80 Days challenge. I found out about this (earlier today...like an hour ago) from Claire Legrand's blog.
I do not know Claire Legrand, but I'm sure she will be thrilled to have her blog linked to and read by my multitudes of followers. Anyway that post kind of explains the whole idea about Round of Words in 80 Days (hereby referred to as ROW80) so I won't get into it in too much detail here. I will just say that I like the idea of it, because it is flexible and because it is personal. I have done NaNoWriMo in the past, and as a college student I'm just sadly not equipped with enough time to attempt it again anytime in the near future. But ROW80 is perfect, because I get to set my own goals and decide what I want to accomplish.
The only caveat to that is that I am meant to check in on my blog (here) every Wednesday and Sunday. This is good, because it means I will be utilizing this blog more often, which I should be anyway.
So, I guess now would be a good time to outline my goals for ROW80. I have done my best to keep them realistic, because I am in college and I do have about 4 more papers, not to mention finals, to contend with as well.
ROW80 Round 2 Goals:
1. Write (yet to be titled) short-story.
2. Write (at least) first 50,000 words of 1st draft of novel (also yet to be titled, affectionately referred to from here on out as Zombies!!. With two exclamation marks.
3. Not a separate goal, but to facilitate #s one and 2, I will set a weekly word goal of 5,00 words. This is just about 700 words a day (a little more), but I don't yet have to discipline to write every single day, so a weekly word count makes more sense for me. If I'm planning to write a short story of about 7,000 words (#1) and 50,000 words of novel (#2) then this works out perfectly. I have already written about 4,000 words of the novel. Just to make the parameters absolutely clear, the weekly/daily word count WILL count words written during planning/outlining stages. Mostly this just affects the short story, since I am almost nearly done with my outline for the novel.
4. Not technically a word challenge, but something I have wanted to start doing: take a picture every day. Of anything. Post said pictures to tumblr, facebook, etc.
So there you have it. My first ROW80 goals. I will be back in a week (Wednesday) to check in on how it's going. (ROW80 starts April 4 and runs until June 23.)
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