#ROW80 Final Check-in

So here we are at the end of the round! It went by so fast! Yikes!

I think I did very well, despite having issues with fatigue. That really screwed me up for awhile, but I am feeling much better so that’s good.

Here’s the rundown. Goals for the round were:

~Finish revision of Pirouette for submission to publisher (currently on page 203 of 243, but don’t let that fool you. I have a few plot holes to fill.) ~DONE! Still waiting to hear back, so fingers crossed!
~Write synopsis (first time doing that!) ~DONE! And got some very valuable feedback and knowledge for next time.
~Submit to publisher by 1/31 ~DONE! Submitted 1/25
~Finish Fireborn first draft (Reaper Girl novella, 19k of 25k currently) ~DONE! Finished at 23k.
~Make progress on Covenant, secondary WIP ~DONE! It is up to 18k now.
~Log in planner goals + to dos every day/every month (trying something new!) ~DONE for the most part. Struggled with remembering to write everything down b/c I do most of my planning in my head. Toward the end of this round, I managed to fill in at least two weeks in a row.
~Physical activity: 15 mins 3x a week (anything that gets me moving counts!) ~HIT OR MISS HERE. Mostly done, at least twice, but some weeks were tough getting it in.
~After Pirouette revision is finished, 8 minutes of focused writing per day on a first draft of my choice (another new thing).~MOSTLY DONE, except that I struggled with exhaustion issues toward the end of this round. I added at least 5k to Covenant, so I call that a win.
~Develop test roll of b&w film ~NOT DONE. I am almost ready! I am waiting for a specific chemical to be delivered (I had to special order it). But once I get it, it’s developing time!

Other notable accomplishments:

~Added drinking 1 glass of water per day to my routine
~Added walking to my routine, weather and health permitting
~Started inputting Survivor re-outline to Scrivener
~New idea for horror novel, Elysium
~About to start experimenting with plotting
~Ever Touched up to 54k
~Got darkroom ready to go for developing/printing

That’s it! Very happy with my progress and I will see you in Round 2!

#ROW80 Check-in #12.5

I’m superstitious about the number 13. 😉

This has been a pretty productive week, I think. No writing, though, because I’ve been copyediting part 2 of our May release. What a great book! I’m about 30 pages from the end and I am DYING to find out what happens next!

I’ve still been tired but not as tired as before, so that’s a good thing.

Here’s the rundown:

Ever Touched/Covenant/8 minutes a day – Nada, but Thoughts Have Occurred.

Planner – Yes! And I even filled in this week! I’ll need to adjust as I go, as things come up, but it’s at least started.

Water – Every day except two. (Usually, if I get home late from wherever I am, I skip the water so I’m not getting up to use the bathroom at night).

Darkroom – As I mentioned last week, I got all the old chemicals dumped and ready for disposal in September. These past few days I have been researching dilutions and my particular developer to see if my grand plan is going to work (using old developer, one of the chemicals for film development. I’m reading that it keeps forever if kept in a concentrated form, which I’ve done). I need one more chemical to come — I had to special order it. And then it’s developing time! (As it is, I really need to finish copyediting first, so it’s just as well.) I also bought 2 rolls of b&w infrared film which I am itching to try! I need really good sunlight, though.

Physical activity – 3 times, 2 of which were walking! Yay!

New project idea – Yeah, they’re coming fast and furious! I have an idea for a horror novel that involves a drug to resurrect people (but not as zombies!) and a limbo place between life and death, and people who are addicted to going there. And naturally, Bad Things Happen. So that’s been gnawing on my brain for about two weeks. I am going to experiment with actual plotting (ye Gods) to see if maybe I can somehow get it written faster. When, no clue! I have a lot on my plate already. I’m calling it Elysium for now.

I think that’s it! Here’s to another (hopefully) productive week!

#ROW80 Check-in #12

Annnnd I am back. I have been copyediting all week, and finished part 1 of the book and sent it back last night. Part 2 is due to hit within the next few days.

No writing. Although I may be able to do some today and tomorrow!

I’m still pretty tired, but I seem to be coming out of it. Of course daylight saving time happened last night, so that’s another goofy week for me. Oh, well.

