The first few months of the year always seem to fly by.
It’s been a bad week. I did go to the tiny gym at work and walk slowly on the treadmill while doing some writing, which felt good. Yes, I hurt a couple days later, but the idea is that tiny, manageable steps are better than a huge change that I can’t live with.
So ROW80 lets us set and adjust our own goals. This is a good thing.
This is necessary.
If I was trying to tie myself to someone else’s goals, I’d be failing miserably. I have not even met my own goals this week. I set myself the goal of 500 words a day being “acceptable” but even that has been beyond my grasp this week.
So I look at the goals and see whether I need to alter them. As I stated, tiny manageable steps are better than huge looming behemoths. I am able to go to the gym once a week for just a couple of hours, and walk slowly with long breaks for stretching. It isn’t much. But it is something I know I can do.
The thing is, I know I can do 500 words a day. For me, that’s less than an hour. My problem this week was that our family’s schedule was disrupted with a couple people being sick. I fell into the trap of “If my environment and timing isn’t perfect, I won’t do it at all.”
Every Mom knows there is some truth behind this. I’m not totally diva-ing out. It is almost a certainty that I will be interrupted within minutes of starting if I haven’t done the whole “Everybody Leave Mommy Alone, It’s Writing Time” thing.
Then again, that is my life at the moment. Having my youngest in Preschool helps, and next year having her in week long, full day Kindergarten will be even better. My older daughter, who has special needs, seems to be improving and adjusting and needing fewer interventions.
So, the goals… do I readjust them? No, I think not. Not yet… but I need to let myself do “throw away” writing if I don’t feel like I can fully dive into my WIP. Even if it’s crappy, it’s good writing exercise, and I know from personal experience that if I keep in the habit of writing I will become stronger and be able to write more and better each day.
Tonight, I have a writer’s meeting. It will be the first time I’ve seen the group since getting my rejection letter for the anthology. I plan to put on my big-girl panties and suck it up, encouraging my fellow writers even though my story was not accepted. After all, it was one story, this one time, in this one anthology, and that one rejection does not mean I’m not a good writer.
I’ll be hopping everybody else’s updates when I get back.
Have you ever had to interact with someone who had previously rejected you as a writer?
AmyBeth Inverness 
Yes. I have. I also do the same as an actor. It is never easy at first… but once you get practiced at not being attached, it all makes sense. Plus as a Director, I learned sometimes I cast people who aren’t the best or most talented, but because of other parts of the performance over all. I think the same is true of publishing…. and hey, I loved these lines: >>> I need to let myself do “throw away” writing if I don’t feel like I can fully dive into my WIP. Even if it’s crappy, it’s good writing exercise, and I know from personal experience that if I keep in the habit of writing I will become stronger and be able to write more and better each day. <<<< Brava, my friend, Brava. Happy Rowing! Hope to see you around!
I can relate too well with this, Amy Beth. Back a few years ago when my son was 3 (also ASD), I thought I’d go mad for some writing time because he was home all the time. So we started him in preschool… And suddenly I had no writing time instead of five minute blocks here and there. Oh, there were days when things worked, but there were many more where I was just too beat with the commute, the “required” Mommy Presence time at the school, the extra car repairs…
I’m sure your situation is different, but in our case we actually are finding more time together is giving us all more time to get stuff done. It’s in the smaller pockets of time. And the exercise is in the walks and excursions together…. but that’s another story.
I do hope you find a rhythm that works for your own life. I’ve seen how much you love writing. You deserve the chance to enjoy it.
(And don’t worry about the big-girl panties. Remember that ever great writer has been rejected, most more than a hundred times. It wasn’t personal; it was just what they had to do at the time.)
The nice thing about this challenge is that you can have weeks like this one and not have to feel bad about it. And I seriously doubt that your writers’ group is going to think any less of you because you got rejected. Have a good time tonight, and hang in there.
Thanks everybody! The meeting went well. The only mention of the anthology was to pass around the proof of the cover. It felt good for me to get “back in the saddle” and go back to the group again.
Back when I was still submitting stories to traditional markets, I hung out regularly with people who rejected my stuff! But a lot of those people had also bought some of my stories too, so I guess that makes it easier and hard to compare situations. 🙂 I think the main thing is that I had a lot of stories going out, and lots of rejections coming in, and that helps in developing a thick skin, which we all need in this business.
Good luck on getting some writing time in amidst family chaos!
I too have no idea where January went! I am hoping February may be a little slower. Amy, I hope the sickness settles down in your family. Don’t fret about the goals; bad weeks happen and when your loved ones need you, they are the most important thing. I hope the coming week is much better.
Don’t feel bad, Amy Beth, happens to us all – including me at the moment. Commiserations on the anthology not working out, I know how that feels too. It’s not you, it’s just bad luck. I once had three stories accepted for an anthology series, then the editor changed and the new one threw the lot out! Take care and better luck for next week.