I've also made a list of the remaining chapters so I know where I'm heading.
Tomorrow may be a tough writing day. We need to clean the house, then have a school potluck followed by a date! I hope to see some writing time on Sunday.
Friday
Word Count
I'm now where I was (approximately) before I lost 1.5 days of work. Strangely, I expanded a scene I summarized before. Now I have to rewrite the scene that made up the bulk of those lost words.
I've also made a list of the remaining chapters so I know where I'm heading.
Tomorrow may be a tough writing day. We need to clean the house, then have a school potluck followed by a date! I hope to see some writing time on Sunday.
I've also made a list of the remaining chapters so I know where I'm heading.
Tomorrow may be a tough writing day. We need to clean the house, then have a school potluck followed by a date! I hope to see some writing time on Sunday.
Method and Madness
Folks, this here is a writing entry so if you’re not interested in that sort of thing you may just want to move along.
I started working on my second novel in late March/early April earlier this year. I wrote about 30k in a month or so, using a daily word count but giving myself weekends off (for errands and family time). Things were going pretty well. Not speedy writester or anything, but decent.
Then two things happened. I kicked up my workout routine and work got really busy. We are busy all the time, but spring and summer ratchet up to insane. As in, arrive at the office, stay busy all day, often eat lunch at my desk, and do some work at home after Zoe goes to bed. During this time I was getting up early to work out, so between fitness and work I didn’t have much time or energy for the book. Summer was not a productive writing time at all.
Over the fall and early winter, I reached almost 50k in the book (before I lost a few pages yesterday—ouch), where I now find myself. I estimate this novel will end up in the 80–85k range.
When I’ve had time off, in-between jobs because of a move or job change, I tend to write a chapter a day. For me this translates somewhere between 8–12 pages, or a rough average of 2500 (plus or minus) words. I would guess that’s pretty average. There are people out there who can write a lot faster and some who write a paragraph a day. But those paragraphs, when they are finished, are perfect. I do a lot of revising.
When I’m working a full-time job, around 1400 words a day seems my average, and I finish my chapters in two writing days. With regular practice I think I could start hitting around 2,000 words/day. But that’s if I actually have time to write when I get home, instead of having to answer emails or edit for the day job after Zoe goes to bed.
Now we have entered a slower time at work. It’s still busy, but I’m not having to take work home with me. This may be the case (I think/hope) for the next two months or so. Which means that now is my time to finish this draft so I have a complete book to noodle with once we get to the insane-busy phase again.
I think I can revise even if I’m busy with work. For some reason revision and writing are very different processes for me. For writing I need a semi-dreamy state, a chunk of time to imagine the scene and then get it down. With revising, I already have the scene in my head. Either it is mostly there, and (in the best case) I just need to brighten and heighten what’s going on, or (worst case) it’s dead wrong and I need to rewrite it. But at least I know what’s happening, who’s there, what’s wrong, and how to fix it—usually. If it’s a really tough problem I might need to reenter the dreamy state to figure it all out.
My goal is to finish the draft in this lull at work (lull as in a normal 40 hours, ha!), and then try my darndest to revise what I can when it’s full-tilt crazy again. If things are really nuts, then I might have to wait until fall/early winter to revise. In any case, the book won’t finish itself. No magic elves for me.
Yesterday, due to a boring technical glitch I won’t go into, I lost a day and a half of work, or 2,000+ words. Yesterday I thought it was 1500 but then remembered I'd written another 700 or so that I'd lost as well. I am really lucky that I had just backed up my file a day before, so the loss wasn’t nearly as ugly as it could have been. But it was a wake-up call for me. It’s time to write while the writing is possible. So I’ll keep track of what’s going on here, maybe as a way to hold myself accountable.
I should note that I love my job and consider myself extremely lucky, not only to be employed during this very rough time, but also that I am paid to do something I love and believe in. However, this is also my reality. All of my coworkers struggle with work-life balance. Work eats into personal time for almost everyone at the foundation, and in most cases it’s because they are passionate about what they do. But…I still need to find a way to meet my own goals and give my dreams the space they need to grow, and hopefully so much space they get really funky and odd the way dreams are wont to do.
So… here goes.
I started working on my second novel in late March/early April earlier this year. I wrote about 30k in a month or so, using a daily word count but giving myself weekends off (for errands and family time). Things were going pretty well. Not speedy writester or anything, but decent.
