This looks amazing. I hope you're planning to do The Artist's Way over the whole summer and not over next week! Revising for the manuscript mart sounds like a great manageable chunk for the coming week. I have "find Muse guidelines" as my goal this week. It's a small goal, but the fact that it's there means it's on my radar to start thinking about that approaching deadline.
I love that daily walks with your dogs will feature heavily. If we had images on these comments, I'd demand doggo photos!
RECKONING: this past week I was supposed to read one of the short story is a written and while I think it actually is one of the best short stories I've ever written, really tight, a bullet story, I don't think I can spend three years in that world the way a novel requires. But there is a lot of juice there.
ANALYSIS: I am having a real struggle with time management right now. If I start writing again regularly something else has to go, and I haven't figured out what that thing is. I am running a A Mighty Blaze both online and in person, and that takes up a lot of time, and I have paying manuscript consultations and also, for my mental and physical health, hiking with my dog and friends… Doing a lot of self work as well. I want to write for 21 days straight to build up a habit but I'm also going to be traveling this month. This is my struggle.
I have committed to a course of very intensive meditation and self work until August, and I had the thought this week: what if I give myself a break about writing, i.e. not feeling guilty or focusing on one particular project, and instead try to reconnect with the joy of it… Until August?
PLAN: I have no plan right now! This is also part of the struggle. I feel like my life is to in constant in terms of its activity and yet too full to be able to do something regularly.
Love the goal of trying to reconnect with the joy of writing, but giving yourself permission to focus on your commitments and projects. I always feel more satisfied when I allow myself to be fully present for projects and avoid "shoulding" myself in the background.
Giving yourself permission to prioritize other goals is a power move. Much better to say I'm not going to write until August 15 and be present for what you _are_ doing than to mar all the amazing things by feeling conflicted because some unkind voice in your head is telling you that you really should be writing.
All that said, pay attention to the last line of paragraph one: "But there is a lot of juice there." It sounds to me like this idea has pull. Maybe while you're having the summer of Blaze and Jenna, the writer who lives at the back of your brain will marinate in the juice of that story, and you'll come back to the page with a new lease on what you should do?
I love this comment so much and I bet it will help a lot of other people on this thread as well as me. Thank you, Cathy! It's hard to let go of a lifelong habit of guilt about not writing, but I have always worked in Volcano bursts instead of being a daily writer and maybe it's time to accept that? So I can live all the things wholeheartedly… including the writing.
Okay, I decided to give it a go, so just a plan for me today but before that:
AINA'S PLAN FOR 100 DAYS OF SUMMER
* write three neo-noir/horror shorts for ACWW
* rewrite my Santa script - it'll be draft 3, and I am rewriting it as part of ScreenwritingU's Rewrite course, which includes Zooms on Saturdays for 10 weeks (two are done already).
* read and give feedback on 2 peer short stories each week + read two shorts from anthologies per week as part of Advanced Creative Writing Workshop lasting to mid-August.
* and if I have time and will - come up with text for my temporary webpage.
REWARDS:
* short 1-2 - Urban Decay eyeshadow palette that I have had my eye on for a while now :-)
* short 3 - weekend away July 6-9.
* short 4- TBD
* draft 3 of Santa script - TBD
* an episode of Criminal Minds after each ACWW story read and commented
AINA'S WEEKLY RAP FOR MAY 29, 2023
PLAN:
* short 2 - finish rough
* short 2 - edit/polish/send
* short 3 - brainstorm
* short 3 - first simple outline
* Santa script - outline of draft 2
* Santa script - complete Rewrite lesson 1
* ACWW: read and comment week 4 peer short, re-read two anthology shorts
May was my "get back to writing" month, June will b my "strengthen the habit" month, so my writing sessions can and have to be longer than 5 minutes but "write for at least 5 minutes" is the back-up plan that's always relevant :-)
REWARDS:
* I might be able to get the eye-shadow palette this week :-)
That's an epic summer, Aina! I love the "strengthen the habit" mantra for this month, and I'm so glad that you got back to writing in May. I'm so floored that the Santa script is in its third draft--I remember when it was in development.
