Heh! There’s nothing like telling oneself “Oh, it’s time to write that weekly update post” to finally get it in gear and check off some goals lol!
I have 3 goals this round:
Write 2k/week: (absurdly low because I’m concentrating on the other goals) I made this one. Mostly just flash for various sites and blog hops, but it counts.
Help another writer: I’m editing for a friend. Did several chapters this week.
Do something organizational-related:
This is the one where I said “Oh… darn… well, it’s still officially Tuesday night (OK OK… wee hours of Wednesday morning) so I can do this right now and it will still count!”
Then I scurried to do something. Anything that would officially fill this goal, no matter how small.
I’ve been avoiding looking at my submission tracker because I knew I’d let more deadlines slip by. Tonight, I updated it, and was pleased to realize that I’d only missed two opportunities. One, I love my story idea but it grew wonky legs and walked off on me. The other, I never did come up with an idea for in the first place. There are still several others whose deadlines I haven’t missed, and I was also pleased to see my own note that says I shouldn’t expect to hear about my submission to Analog magazine for a few more weeks yet.
I updated the submission tracker, turning the missed entries red. I also added a new entry from a friend on Google Plus who has an interesting set of anthologies coming up.
I also get some exercise watching my daughter’s track meets!
Exercise is not one of my goals, though I know a lot of other writers are including it in theirs. I bought a family membership to the neighborhood pool and we’ve been using it, especially since it’s been so darned hot this week. I feel like I can actually get some writing (and writing-related work) done late at night now (it’s almost 2am now) because I was able to get out with hubby and the girls for a while, and the pool really cooled us off. Days we don’t go to the pool, I sit here sweating to death wishing we had air conditioning.
♥
This round I’m doing a major re-organizational shift, which is necessary after seriously pursuing my writing career for about two and a half years now. I have a few stories published, and in the fall I will finally have both kids in school full time, allowing me to make a better commitment to my own career.
Have you ever paused your writing to do some major organizational or other writing-related stuff?
AmyBeth Inverness 
Your submission tracker caught my attention. Is it something you do for personal accountability?
YAY on pool time. There’s nothing quite like water (for some reason) to clear my head when I’m writing. Shower. Bath. Swimming pool. Every time I get stuck it seems to work for me.
A year ago, I knew I had submitted a short story to one anthology and been accepted, and I was waiting for word on my other submission. I kept those two things in my head easily.
Then a few months ago I lost the addy for where to submit a story I’d written specifically for an anthology. Searching didn’t help… it was hopelessly lost. I had several stories running around and no way to keep track of them.
I decided to create a passport-protected page on my own blog (it’s under “entropy” if you’re curious and the password is Fredricksen) to keep track of submissions, both possible ones and ones I’ve actually done.
It’s worked well so far, but I’m working on an MS Access database to streamline the process.
Yes! I’m all for packing the family off so I can get some writing done without the four year old pulling on my leg asking me for more strawberries and the twelve-year old needing me to find her hair-brush.
Now if only I can do something about the husband…
~Just Jill
(NOT the bible study site last Sunday’s linky was sending people to…)
What is it about tweens and hairbrushes? I swear, I want to hide all my own stuff because she keeps losing everything we buy for her! My girls are also 8 years apart… currently 14 & 5yo.
Yep, paused to edit my friend’s book. I’ve paused for other career goals as well. Sometimes you just have to. And you know what? Sometimes it’s good for you to take a break. I think we can get so immersed in writing we can burn ourselves out without even knowing it.
Keep it up fellow Row80er!
Thanks! It’s like trying to use a pen to write, but not having any paper. Some organizational stuff is absolutely necessary. I used to have a small folder on my computer for writing-related stuff, and now it’s overflowing with everything I ever started, whether or not I finished it.
AmyBeth,
I pause for many reasons – i firmly believe that I cycle through creative high and ebb tides, with a lot of slack in between that’s a little of this, and a little of that.
I tend to organize the way I do most everything else – as organically as I can manage. I’m less into structure than a sort of free-form flow. It’s a good thing, too, since we are unschoolers, and the kids are with me most of the time (they and I are back from out-of-state camping last weekend; I married a chef with low social needs, so the three of us travel several times a year.)
Camping and travel mean a lot less writing, and a lot more inspiration.
Next month, we’ll be attending a four day unschooling conference, and I will be finishing the end-of-year and beginning of the year homeschooling paperwork. I finally realized that I can focus on editing, so that I’m not overwhelmed.
And there are always those times when physical spaces start to smother me, and I set writing aside so I can conduct enough of an archaeological dig to function again…
It sounds like you’re making great early progress!
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