Did the title catch your attention? I hope so.
Are any of you putting anything on the page just to reach the word count goal you've made for the New Year?
How many of you have met the goals you wrote down so far?
Good on you if you’ve stayed on task. Me…hell no. I’m not alone I know it.
At this point writing this blog post is good.
When you have physical issues, it makes it difficult to gauge just how much you can accomplish. I’m aggravated I haven’t done what I need to do. Being bedridden and so fog-brained I can’t think does put a cramp on the writing. Talk about crap-on-the-page.
So, I’m sitting here trying to figure out a way to inch my way toward my goal.
Slow progress is better than none at all.
Healthy people can be cruel and judgmental.
I’m a vegetarian, I exercise and my weight is heading to the goal I’ve set. I feel better but having fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue means the weather plays a big factor in what I can and can’t do. Be nice to yourself if you have health problems. You don’t need the extra stress.
I recently went to a presentation by romance author, Jessica Trapp. She spoke about the 100 words a day program. If you can just put 100 words a day down it’s enough to keep your mind focused on the story. Some days you’ll write more than 100 and that’s fantastic, but on other days 100 is the best a writer can manage. Thank you, Jessica for reminding me about the 100 words!
Whipping out eight or twenty pages is wonderful but in the real world, it isn’t always viable. Yes, I’m still a professional despite the fact my word count is all over the place. In my years as a writer I've heard others indicate that the amount of pages you produce in a day indicates how serious you are about the craft of writing.
Yes, I agree we should all be writing everyday and marketing ourselves and our work.
Who is the farking psycho that started that crap anyway?
Writers write. Procrastination is a whole 'nother post which I'll probably tackle soon.
Try to do at least one thing a day to propel you toward your writing goals and dreams. Adjust when you need to but never, ever give up.
This is not a whiny/whinging blog post but one to remind writers and anyone who lives with a writer, we all can’t write/plot/whatever at the same speed. We all do our best in reaching the writing goals we’ve set.
Make smaller, short-term goals if you need to. The bright goals you made for 2011 can still be done. Maybe refocus on what you really want to accomplish and use your limited energy for that specific task.
Remember if you do have crap-on-the-page you can edit and polish it into something extraordinary.
Whatever you do, make this your best writing year ever!
Hugs to all,
Tambra
P.S. Please pray for our friends in Australia. If you can help, please do so!
16 comments:
Tambra, thank you for this post. Like you the 100 words or just writing something each day is a great reminder that you just need to keep plugging away at your WIP.
I'm struggling to be consistent but I am writing, sometimes only a few hundreds words at a time but it's progress forward.
I was beginning to stress that I wasn't meeting my self-imposed word count *every* day, deliberately ignoring that life can interfere and there's nothing you can do to alter that.
Thanks for the timely post. And thanks for your support for us Aussies. The floods are just horrific, devastating.
While our community has experienced three major floods since the beginning of December, we've been nowhere near as affected as some of the towns in northern New South Wales or Queensland (at last count 400 towns or villages have been evacuated and many of them will be underwater for up to 6-8 weeks yet).
All prayer and thoughts appreciated.
Great post. Yes, it's a great title. :)
My love and prayers go out to the people in Australia.
Hope you feel better soon, Tambra! I have chronic neck/ shoulder issues caused by vertebral subluxation. Writing for extended periods of time makes it worse, because of neck and shoulder issues. For me it's actually better to do less word count at a sitting. The old adage, slow and steady wins the race really does fit here. Keep on rocking with 100 words a day, and yes, blog posts count because they are part of your career.
An excellent post filled with excellent advice! I hope you feel better soon, and get back to writing. My writing came on in turtle steps over the last year...but I did finally learn anything was better than nothing!
That's good advice Tambra. I feel so guilty when I don't get something down each day, but the reality is I can't always make that happen. And some days I just plain don't want to make that happen. If I make myself feel guilty about that though, my muse curls into a ball and whimpers.
Hope you feel better soon! CFS and FM are no fun at all.
Thanks for the reminder that something, anything, is better than nothing, Tambra.
I too am a chronic illness sufferer, and pain/weakness/brain fog/fatigue have all sunk their snaggly teeth into my life. I almost called it quits on writing last week, but thought better of it in the morning light. A page a day isn't too much for me, and then there's always PLOTTING.
Hugs for you and prayers for all those affected by the weather in Australia.
Kylie,
Thank you so much for your reply. Some days I can do more than others and well...there are days when just getting out of bed and making a cup of tea is a big deal.
I have an adopted uncle in Cairns and many friends in OZ. If my family history connects, I'll end up having family there. I hope so!
Much love and prayers sent to my friends and family is Australia.
Tambra
Ciara,
Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope the post was helpful to you.
Hugs,
Tambra
Lusha,
I so understand where you're coming from. Many times the lower word counts equal to a larger amount it just gets there a bit slower.
Take care and I'm here if you need someone to talk to!
Hugs,
Tambra
Liane,
I made the 100 words last night. Hopefully, tonight I'll do more. But I am doing something and that makes me feel better.
Sweetie you had a rough year and I'm so very proud of you. You're my inspiration you know.
Hugs,
Tambra
Kaylea,
Sometimes I think when we just don't want to write one day, I believe its our muse telling us it needs a chance to regroup and dwell on what we've created so far.
When the muse whimpers and curls up we know we're in trouble. So, we must do all we can to stroke the muse and keep him/her happy.
We writers are always feeling guilty about something. Think about all the positive things you've done and the excitement of what you're doing now. (I am and its helping.)
Hugs,
Tambra
Eleyne,
A page a day is doable and there's nothing wrong with that at all. I have to set out blocks of time when I know I won't be as productive due to the weather.
I love to plot as well. Sometimes, I'll write longhand and then type it into the computer later. I can always edit it later and I don't have to look at a blank page.
Hugs to you!
Tambra
A great and gentle reminder of a post!
Today is definitely a crap on the page kinda day. I woke up feeling emotional and distracted and I can't quite capture the mood of the book. Worrying about it only makes my mood worse. Thanks for the reminder!
I think of the question: "How do you eat an elephant?"
Answer: "One piece at a time."
The pace doesn't matter as much as the fact that there's forward movement.
And sometimes you have the fill the well!
Wow, you're such an inspiration, Tambra! I'm in awe of what you achieve giving your ongoing health problems. And here's me, angsting over not being able to settle on any one project and therefore doing stuff bloody all and feeling sorry for myself. Hah. If I'd done 100 words a day, I'd have written a novella by now. Boy, is your post a much-needed kick up the bum!
Thank you!
Hugs,
Maree
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