Given the eye color reward I think it's a crying shame that these comments don't allow images to be posted...
RECKONING: I accomplished my goal and my stretch goal.
ANALYSIS: Maybe my goals were a bit too low, since they were easily accomplished. Also, I found that, once I finished chapter ten revision, even though I still had a good chunk of two more days to do work, I kinda ran out of focus and dithered a lot. I could have revised further, but didn't get that far.
PLAN: Revise chapter 11 and then rearrange the chaps in the other narrative to make a sandwich, a la Tessa Hadley's The Past.
No harm in a goal easily achieved. Especially heading into a holiday weekend. Writing is hard often enough. It's too common for us to beat ourselves up for not doing enough if our writing doesn't beat us up first!
Congratulations on revising four chapters in *checks notes* five days. I'm in complete awe of your pace!
Your plan looks great. Rearranging chapters is the kind of structural work that can sometimes balloon.
One thought on the goals front. If your revision is going quickly and you're not feeling challenged, maybe consider switching to time goals of x hours every weekday or some such.
Something to think about. I think I'm not very good at judging time for my work, so I might not go that way, but I'll consider it! I do use time goals when I'm on a retreat. But then that's easier because there's nothing else claiming my time then. Also, I might stick with not worrying about too-easy goals because my thing lately is Not To Rush.
I'm not great at judging time for my work either, but after years of tracking time, I have data! Though it would be more useful if I also kept a log of the start and end dates of a chapter. When I finish part three, I'll be able to look at the hours spent between the start and the end and estimate how long the revision will take.
I do love your no rushing rule! Not a rule I'd adopt for myself because I'm a sloth writer, so what would be the point? LOL!
It really is a crime that these comments don't allow for images and gifs...
RECKONING: My goal was an hour a day on my newsletter for the 5 weekdays last week. I hit that twice, had 2 days of fewer minutes, and one of 90+ to help make up the deficit. Total: 4 hours 36 minutes. I'm satisfied. I have not yet seen Are You There God It's Me, Margaret because my daughter wants to see it with me and we couldn't make it work before she leaves for Israel today. But we will make it work this summer, somehow.
ANALYSIS: Most of the time I spent was research. I did some writing, and ended the week with a great outline, an improvement over an earlier one. I am well-poised to write this week. Some of the issue is that I have podcast interviews - one last week and one this week - that take time and mind space to prepare for. Also, I have much travel planned this summer as well as moving my daughter to LA.
All that said, it felt really good to log that hour and come close to the goal while far from the deadline.
Lastly, I sustain my writing best when I stick to weekdays and take a break on the weekends.
PLAN: Overall, I'm taking this week by week for the summer to avoid overshadowing trips with lack-of-writing guilt.
With my interview Wednesday plus a client writing project this week, goal is 30 minutes of sprinting on the newsletter Tuesday - Friday, looking for a mostly done or finished first draft.
This is fantastic! You said here somewhere that you really wanted to focus on writing ahead of your deadline, and that's just what you're doing here! I love the week to week plan. Summer has a way of being less regimented than other times of the year, so I think giving yourself permission to be flexible is a smart move.
Thanks for all of the above Cathy! Yes, writing ahead of my deadline is my focus. You picked up on my summer sentiment exactly - I want to emphasize achievement without feeling cheated of the less-regimented season.
RECKONING: This past week I was supposed to spend an hour a day (Mon thru Fri) playing around with my new novel.
ANALYSIS: I managed to do it, kind of...I don't think I achieved a full hour on any of the days, except maybe one. I found myself feeling a bit scattered and distracted, which I think is related to my commitment-phobia / performance anxiety around this book. One day, I was feeling majorly under the weather / meh, and didn't manage to show up at all. My best day, interestingly, was the one where I didn't actually *write* anything at all—instead, I brainstormed and ruminated on the book at length while hiking. In the process, I actually had two major breakthroughs in terms of plot/timeline. I also made some headway this week on voice, and find myself (to my surprise) playing with an omniscient narrator.
