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My kids are away for 3.5 weeks, and that means 3.5 weeks of
nothing but writing! Usually I jam this time with house projects, get-togethers
with friends and mini vacations with my husband.
But this summer, I decided to do something different. The
school year was crazy and the coming one looks to be just as busy. Weekends
have been full of my children’s social activities—I now understand why my
mother used to say she wanted to be buried in her car! My time to write has
been severely diminished.
So I decided to take a page from my February activity and
devote the entire time to writing. Back in February, I did a 30k challenge and
I was so productive! This summer, I’m doing a less-formal, independent version
of the same thing. Every day, I’m writing at least 1,000 words in each of my
manuscripts. I can take a break during weekends, because I really do want to
spend some alone time with my husband (and we really do need to get some house
projects done), but otherwise, I write.
So far, I’ve been very successful. I’ve kept a running tally
of how many words I’ve written—it’s in my computerized to-do list, so it pops
up on my screen everyday (talk about motivation!). I’ve written 6,415 words in
three days.
My long-term goal is to have at least one of my manuscripts
completed by the NJRW Conference in October, so I can pitch agents. My short-term goal is to continue the momentum
when the kids return from camp, even if I can only work on one manuscript per
day. If I make the short-term goal, I should be able to meet my long-term one
as well.
I’ll keep you posted! What are your summer writing plans?
Yay for you, Jen! Those goals really help move us along, don't they.
ReplyDeleteI always have big plans to write in the summer too, since I'm off. Up until now, I haven't been very productive, but toward the end of last week the muse finally poked its head out and I've written about three thousand words in three days. So, hey, I'm right on track with your 1000 words a day. :)
Good for you to be AHEAD of the game with over 2,000 per day so far. Good luck and definitely keep us posted.
Ah, I do love summer...
You'll do just fine, Debra and I'm glad the muse hit! And we're both equal, I'm just working on 2 manuscripts at the same time (because I'm nuts).
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with your summer writing projects. Sounds like you're both doing great so far!
ReplyDeleteI opted out of the FB 100K words in 100 days (starting on July 1st, because I've just completed the first draft of my WIP, so my 'summer' (if that's what you can call it here in England!) project is to revise, polish, edit, tweak etc etc until it's ready for submission.
My summer writing plans are non-existent. Between the garden, the soup building, Rachel's filming, sun, bugs and grandchildren, I am braindead by sundown, which comes about 10 pm this time of year. I am thinking a lot, critiquing, taking some classes, but saving up my writing time for next winter, when work is slow and the days short.
ReplyDeleteAmazing how the older kids get the more hectic life becomes. Good luck with the writing. Writing during May and June were sporadic for me at best. To the point when I seriously entertained thoughts of deleting my blog. But now it is July and I have signed on for month long challenges to get the fire burning under me again. Looking forward to writing more.
ReplyDeleteKathy
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com
Paula, I consider editing and polishing just as important as writing!
ReplyDeleteAna, your life is busier than I could ever imagine. And you do a great job writing in the off-season!
Kathy, you're so right. Even though they're self-sufficient, I have so much less time to write than I used to. It's ridiculous. But I'm so glad you're not getting rid of your blog--I LOVE it!