#ROW80 Final Check-in Round 2

I’ve been so insanely busy that I missed the two previous check-ins. But I wanted to make this one for sure.

As you know, I’ve made some decent progress on several projects. I’ve finished just shy of 10k, which is 25k below my initial goal. Life took some big swings at me, and I haven’t been writing as much. I’ve been mostly editing, which I didn’t factor into my total numbers. I’m finally finished with Reaper Girl and all that’s left is copyedits on the other stories (and Reaper Girl at the end). After that’s put to bed, my next priority is the Grave Touched rewrite. That really, really, really needs to get going again. I think I wrote only once on it this month. I’m ~40k in, ~80k to go.

So next round, that will be the priority. And possibly a side project, just to keep my muse from gnawing on me too much.

Final stats!

Words written: ~10,000
Words remaining: ~25,000
Projects worked on: 4 (Reaper Girl, Awaken Me, Soulfire, and Grave Touched)
Times wrist was a problem: 2
Times used voice recognition: 1
Times FINIS: 1 (Reaper Girl)
Chocolate consumption: 29 mentions total, 5 mentions of “a lot” or “too much,” 2 mentions of “none.” (!!!)
Music: Adam Lambert, In Flames, Def Leppard, Within Temptation, Goo Goo Dolls, The Fray, Device, Halestorm

Annnnd that’s it for this round. Thanks for visiting.

Year of No Fear – 2014 Manifesto – May Progress Report

May was the month where I finally made some awesome headway on conquering my fears. Here’s what I did:

~Poetry: Wrote 10 (!!) drafts, edited 2 old drafts, and 3 of the 10 poems written were about a subject I haven’t been able to write about for 5 years. I’d say that’s progress!

~Photography: First shoot done on 5/10. Low light/Church. Beautiful pictures. 😀

~Erotica: I started Awaken Me on 5/4, a novella about cat shifters. Still in progress.

~Self-portraits: Been taking them hit and miss. Still nothing artsy, but I have been keeping my eye out for something cool to wear that won’t break the bank.

~Revision: Restarting Grave Touched today or tomorrow.

~New project: Although it’s not technically part of my Year of No Fear, I did start a new novel called Soulfire. It has a cool concept. Usually, I’d wait till I finished something, but I feared (!!) the enthusiasm and ideas would just vanish. Or it would take over and I’d mess up my deadlines. Well, no. I decided to start on it anyway and work on it when I could. I am trusting that I can do this without screwing things up.

So I’m pretty happy with what I’ve done so far. Here’s to much more!

#ROW80 Check-in 6/1/14

Here we are again!  I missed Wednesday’s Check-in (the first time so far!) because hubby and I were out that evening and by the time I got back, I was so tired.  So I skipped.  *shifty look*   But I’m back now!

Writing’s been going very, very slowly.  I can’t really figure it out — between Soulfire and Awaken Me, I’ve got a ton of inspiration, but no motivation to write.  Part of it might be my back — I’ve been having some pretty severe pain.

This month is revision month for both Reaper Girl and Grave Touched.  Revisions for Reaper Girl are due back on the 22nd, and I’d like to make some good progress on Grave Touched before the end of the month.  We shall see.

Stats!

Words written: 927 words/7,351 total
Words remaining: 27,649 words
What’s happening: The words were on both WIPs.
What’s next: Both of these will be on hold for awhile, unfortunately.
Feeling: Extremely unmotivated
Eye report: Okay.
Back report: So far, so good. *knocks on cyber-wood*
Chocolate consumption: Too much!  We had a birthday party yesterday, and there was Sander’s Chocolate Bumpy cake, Chocolate Brownie ice cream.  Today I’ve already devoured a box of Junior Mints….
Mood music: Device and Halestorm

#ROW80 Check-in 5/25/14 – Slow and steady

Happy early Memorial Day everyone!