PLAN: More of the same this week, Tuesday thru Friday. My schedule is pretty flexible right now, and I *hope* I'll be able to put in more than an hour each day, but I'm not going to hold myself to that. I think I'm going to try the Pomodoro method this time, and use Freedom on my computer, to keep myself a bit more focused.
Sounds like great progress, Jane with the voice and omniscient narrator. I must admit I always count my bath-time brainstorms, which usually result in a breakthrough of a kind, as writing time :). And Freedom is such a great little writer's helper :)
Between editing and planning and dreaming up dead ends that eventually get us through the maze of our books, the vast majority of *writing* involves no *writing.* I spent the last two weeks working my ass off and ended up scrapping all of part three I had done and I'm thrilled because it is so clear--with a binder full of notes--that I was writing in the wrong direction. This week I'm doing a deep dive into research to prepare for a research trip on Thursday. I'll get back to drafting soon enough, but the research is pivotal to the material I need to draft, so it's writing. It's all writing.
Which is my very long-winded way of saying your writing week sounds amazing! Two major breakthroughs! That's huge!
I'm sorry you were feeling under the weather, and I'm sorry about the commitment phobia. Did the major breakthroughs quiet the commitment phobia at all? Can hiking be a writing tool to think outside the boxes of your screen or notebook?
The major breakthroughs DID, indeed, help me feel a bit more jazzed about wanting to keep going. And yes, hiking is a great tool! Friday's hiking/writing made me think I can/should more regularly use local walks and runs in that way as well, rather than automatically popping on a podcast or audiobook, as I often do.
This looks amazing. I hope you're planning to do The Artist's Way over the whole summer and not over next week! Revising for the manuscript mart sounds like a great manageable chunk for the coming week. I have "find Muse guidelines" as my goal this week. It's a small goal, but the fact that it's there means it's on my radar to start thinking about that approaching deadline.
I love that daily walks with your dogs will feature heavily. If we had images on these comments, I'd demand doggo photos!
Thanks!
RECKONING: this past week I was supposed to read one of the short story is a written and while I think it actually is one of the best short stories I've ever written, really tight, a bullet story, I don't think I can spend three years in that world the way a novel requires. But there is a lot of juice there.
ANALYSIS: I am having a real struggle with time management right now. If I start writing again regularly something else has to go, and I haven't figured out what that thing is. I am running a A Mighty Blaze both online and in person, and that takes up a lot of time, and I have paying manuscript consultations and also, for my mental and physical health, hiking with my dog and friends… Doing a lot of self work as well. I want to write for 21 days straight to build up a habit but I'm also going to be traveling this month. This is my struggle.
I have committed to a course of very intensive meditation and self work until August, and I had the thought this week: what if I give myself a break about writing, i.e. not feeling guilty or focusing on one particular project, and instead try to reconnect with the joy of it… Until August?
PLAN: I have no plan right now! This is also part of the struggle. I feel like my life is to in constant in terms of its activity and yet too full to be able to do something regularly.
Love the goal of trying to reconnect with the joy of writing, but giving yourself permission to focus on your commitments and projects. I always feel more satisfied when I allow myself to be fully present for projects and avoid "shoulding" myself in the background.
Giving yourself permission to prioritize other goals is a power move. Much better to say I'm not going to write until August 15 and be present for what you _are_ doing than to mar all the amazing things by feeling conflicted because some unkind voice in your head is telling you that you really should be writing.
All that said, pay attention to the last line of paragraph one: "But there is a lot of juice there." It sounds to me like this idea has pull. Maybe while you're having the summer of Blaze and Jenna, the writer who lives at the back of your brain will marinate in the juice of that story, and you'll come back to the page with a new lease on what you should do?
I love this comment so much and I bet it will help a lot of other people on this thread as well as me. Thank you, Cathy! It's hard to let go of a lifelong habit of guilt about not writing, but I have always worked in Volcano bursts instead of being a daily writer and maybe it's time to accept that? So I can live all the things wholeheartedly… including the writing.