Then two things happened. I kicked up my workout routine and work got really busy. We are busy all the time, but spring and summer ratchet up to insane. As in, arrive at the office, stay busy all day, often eat lunch at my desk, and do some work at home after Zoe goes to bed. During this time I was getting up early to work out, so between fitness and work I didn’t have much time or energy for the book. Summer was not a productive writing time at all.
Over the fall and early winter, I reached almost 50k in the book (before I lost a few pages yesterday—ouch), where I now find myself. I estimate this novel will end up in the 80–85k range.
When I’ve had time off, in-between jobs because of a move or job change, I tend to write a chapter a day. For me this translates somewhere between 8–12 pages, or a rough average of 2500 (plus or minus) words. I would guess that’s pretty average. There are people out there who can write a lot faster and some who write a paragraph a day. But those paragraphs, when they are finished, are perfect. I do a lot of revising.
When I’m working a full-time job, around 1400 words a day seems my average, and I finish my chapters in two writing days. With regular practice I think I could start hitting around 2,000 words/day. But that’s if I actually have time to write when I get home, instead of having to answer emails or edit for the day job after Zoe goes to bed.
Now we have entered a slower time at work. It’s still busy, but I’m not having to take work home with me. This may be the case (I think/hope) for the next two months or so. Which means that now is my time to finish this draft so I have a complete book to noodle with once we get to the insane-busy phase again.
I think I can revise even if I’m busy with work. For some reason revision and writing are very different processes for me. For writing I need a semi-dreamy state, a chunk of time to imagine the scene and then get it down. With revising, I already have the scene in my head. Either it is mostly there, and (in the best case) I just need to brighten and heighten what’s going on, or (worst case) it’s dead wrong and I need to rewrite it. But at least I know what’s happening, who’s there, what’s wrong, and how to fix it—usually. If it’s a really tough problem I might need to reenter the dreamy state to figure it all out.
My goal is to finish the draft in this lull at work (lull as in a normal 40 hours, ha!), and then try my darndest to revise what I can when it’s full-tilt crazy again. If things are really nuts, then I might have to wait until fall/early winter to revise. In any case, the book won’t finish itself. No magic elves for me.
Yesterday, due to a boring technical glitch I won’t go into, I lost a day and a half of work, or 2,000+ words. Yesterday I thought it was 1500 but then remembered I'd written another 700 or so that I'd lost as well. I am really lucky that I had just backed up my file a day before, so the loss wasn’t nearly as ugly as it could have been. But it was a wake-up call for me. It’s time to write while the writing is possible. So I’ll keep track of what’s going on here, maybe as a way to hold myself accountable.
I should note that I love my job and consider myself extremely lucky, not only to be employed during this very rough time, but also that I am paid to do something I love and believe in. However, this is also my reality. All of my coworkers struggle with work-life balance. Work eats into personal time for almost everyone at the foundation, and in most cases it’s because they are passionate about what they do. But…I still need to find a way to meet my own goals and give my dreams the space they need to grow, and hopefully so much space they get really funky and odd the way dreams are wont to do.
So… here goes.
New Year's Resolutions
Last year one of my resolutions was to work out more regularly. I have been more diligent at some times than others over the past few months but overall I held to this goal and I have seen the results. Since last year I've lost 14 pounds and two dress sizes, and am one size away from my goal. But these are the benefits I appreciate even more than the weight loss itself:
Fitting into more of my outfits and feeling comfortable in clothes in general.
More energy.
Feeling stronger.
Being able to do some "real" (not on my knees) push ups.
Thighs don't rub together when I wear skirts.
Most importantly: the lower back and shoulder pain I used to have are gone.
Having a baby really does a number on your core, and the result for me was pain in my lower back. I reallyreally appreciate that I've been able to deal with this through exercise rather than some other form of treatment.
I have not changed my diet too much. Mainly just trying to eat more fruit, veggies, and whole grains. When I'm at the store I look for the items with the fewest and simplest ingredients. For instance, last night we bought hot cocoa and I opted for the brand whose ingredient was chocolate instead of brands with a list of things I couldn't pronounce.