I’ve been voice reccing but yesterday I decided to try to type again. I wrote 544 words and no twinges in the wrist. I’ll try again today sometime, but if it starts getting twinge-y again, it’s back to voice rec. I’m also dropping to 500 words a day for awhile. (Usually I just write as much as I can. In April, the goal was 1k a day and I wonder if that made things worse. But I have no regrets. It’s a great story).

Will probably continue with Soulfire. In June, I’ll be starting back up with Grave Touched. I hope to do a reread of the draft before then.

We have no real plans for the holiday. We’re having a BBQ next weekend instead — one of our family members wants his birthday party and BBQ. We figured two weeks in a row would kill us (and the calories, zomg!). So it’s business as usual tomorrow. Hubby and I are going to see Divergent. I just finished the first two books, and I’m working on the third. So far, so good. I love a good conspiracy. 😉

Stats!

Words written: 544 words/6,424 words total
Words remaining: 28,576 words
What’s happening: Kyla is about to find out some very life-altering truths.
What’s next: The four sisters must convince her that everything they’re saying is true. Tough when they’re not even human.
Feeling: Not bad. Optimistic
Eye report: Great.
Chocolate consumption: Let’s see..several WW snacks, a few mini-Twix (ice cream) bars…
Mood music: In Flames

#ROW80 Check-in 5/21/14 – Voice Recognition fun

Here we are with another check-in. I am using voice recognition to type this post. It has been so far somewhat frustrating, but necessary as my wrist hasn’t felt any better. The last time I used voice recognition was six years ago. I wrote 57k of a novel for Nano. It was quite difficult, as I suffered from frequent migraines from the headset. This is a bit easier, using Windows speech-to-text and not needing a headset. However, I am planning on buying a headset that is less heavy once I have the money. I do prefer Dragon, but at this point, I’ll do anything to continue writing.

So far, I’ve written 179 words on the resurrected version of Soulfire. I’m hoping to speed up a bit as I go. Currently, I’m spending most of my time correcting mistakes. But it is getting easier. And it does learn as you go.

Stats!

Words written: 179 words / 5,880 words total
Words remaining: 29,120 words
What’s happening: It’s the first scene. The main character is being interviewed.
What’s next: I’m not sure. I think she will be discovered by her own kind (she’s not human).
Feeling: slightly frustrated, but it should pass.
Eye report: totally fine.
Chocolate consumption: Heh, heh, heh. Way too much (just today = A chocolate ice cream bar and a WW chocolate bar….)
Mood music: Silence for now. Voice recognition more or less requires that.

#ROW80 Check-in 5/18/14

Doing fairly good over here. I’m writing again, hoping the wrist holds up. I’m considering going back to voice recognition, at least part of the time. I need a new headset though — the one you get is heavy and gives me migraines. I found a smaller, less bulky Bluetooth headset on Amazon. Just need the money to buy it (it’s not cheap).

Awaken Me is going well. I’m pretty much winging it, and the plot is moving a bit faster than I planned. I think that’s okay, actually, as I want it to be no longer than, say, 50k. Possibly less.

I also wrote some poetry — 2 poems and 1 haiku. It feels nice to be writing poetry again. I’ve been jotting down every single possible phrase that comes to my mind that remotely sounds poetic. Just need to get deeper into the mindset. I used to write a ton of poems a day — well, actually, they were freewrites that I turned into poems. This is before I started writing novels. I’d like to — ideally — write 1000 poems. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s something to aim for, and there’s no deadline, really. (I got the idea from another poet’s website. He actually gave himself a deadline, though.)

And lastly…my muse wants me to write the first scene of Soulfire today. After weeks of procrastinating, she’s saying today’s the day. Muses are crazy sometimes.

Stats!

Words written: 1,101 words / 5,701 words total
Words remaining: 29,299 words
What’s happening: Beth is discovering some stunning secrets about herself
What’s next: Her initiation into the group
Feeling: Okay, I suppose. Wrist is already getting twinge-y, dang it.
Eye report: Twinge-y but tolerable
Chocolate consumption: At least a few pieces a day since the last check-in. It helps stimulate brain cells. *nod, nod*
Mood music: The Fray and the Goo Goo Dolls