Okay, I decided to give it a go, so just a plan for me today but before that:
AINA'S PLAN FOR 100 DAYS OF SUMMER
* write three neo-noir/horror shorts for ACWW
* rewrite my Santa script - it'll be draft 3, and I am rewriting it as part of ScreenwritingU's Rewrite course, which includes Zooms on Saturdays for 10 weeks (two are done already).
* read and give feedback on 2 peer short stories each week + read two shorts from anthologies per week as part of Advanced Creative Writing Workshop lasting to mid-August.
* and if I have time and will - come up with text for my temporary webpage.
REWARDS:
* short 1-2 - Urban Decay eyeshadow palette that I have had my eye on for a while now :-)
* short 3 - weekend away July 6-9.
* short 4- TBD
* draft 3 of Santa script - TBD
* an episode of Criminal Minds after each ACWW story read and commented
AINA'S WEEKLY RAP FOR MAY 29, 2023
PLAN:
* short 2 - finish rough
* short 2 - edit/polish/send
* short 3 - brainstorm
* short 3 - first simple outline
* Santa script - outline of draft 2
* Santa script - complete Rewrite lesson 1
* ACWW: read and comment week 4 peer short, re-read two anthology shorts
May was my "get back to writing" month, June will b my "strengthen the habit" month, so my writing sessions can and have to be longer than 5 minutes but "write for at least 5 minutes" is the back-up plan that's always relevant :-)
REWARDS:
* I might be able to get the eye-shadow palette this week :-)
Love the "write for at least 5 minutes" back up plan. The rewards of keeping your mind in it are huge.
So happy to see you, Evelyn and be writing with you again 🤓
Happy to be back in your company and writing alongside you too Aina! :)
That's an epic summer, Aina! I love the "strengthen the habit" mantra for this month, and I'm so glad that you got back to writing in May. I'm so floored that the Santa script is in its third draft--I remember when it was in development.
Given the eye color reward I think it's a crying shame that these comments don't allow images to be posted...
RECKONING: I accomplished my goal and my stretch goal.
ANALYSIS: Maybe my goals were a bit too low, since they were easily accomplished. Also, I found that, once I finished chapter ten revision, even though I still had a good chunk of two more days to do work, I kinda ran out of focus and dithered a lot. I could have revised further, but didn't get that far.
PLAN: Revise chapter 11 and then rearrange the chaps in the other narrative to make a sandwich, a la Tessa Hadley's The Past.
No harm in a goal easily achieved. Especially heading into a holiday weekend. Writing is hard often enough. It's too common for us to beat ourselves up for not doing enough if our writing doesn't beat us up first!
Congratulations on revising four chapters in *checks notes* five days. I'm in complete awe of your pace!
Your plan looks great. Rearranging chapters is the kind of structural work that can sometimes balloon.
One thought on the goals front. If your revision is going quickly and you're not feeling challenged, maybe consider switching to time goals of x hours every weekday or some such.
Something to think about. I think I'm not very good at judging time for my work, so I might not go that way, but I'll consider it! I do use time goals when I'm on a retreat. But then that's easier because there's nothing else claiming my time then. Also, I might stick with not worrying about too-easy goals because my thing lately is Not To Rush.
I'm not great at judging time for my work either, but after years of tracking time, I have data! Though it would be more useful if I also kept a log of the start and end dates of a chapter. When I finish part three, I'll be able to look at the hours spent between the start and the end and estimate how long the revision will take.
I do love your no rushing rule! Not a rule I'd adopt for myself because I'm a sloth writer, so what would be the point? LOL!
It really is a crime that these comments don't allow for images and gifs...
https://tenor.com/view/sloth-slow-animal-zoo-lazy-gif-16832805175611154918
Ha! That is one heck of a gif!