My goal for next year is to eat more healthful things and to do it in a way that is sustainable. I don't like the idea of "bad" food because I love food. I don't want to get a complex about it. I prefer the idea of balancing higher-calorie choices with exercise or lower-calorie ones. So, for instance, if I have cake or pie with dinner, maybe I throw in an extra workout or eat lighter foods the next day to balance. And when I do indulge in some sweets or (my favorite) fried food, I make sure it's something I really want and enjoy instead of some crap that I regret afterward because it didn't even taste that good.
A friend of mine who is a nutritionist recommended the dividing your plate method: half of your plate should be veggies, 1/4 starch, and 1/4 protein. I like that method because it's something I can maintain over the longterm instead of a diet that I go on and off of because it's so strict I can't adhere to it.
Next year I hope to improve my diet in the sense of getting more nutrients and vitamins from food rather than supplements. And of course continue to work out. I spent most of my younger life on one team or another and having regular exercise really improves my mood.
An unexpected but adorable benefit: watching Zoe do "push ups" and downward dog.
Fitting into more of my outfits and feeling comfortable in clothes in general.
More energy.
Feeling stronger.
Being able to do some "real" (not on my knees) push ups.
Thighs don't rub together when I wear skirts.
Most importantly: the lower back and shoulder pain I used to have are gone.
Having a baby really does a number on your core, and the result for me was pain in my lower back. I reallyreally appreciate that I've been able to deal with this through exercise rather than some other form of treatment.
I have not changed my diet too much. Mainly just trying to eat more fruit, veggies, and whole grains. When I'm at the store I look for the items with the fewest and simplest ingredients. For instance, last night we bought hot cocoa and I opted for the brand whose ingredient was chocolate instead of brands with a list of things I couldn't pronounce.
My goal for next year is to eat more healthful things and to do it in a way that is sustainable. I don't like the idea of "bad" food because I love food. I don't want to get a complex about it. I prefer the idea of balancing higher-calorie choices with exercise or lower-calorie ones. So, for instance, if I have cake or pie with dinner, maybe I throw in an extra workout or eat lighter foods the next day to balance. And when I do indulge in some sweets or (my favorite) fried food, I make sure it's something I really want and enjoy instead of some crap that I regret afterward because it didn't even taste that good.
A friend of mine who is a nutritionist recommended the dividing your plate method: half of your plate should be veggies, 1/4 starch, and 1/4 protein. I like that method because it's something I can maintain over the longterm instead of a diet that I go on and off of because it's so strict I can't adhere to it.
Next year I hope to improve my diet in the sense of getting more nutrients and vitamins from food rather than supplements. And of course continue to work out. I spent most of my younger life on one team or another and having regular exercise really improves my mood.
An unexpected but adorable benefit: watching Zoe do "push ups" and downward dog.
Tuesday
Reading List 2009
Finished Autobiography of a Yogi.
Also read: Escaping into the Open, by Elizabeth Berg (inspiration)
On Writing, by Stephen King (same)
Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival, by Norman Ollestad (book club). I really liked this book but I wanted to kill the writer's father at least a dozen times, especially when I saw picture of the dude carrying a less-than-one-year-old in a makeshift backpack on a surf board in the Pacific Ocean. Nowadays that would probably get you arrested and in my house that would get you dead.
I'm now reading Carrie by SK because it was the first book of his I ever picked up and he mentioned it in his writing how-to.
I've been really busy lately, too busy to write much or update my blog but I'm going to make it a bigger priority. For one thing I get cranky when I don't write, then I relieve that mental itch and feel so much better. Then I think: why am I not making the time to do this more regularly so I don't get all mentally constipated? (To mix some very unappealing metaphors.) So I'm going to work on that. We'll see how it goes.
Also read: Escaping into the Open, by Elizabeth Berg (inspiration)
On Writing, by Stephen King (same)
Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival, by Norman Ollestad (book club). I really liked this book but I wanted to kill the writer's father at least a dozen times, especially when I saw picture of the dude carrying a less-than-one-year-old in a makeshift backpack on a surf board in the Pacific Ocean. Nowadays that would probably get you arrested and in my house that would get you dead.
I'm now reading Carrie by SK because it was the first book of his I ever picked up and he mentioned it in his writing how-to.
I've been really busy lately, too busy to write much or update my blog but I'm going to make it a bigger priority. For one thing I get cranky when I don't write, then I relieve that mental itch and feel so much better. Then I think: why am I not making the time to do this more regularly so I don't get all mentally constipated? (To mix some very unappealing metaphors.) So I'm going to work on that. We'll see how it goes.