Here’s the actual rundown:

Ever Touched – Nada, due to the copyedit. But have been having Thoughts.

Covenant/8 mins a day – Same, but Thinking about where to go next with it.

Water – Every day except two.

Planner – I fell off the wagon toward the end of the week, but today I filled in every day this coming week with something. It seems to be working better.

Darkroom – I finally decided to JUST DO IT after I wrote my ROW80 post last Sunday. It’s done! The chemicals need to be taken to the city in September for disposal, but they are ready to go! I just ordered fresh ones which should be coming in the next week or so. Also, I ordered two rolls of B&W infrared film too! Expensive, but I’m DYING to try it again! It’s a new brand for me, so it will be a total experiment, but hey, I love it and NEED to do more. So that’s covered.

Physical activity – FINALLY hit 3 times this week! And I walked a bit yesterday! Hubby and I try to walk every day when the weather’s nice, so that should be happening more often now that we’re heading into spring.

Old project/Darkweaver – This is a really old novel idea I’ve been wanting to write FOREVER but the timing hasn’t been right. I got hit on the head with a way to handle some things yesterday and I’m wondering if I should try to make time in this year’s schedule for it. I don’t know. I’d need to outline this one, and find my old notes, but it might be worth it. This proves that some books NEED to be written regardless of how long it takes. I’ve been mulling it over for 10 years. Actually, now 11. It’s supposed to be a trilogy. And it’s pretty unique, I think. I’ve always thought it’d be good for e-pub or traditional publishing. We will see!

I hope I can do more this week. 🙂

#ROW80 Check-in #11

I have been sleeping better, but I’m still exhausted, so I’ve had some issues getting things done this week (again!). I think some of it is the fibromyalgia messing with me again.

Here is the run down:

Ever Touched – Broke 50k yesterday! I wrote over 2k yesterday which is awesome! I wish I could do that every day! I wanted to hit 50k before my copyediting started. I’m supposed to get the manuscript today, so that will take priority for the rest of the month. But I still plan on working on Ever Touched when I can.

Covenant/8 minutes a day – Big fat fail on this one. No energy. Yesterday I wanted to work on it, but Real Life intruded, and by the time I had the time to do it, it was too late at night and I was ready for bed! Gah! Going to try to get back into the swing again this week.

Planner – Going better than last week! I filled in the entire week except today.

Water – Every day except one.

Physical activity – Another fail. Although today I have some cleaning to do, so that will count.

Darkroom – Another fail. Low energy + Real Life intruding. I hope that things calm down. It’s funny. All I need to do is transfer chemicals into other containers for disposal.I need to do that before I can develop the test roll. Not too difficult, but finding the time and/or energy? Not happening.

Sooooo I hope to be more productive this week. Wish me luck!

 

#ROW80 Check-in #10

Happy Day-Before-Leap-Year-Day!

So it’s been a rough week for me. I haven’t been sleeping well, so I’ve been alternately zonked and exhausted. Last night, I was a bit sicky so I had no motivation to do anything (I did write 400 words on Ever Touched though!) and I was stuck on Covenant and…yeah. Bad week. Nevertheless, I did manage some things, so that’s a win in my book!

Ever Touched – I’m up to 44k now, heading quickly toward 50k. I was a bit stuck on something but I think I’m over that. Things are picking up, and getting more interesting by the day. In March, I have copyediting to do for TDP, so my progress may be a bit less, but I’m hoping to continue to do something on it regardless.

Covenant/8 minutes a day – Hit and miss for this. I tried, I really did, but some days just getting my words in for Ever Touched was a struggle (and some days I did not make my quota). I know writing for 8 minutes doesn’t sound like it needs a lot of energy, but where I’m at in the story requires lots of forethought. And I think handling two WIPs in one day while exhausted is just too much. But luckily, I think my sleep is getting back to normal so I think I can do more of that this week. I hope.

Planner – Filled in the first 5 days and then nothing. I actually forgot about it until yesterday, oops! Will try to get this week entirely filled in.

Physical activity – Not much, although today I did 15 minutes.

