Writerly
Well, actually, I have kind of fallen down on the job already: a day late for my check-in; and my goal is an average of 500 words a day (40,000 words by the end of the round). I am up to 3197, but I should be up to 5500 by the end of today. The truth is, the Easter weekend threw me, and I haven't caught a gear since. Day's not over yet, though...
In all, I am pleased with the endeavor so far. By the first official day I had already done a few practice days and was getting in the habit. The second day I wrote long on something that was tough but promising to me, and I lost it when my browser froze. Not encouraging, to say the least. I'd hate to think what will happen when I come to the proverbial day when I lose a really important file, like a whole novel--which I'm given the impression happens sooner or later to every writer. Maybe by then I will be so fit that the event will not be so crushing as it appears to be from the distance of today.
The third day was busy and I leaped around a bit to get my count in, and that's when I noticed two things. "Writers write," they say, and I finally felt justified again in my interior claim to the title. I have been regularly writing, and I have plans. This is no small thing, because I have, in a swampish, deep gray place in my heart, been doubting whether, even if God meant for me to be a writer, had given me the gifts, I would ever do anything to justify the idea. I was no longer fighting against letting the dream sink. (The Parable of the Talents comes strongly to mind.) But I am a writer, and it is good to have that part of me alive and awake again.
Also, leaping around to make up the 500 words was actually much more productive than I anticipated. I am documenting ideas, but also I am developing them; and inch by inch, word by word, they take shape. I do not have to worry yet about slogging along on one major project. In a chat I recently participated in for the CWCO, the presenter mentioned that she had written one of her novels by committing to writing at least one sentence a day, which basically happened in her bathroom at night. I have found it true that leaping around different ideas, rather being than a cop-out or cheat to making my word count, is actually effective in moving me along.
I also took a suggestion from reader/fellow writer AmyBeth Inverness and will probably only check in once a week from now on. Next time I'll share a few of the things that keep me writing.
In all, I am pleased with the endeavor so far. By the first official day I had already done a few practice days and was getting in the habit. The second day I wrote long on something that was tough but promising to me, and I lost it when my browser froze. Not encouraging, to say the least. I'd hate to think what will happen when I come to the proverbial day when I lose a really important file, like a whole novel--which I'm given the impression happens sooner or later to every writer. Maybe by then I will be so fit that the event will not be so crushing as it appears to be from the distance of today.
The third day was busy and I leaped around a bit to get my count in, and that's when I noticed two things. "Writers write," they say, and I finally felt justified again in my interior claim to the title. I have been regularly writing, and I have plans. This is no small thing, because I have, in a swampish, deep gray place in my heart, been doubting whether, even if God meant for me to be a writer, had given me the gifts, I would ever do anything to justify the idea. I was no longer fighting against letting the dream sink. (The Parable of the Talents comes strongly to mind.) But I am a writer, and it is good to have that part of me alive and awake again.
Also, leaping around to make up the 500 words was actually much more productive than I anticipated. I am documenting ideas, but also I am developing them; and inch by inch, word by word, they take shape. I do not have to worry yet about slogging along on one major project. In a chat I recently participated in for the CWCO, the presenter mentioned that she had written one of her novels by committing to writing at least one sentence a day, which basically happened in her bathroom at night. I have found it true that leaping around different ideas, rather being than a cop-out or cheat to making my word count, is actually effective in moving me along.
I also took a suggestion from reader/fellow writer AmyBeth Inverness and will probably only check in once a week from now on. Next time I'll share a few of the things that keep me writing.
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