RECKONING: My goal was an hour a day on my newsletter for the 5 weekdays last week. I hit that twice, had 2 days of fewer minutes, and one of 90+ to help make up the deficit. Total: 4 hours 36 minutes. I'm satisfied. I have not yet seen Are You There God It's Me, Margaret because my daughter wants to see it with me and we couldn't make it work before she leaves for Israel today. But we will make it work this summer, somehow.
ANALYSIS: Most of the time I spent was research. I did some writing, and ended the week with a great outline, an improvement over an earlier one. I am well-poised to write this week. Some of the issue is that I have podcast interviews - one last week and one this week - that take time and mind space to prepare for. Also, I have much travel planned this summer as well as moving my daughter to LA.
All that said, it felt really good to log that hour and come close to the goal while far from the deadline.
Lastly, I sustain my writing best when I stick to weekdays and take a break on the weekends.
PLAN: Overall, I'm taking this week by week for the summer to avoid overshadowing trips with lack-of-writing guilt.
With my interview Wednesday plus a client writing project this week, goal is 30 minutes of sprinting on the newsletter Tuesday - Friday, looking for a mostly done or finished first draft.
Yay for being well-poised to write this week, Evelyn! Sounds such a nice place to be :)
Thanks Aina! It feels great.
This is fantastic! You said here somewhere that you really wanted to focus on writing ahead of your deadline, and that's just what you're doing here! I love the week to week plan. Summer has a way of being less regimented than other times of the year, so I think giving yourself permission to be flexible is a smart move.
Thanks for all of the above Cathy! Yes, writing ahead of my deadline is my focus. You picked up on my summer sentiment exactly - I want to emphasize achievement without feeling cheated of the less-regimented season.
RECKONING: This past week I was supposed to spend an hour a day (Mon thru Fri) playing around with my new novel.
ANALYSIS: I managed to do it, kind of...I don't think I achieved a full hour on any of the days, except maybe one. I found myself feeling a bit scattered and distracted, which I think is related to my commitment-phobia / performance anxiety around this book. One day, I was feeling majorly under the weather / meh, and didn't manage to show up at all. My best day, interestingly, was the one where I didn't actually *write* anything at all—instead, I brainstormed and ruminated on the book at length while hiking. In the process, I actually had two major breakthroughs in terms of plot/timeline. I also made some headway this week on voice, and find myself (to my surprise) playing with an omniscient narrator.
PLAN: More of the same this week, Tuesday thru Friday. My schedule is pretty flexible right now, and I *hope* I'll be able to put in more than an hour each day, but I'm not going to hold myself to that. I think I'm going to try the Pomodoro method this time, and use Freedom on my computer, to keep myself a bit more focused.
Sounds like great progress, Jane with the voice and omniscient narrator. I must admit I always count my bath-time brainstorms, which usually result in a breakthrough of a kind, as writing time :). And Freedom is such a great little writer's helper :)
Between editing and planning and dreaming up dead ends that eventually get us through the maze of our books, the vast majority of *writing* involves no *writing.* I spent the last two weeks working my ass off and ended up scrapping all of part three I had done and I'm thrilled because it is so clear--with a binder full of notes--that I was writing in the wrong direction. This week I'm doing a deep dive into research to prepare for a research trip on Thursday. I'll get back to drafting soon enough, but the research is pivotal to the material I need to draft, so it's writing. It's all writing.
Which is my very long-winded way of saying your writing week sounds amazing! Two major breakthroughs! That's huge!
I'm sorry you were feeling under the weather, and I'm sorry about the commitment phobia. Did the major breakthroughs quiet the commitment phobia at all? Can hiking be a writing tool to think outside the boxes of your screen or notebook?
The major breakthroughs DID, indeed, help me feel a bit more jazzed about wanting to keep going. And yes, hiking is a great tool! Friday's hiking/writing made me think I can/should more regularly use local walks and runs in that way as well, rather than automatically popping on a podcast or audiobook, as I often do.
PS, you guys, I am sorry about the terrible spelling and grammar in my entry. I was dictating!
Pshaw!