Darkroom – Been putting this off due to lack of energy. It just hasn’t been there. But I will get to this, damn it!

Water – Every day except one, and 2 glasses on one day!

 

This fatigue/not sleeping well thing sucks. Hopefully I get back on track this week!

#ROW80 Check-in #9

Check-in #9!

~Ever Touched – I’m just rolling along on this. I’m about to hit 40k. I’ve done so well so far that I’m just ecstatic! I remember years ago when I had a quota of 1k a day, and then my wrists got bad, so I backed off of it. But then I did Nano last year with the same quota (to get my goal of 30k) and it went fine, so I figured I’d try again. It is working beautifully. Story-wise, I’m almost through with the setup and will be heading into the middle. Things are interesting, that’s for sure.

~Covenant/8 minutes a day – I missed a few days this week due to being absolutely stuck on something, but I believe I’m over that hump now. Up to 16k. Also, I wrote a blog post going into greater detail about 8-minute writing on the Turtleduck Press blog here. Check it out if you’re curious.

~Physical activity – twice this week, both food preparation. That’s been what this weekend has been — food prep! But it counts!

~Darkroom – I had lofty plans of working on it last night, but Real Life intruded. Important stuff, but still. I hope to get something done before the round is over!

~Planner – I sat down on Monday and filled everything in for the week.That seems to be working better, so I think I will continue to do it that way.

~Water – Every day except one.

Overall, I’ve been very tired and things have been a struggle. It didn’t help that my eye was hurting for two days straight due to a storm front. That’s kind of rare now, which is good, but I ended up taking a loopy pill because the pain was making me crazy. (And I couldn’t take it at work). But I am happy that I managed to keep up on the writing at least. I’m sort of amazed that I’ve written so much in such a short span of time. I started out at 25k from Nano (I had restarted 10 days in so I had to trash some of it) so that’s about 15k. This is fast for me, and it’s awesome. 🙂 I’m hoping, if all goes well, to have the first draft done in the next few months, and then I can revise, revise, revise. And then it won’t be such a race to the finish line like last time.

Annnd that’s it for me!

 

 

#ROW80 Check-in #8

Happy Valentine’s Day! Hubby and I are going out to eat. We don’t typically give gifts or cards these days. We’ve been together for 10 years, and I have an extensive collection of teddy bears already. 😉 And while I loooove chocolate, I don’t need it for the waistline.

So what have I accomplished this week?

Ever Touched – I broke 32k last night, and the story is taking shape. A few things I didn’t plan on, which is awesome, because I’d initially very loosely outlined it and was worried about filling in the gaps. Now I’ve got a straight line to follow which is awesome. I am also really glad I started it for Nano last year. It was not as daunting starting it back up, and now with a deadline, I would have been stressing. So, go, me!

Covenant/8 minute writing – I’ve been working on this in 8-minute increments, which is sooooo easy and not overwhelming. It also gives me time to think about what’s happening next, and there’s no pressure to produce. And I make progress every day which is awesome. I’ve managed to do this every day except Thursday.

Physical Activity – 15 minutes x 3 – yes, I managed all three. Cooking a very involved meal yesterday kept me on my feet and moving for over an hour. Various cleaning chores did the same.

Darkroom – Alas, it was not meant to be. I had planned on doing something last night, but after cooking the meal I was exhausted and didn’t feel up to it. Today’s a short day b/c we’re going out to dinner and then my in-laws are coming over, so there won’t be any time to do anything. Looking at next weekend (she says hopefully).

Planner – Been going along fine and then this week I stopped. Why? Still not quite in the mode of planning. I know that sounds crazy, but actually, I do most of my planning in my head. I remember in high school we were supposed to use a planner, which was turned in at some point (I don’t remember), and I’d write everything in at the end. I got everything done. But for some reason my brain is just not like that. I had hoped to try this method of doing things, and I’m not giving up on it. It’s just been interesting to see how it works. So, I plan (LOL) on jumping back in this week. Maybe I should fill it all out at once instead of each day? *ponders*

Water – Every day with the exception of a few. I can’t drink water after 8pm or I’m running to the bathroom all night. But any day I’m home, I drink my water after dinner.

