Month: April 2019

April 8–20 progress

Lynn

I am definitely on to something with the “no sweets before 1,000 words” thing. April has been a great writing month so far and I’m putting the credit for that entirely on that little rule I’ve been following.

Yeah, I’ve had one or two days overall where I’ve not reached 1,000 words and gone to bed without any sweets at all, but that’s it. And yeah, it sounds like a phenomenally bad idea to give myself sweet treats for writing, considering how bad too much sugar is for a body, but I would have eaten the sweets anyway, and more of them, frankly, because I have a serious sweet tooth. This little rule has tamed it quite a lot.

It’s amazing what I’ll push myself through to get a cup of cocoa. :-)

April 8–20: 22,103 words.

April-to-date: 33,792 words.

Unfortunately, my current book has gone long. I’d have been done with it 18,000 words ago if it hadn’t. Now I’m just pushing to get it finished so I can start in earnest on the other book that’s desperate to get out of me. :-)

One thing I’ve noticed lately is that I really don’t like to blog or journal when the writing is going really well. I don’t know if it’s because I’m so ready to get started with the actual writing of the story that I don’t want to waste time doing this other writing, or if it’s that the journal and blog writing actually steal some of my motivation to write. Don’t know. Don’t actually care. I’m just glad to be writing my fiction regularly again.

On that note, I’m going to get back to the writing.

Writing weather

Lynn

Very much looking forward to warmer weather tomorrow.

I’ve heard lots of writers talk about winter as writing weather, but that’s just not for me.

1. I hate the cold and I especially hate trying to type with cold fingers.

2. I don’t mind the heat of warmer weather at all. Sweat is always preferable to chill-bumps. :D

3. I hate getting outside in the heat. Mostly because I’m terribly allergic to mosquito bites (welts that itch like a son of a bitch) and I somehow attract every mosquito within a mile of my “swampy” mountain property. (I live in a low lying area at the top of a mountain. Weird, I know, but yes, it actually is swampy.) So staying in and writing is a perfect alternative for me. :D

4. Sunlight. It gives me energy, makes me feel better, and improves my mood dramatically. So I sit outside in the sun long enough to get some sun each day that I can, and I don’t mind a tan. In fact, my skin tone is particularly appreciative of a little daily sun. It improves my writing and I do more writing in the summer as a general rule. (Well, I ran the numbers and discovered that this is only sort of true. My worst months are January, December, and June, in that order. My best months are July, November, and April. It’s a strange thing. It looks like I have one good month a quarter and one bad and one mediocre. How fitting. Goes to show that what we think we know, we don’t actually know.)

5. That’s it! I don’t like winter for writing and I do like summer. :-) Might just be my overall preference for warm weather and the summer months.

April 1–7 progress

Lynn

The first week of April has gone really well for my writing. And my writing is going really well too. I feel like I’m on to something with the no sweets before 1,000 words thing. It’s working for me right now amazingly well. I’m surprised I haven’t tried something like this before.

Maybe I have, but it just wasn’t the time. Or I didn’t put it together quite right.

1,000 words isn’t my ultimate daily goal. That’s still 2,000 words. But it is the minimum I’d like to see myself doing every day that I haven’t planned as an actual rest day (or a true sick day).

For the moment, all I can do is keep doing what I’m doing for as long as it works. I’ve said before, many times, that I’m really at a place where I want to start finishing more of my books faster, because I’m terrified I’m going to run out of time to get them written, then I’m going to die with all these stories untold. The funny thing is, I don’t even have actual ideas for a great many of these stories, I just know they’re there, in my head and my heart, waiting to come to me. My series need me to continue them. They’re not done, and the characters aren’t ready for it to be over either.

So there you go. My motivation to get better, to learn to write faster, to keep going even when it’s hard. If I sound a little crazy, I promise you it’s just the fiction talking. :-)

April 1–7: 11,689 words.

March 2019 progress

Lynn

Words written in March: 15,742.

Almost dead on ten times the number of words written in February, so that’s a win.

I’m no longer following the schedule, except in the most casual way. Five days ago I started following a new rule: no sweets until after I write 1,000 words.

Since then I’ve had five 1,000+ word days in a row. I do love my sweets. :)

This little routine has also helped me cut down my sweets, because I’m not exactly speedy when it comes to my words. I’ve eaten a lot fewer sweets because of that lack of speed. Nothing’s changed in how I write, and I have ended up working at it till the end of the day several times. But I’ve gotten started early every day and I’ve been doing a lot better with this routine than any of the others I’ve tried.

As I said before, I do love my sweets. :D

Might turn out to be the best option I’ve ever tried to get myself to work diligently earlier in the day.

I’m still aiming for 2,000 words a day (consistently), but right now, I’ll take the 1,000.

I’m not using timers except when I am. I guess I should say I’m not using timers to get me started or to keep me writing. I’m just using them occasionally because I sit down and I think I’d really like to use a timer right now. Hell if I know why I feel that need sometimes, but I do, and I let myself do it. Half the time, I turn the timer off before it’s even done. I don’t know why I do that either.

So, final verdict? March was better, despite struggling with a kidney stone and nearly poking my eye out. :)

Let’s see what April brings.