Learning a Lesson from a Failed Goal

Good morning, everyone.  Here is my progress and a lesson from yesterday.  First, progress.  I intended to write chapters 5-7 yesterday and did not complete them, not even one word.  As humiliating as it is to admit that, I learned a lesson from it.

Lesson:  Every day requires a specific balance of various elements.  For me it is writing, people interaction, a specific reward for that day's work, and a bit of alone time with my boyfriend to catch up on our days.  With the intention of writing, I went to the library to work.  But I could not bring myself to face my story.  It was a matter of nearing burnout.  I just wanted to do something fun, as in, something not related to my story.  But this was work time.  I tried to get focused, but everything I thought about just put me in a tense, very unproductive mode.  I kept thinking about watching a movie on Netflix.  So I finally put all my things away and just gave myself permission to do it.

The result:  I learned I need to schedule my fun time just as I need to schedule my writing time.  I have a new plan I'm going to try that keeps writing, interaction, reward and time with my boyfriend much better balanced.  The great thing about a plan is you can always change it to better suit you.  I found that working on writing nine hours a day does not work for me right now.  I was able to do it for a couple days, but I need a schedule I can follow long-term and still keep my writing fun.  It's hard to do things when they're not fun.

So my new goal for today is just to complete chapter 5.  I would rather have a goal I can reach and surpass than one I never even start on.

Happy writing to everyone.  And don't give up.

My Writing Process and the Next Three Chapters

Very busy day yesterday, but still worked on my book.  I have been watching a YouTube channel called #Katytastic.  Right now I'm watching Katy's video on outlining with Scrivner.  Although this is not my favorite channel to watch, I have found some very useful information about outlining and organizing a book.  I take what I need instead of trying to do my work exactly as someone else does.

Yesterday I completed untangling my first five chapter ideas.  When I first began this book, I did not start with an outline, a plan or even the germ of an idea.  I just grabbed a stack of paper and began writing.  I wanted to feel like I was doing something, making progress on a book.  And as I wrote, the idea began developing before I had completed the first page.  Several pages down the road I knew I wanted to develop my idea into a full book.  So I began my outlining process.  (My process so far is no more complex than taking a piece of paper and numbering 1-10 to begin writing down my plot points.  Along with that I keep a running list of notes, ideas and plot progress as the story unfolds to me.)  I planned out the first three chapters or so as I was writing them.

Then, a week and a half ago I set a deadline to finish the book.  So my first step was to finish outlining the book to make sure my chapters would head in the right direction (at this point they were going a bit here and there, uncertain at times which way to go next because I didn't yet have a clear conclusion to the book).  So in about 2 or 3 days of work, I made a detailed outline/plan for the rest of the book.  Wow!  Hard work I tell you.  I think that's the first time I ever felt exhausted from working on fiction.  But at the same time it was fun and I felt so great that I KNEW I was making progress.  I had pages of notes I could show for my efforts.

After the planning was complete, my first four chapters proved to be a bit of a jungle gym, having to climb all over to follow the story, so I literally cut and pasted (everything is written out longhand so far) the different bits into the chapters they were supposed to go according to my outline.

So that's what I achieved yesterday.  I am all organized and ready to start on today's work.  I am not revealing the deadline at this time because the work for this book keeps growing and I have to move the date to accommodate.  My book almost doubled in length after I completed the outlining process, so that's obviously going to require more days than I originally scheduled.

With my updated work plan for the book, I will be completing chapters 5-7 today.  Thanks for stopping in.  Check back tomorrow to see how I did on my three chapters for the day.  And good luck with your own writing.  If you would like to share your current work in progress, whether it's writing or some other art, or just progress on where you want to get in life, please leave a comment below or on my Facebook page.  I would love to hear from you.