It's time to start a new week. Last week was pretty good, but not great. Some goals were met while others were completely ignored. We saw two movies, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "Transcendence." They were both okay. Just okay. One you had to think, so be well rested before you go, and the other you could just leave your brain at the door. I'll bet you can guess which is which.
Starting with the good, I managed to write everyday, staying above 300 words a day with a daily high of 517 words. All total, I managed to get 2479 words down last week. It seems that 300 is my fallback goal when I'm busy or tired and the world is falling apart around me, or if I'm just falling asleep at the keys. That minimum needs to move up at least fifty words a day. It's something that I think can be managed, so that's the new daily goal. Starting now.
Moving from the good to some not so good, let's talk about my short story in progress. Two weeks ago I made a run at getting it ready to head out into the wild, only to fall flat on my face. So, of course, I took the whole of last week off from even looking at the thing. That needs to change this week. As bad as the editing is hated, the story needs it, and it needs to get out of the house. So, I'll take another run at it this week and maybe even decide on a title. What's a story without a name after all.
On a positive note, I moved up a level on The Magic Spreadsheet this past week. I now stand at level 8 which is something that I'm pumped on! That means that my daily word count goal is up to 600 according to the spreadsheet. That's a goal that I may never reach, by the way. It's a good thing that only 250 is needed to keep the chain alive which is the most important thing to me. That's why I always get at least 300. There's just something about getting at least one level up from the minimum that makes me happy. <:-) 350 this week though, so look out Magic Spreadsheet, I'm picking up some extra points starting tonight.
I hope everyone out there has a great week. Don't forget to get your writing done. Every day if possible and look me up on Twitter @curt_mercer. See you there!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Editing Deadline Not Met
It was a little over a week ago that I set a deadline for myself. The plan was to have a short story that I've been working on edited and ready to head out the door by Monday. It was a deadline that I failed to meet. At the end of the day, figuratively speaking, I'll chalk it up to another lesson learned.
-What I did wrong.
The biggest thing I can think of that I did wrong was not thinking enough about what I had to do. Not only what I had to do pertaining to the editing, but also what I had to do pertaining to the rest of my life. We all know that editing is a time consuming beast, but I thought that given a week, I could make myself make time to get the work done. I was obviously wrong.
It's hard to edit when you're traveling, away from you're computer or working, again away from you're computer. The fact is that if I would have thought about it a little more, I probably would have known that having that story ready was a tall order.
-What I did right.
I set a deadline for myself. Sure, I didn't make it, but as a writer, I need to get used to working under time constraints. Setting deadlines for myself and working toward them will help me deal with real deadlines when I get them.
I also did some editing. Probably way more than I would have done without the deadline. Even though I failed to meet the target, the work that got done, got done! So I'm that much closer to meeting my next deadline, even though I don't know exactly when that will be.
When I do know, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I'll keep on writing and editing and if that story gets done before another deadline gets set, then so be it. I'm outta here for now, so until next time, keep on writing and I'll be here doing the same. Later!
-What I did wrong.
The biggest thing I can think of that I did wrong was not thinking enough about what I had to do. Not only what I had to do pertaining to the editing, but also what I had to do pertaining to the rest of my life. We all know that editing is a time consuming beast, but I thought that given a week, I could make myself make time to get the work done. I was obviously wrong.
It's hard to edit when you're traveling, away from you're computer or working, again away from you're computer. The fact is that if I would have thought about it a little more, I probably would have known that having that story ready was a tall order.
-What I did right.
I set a deadline for myself. Sure, I didn't make it, but as a writer, I need to get used to working under time constraints. Setting deadlines for myself and working toward them will help me deal with real deadlines when I get them.
I also did some editing. Probably way more than I would have done without the deadline. Even though I failed to meet the target, the work that got done, got done! So I'm that much closer to meeting my next deadline, even though I don't know exactly when that will be.
When I do know, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I'll keep on writing and editing and if that story gets done before another deadline gets set, then so be it. I'm outta here for now, so until next time, keep on writing and I'll be here doing the same. Later!