Survivor – I have been thinking about this on and off since the new year, and would like to reinstitute Survivor Sundays. I still need to finish inputting the outline, and I also need to figure out how to work it around Ever Touched. I wonder if my 8-minute project could be Survivor on Sundays? There’s no huge rush — I mean, I’d love to finish it and starting submitting, but these next few months are to be mostly pressure free. I have a short story to revise this month yet and a short story/novella to write for an antho, but other than that, I’m pretty open on projects. It might work. I dunno.

Lastly, I sat down and logged all of my wordcounts for last year and I was stunned to find out that I only wrote 88k for the year, not 100k like I’d thought. And I only wrote 9 months out of 12. Now, Grave Touched’s release set me back considerably and afterward, I was fried. So that probably accounts for that. And getting Grave Touched out was the priority and needed to be done. I just wish I’d have a less brain recovery time afterward. Some writers I’ve heard dive right into their next project, and I have a hard time doing that. But maybe it comes with practice. So that was a bit disappointing, but hey, not all years can be about the wordcount.

Annnnd that’s it for me.

#ROW80 Check-in #7

Lucky 7!

Okay, so here’s what I’ve accomplished since Sunday’s check-in:

~8 minutes of writing per day (Covenant)
~2,331 words on Ever Touched for the past 3 days
~Water water water
~Plans to work on my darkroom this weekend
~No physical activity — I need to get back on it ASAP
~Have been filling out my weekly/monthly/daily goals in my planner

I also started working out some more plot details for Ever Touched. It’s getting interesting. I just hope I can pull it off.

How are you doing with yours goals?

#ROW80 Check-in #6

It’s Sunday already? Where’d all the time go?

It’s been a fairly productive week for me. Here’s what I’ve accomplished:

~I finished Fireborn! Yay!
~I’ve managed to drink water almost every day this week again. Double yay!
~I started my 8 minutes thing with Covenant yesterday. 485 words.
~I began inputting the new Survivor outline into Scrivener.
~I’ve read over and re-organized my Ever Touched document.
~15 minutes of physical activity twice this week
~I’ve been filling out my planner with each weekly and daily goals on an ongoing basis since the first week of January.
~Assessed the state of my darkroom and have decided to start dumping the old chemicals as soon as possible so I can order new ones.

I hit a bit of a stumbling block on Covenant. I know what’s supposed to come next, and since this is going to be a novella versus a novel, I have to keep the action tight. But as usual, I’m pantsing it, and I’m not sure how to execute the next few scenes. So that needs to get worked out.

I trust that my muse will toss something my way. 😉

Fireborn will need some serious work once I switch back to it. I’m not sure when that’s going to be – I had hoped to release it this year. I probably still can, but I have a few things that are more urgent – copyediting in March for the next TDP book, a story for an anthology, and of course, Ever Touched. So I’m not sure. I think the first half is pretty solid, for the most part. I think it’s the second half that needs the most work. We shall see.

I’d love to start Survivor Sundays but need to get the rest of the new outline inputted before I try that.

Annnd that’s it for me.

#ROW80 Check-in #5

Here we are again with a ROW80 check-in.

~I’ve been drinking water pretty much every day, so that’s a win!
~I’ve finished the Changeling 4 revision
~I’ve read over Fireborn and am planning how to end it. That’s the first priority.
~I have a deadline for Ever Touched, so after Fireborn is done, I’ll be working on that.
~I haven’t started the 8-min writing thing yet. For the past few days, my attention hasn’t been there. I think I’m still a bit worn out after revising and submitting Pirouette/Death Dancer. Will try to start this week. I am thinking of working on Covenant, since it’s already in progress and I know the basic plot and I want to finish it ASAP to publish.
~Would like to re-institute Survivor Sundays
~Did my 15 minutes of physical activity twice this week
~No darkroom. I’ve had a serious lack of time. Maybe next weekend.

So things are happening. I just need to get back into the swing again. Things tend to derail or mess with my momentum, and I’d like to figure out a way to keep that from happening.

How have you done on your goals this week?