Monday, April 14, 2014
The Time Problem
The one thing you always hear people say when talking about writing, is that they just don't have the time to do it. I understand this sentiment very well. As a matter of fact, I fight against the time robbing gremlins on a daily basis. While I've managed to hold the writing time robbing gremlins off for a little over a year now, they are still keeping me from being from productive as I would like.
Last week I wrote at least 300 words a day, sometimes more, but at least 300 for a total of 2747 words. I'll admit that that's not a huge amount of writing for a week. Many people do that many words on the daily, but it doesn't appear that I will be there anytime in the near future. If you're one of those people, congrats and keep on pushing. You are an inspiration.
I lack that daily volume though. What I lack in daily volume, I try to make up with consistency. Writing everyday helps me not quit altogether. The part that sucks though, is that I don't have enough time to do the things that I know I should be doing in order to be successful. For example, there's this short story that really needs to go out. I've made a few editing passes and it's almost ready, but not quite. I blame my lack of time on that story not going out yet, but at the same time that's hard for me to accept. I know that I control my time, or my free time at least, and I know that I don't always use it wisely. That story should be done by now, but I have pushed it aside several times, put my daily words down and went to bed.
It's not like there aren't plans. There are plans aplenty. Almost everyday, while at work, I can't help but think that when I get home tonight I'm going to do write this or edit that. Ah, those are some grand plans, but anyway, life gets in the way as they say. There's always stuff to do at home and as any good general knows, even the best plans only last until the first shot is fired. So I get home, get distracted, hangout with the family, and end up going to write around ten at the earliest. It works for writing well enough, but editing, blogging, and anything writing related not focused on getting the daily word count has been a struggle. I can't help but to think that maybe I'm missing something.
Could that something be a deadline? I suppose it could be. Of course it may not be either, but it's worth a shot. The Magic Spreadsheet got me writing everyday, so maybe a self imposed deadline will light the fire under me that I need to get some editing done during the week. Let's say that by this time next week, I'll have that story sent out or at the very least ready to go out. That's the deadline then. Have the story ready to go by 10:30 next Monday night. It seems more than doable, so we'll see I guess.
I'll even do my best to let you know how it goes. If deadlines work for me, maybe they'll work for you too! What tricks do you use to get things done. Let me know in the comments. Thanks!
Last week I wrote at least 300 words a day, sometimes more, but at least 300 for a total of 2747 words. I'll admit that that's not a huge amount of writing for a week. Many people do that many words on the daily, but it doesn't appear that I will be there anytime in the near future. If you're one of those people, congrats and keep on pushing. You are an inspiration.
I lack that daily volume though. What I lack in daily volume, I try to make up with consistency. Writing everyday helps me not quit altogether. The part that sucks though, is that I don't have enough time to do the things that I know I should be doing in order to be successful. For example, there's this short story that really needs to go out. I've made a few editing passes and it's almost ready, but not quite. I blame my lack of time on that story not going out yet, but at the same time that's hard for me to accept. I know that I control my time, or my free time at least, and I know that I don't always use it wisely. That story should be done by now, but I have pushed it aside several times, put my daily words down and went to bed.
It's not like there aren't plans. There are plans aplenty. Almost everyday, while at work, I can't help but think that when I get home tonight I'm going to do write this or edit that. Ah, those are some grand plans, but anyway, life gets in the way as they say. There's always stuff to do at home and as any good general knows, even the best plans only last until the first shot is fired. So I get home, get distracted, hangout with the family, and end up going to write around ten at the earliest. It works for writing well enough, but editing, blogging, and anything writing related not focused on getting the daily word count has been a struggle. I can't help but to think that maybe I'm missing something.
Could that something be a deadline? I suppose it could be. Of course it may not be either, but it's worth a shot. The Magic Spreadsheet got me writing everyday, so maybe a self imposed deadline will light the fire under me that I need to get some editing done during the week. Let's say that by this time next week, I'll have that story sent out or at the very least ready to go out. That's the deadline then. Have the story ready to go by 10:30 next Monday night. It seems more than doable, so we'll see I guess.
I'll even do my best to let you know how it goes. If deadlines work for me, maybe they'll work for you too! What tricks do you use to get things done. Let me know in the comments. Thanks!
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