wrimies | Entries tagged with daily progress

Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself. It’s a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent.”
— Harper Lee

I needed the reminder today that I'm doing this to please myself, and not an imaginary audience. Things I had plotted were falling apart, and I had to just take a deep breath, wander outside for a bit, and just let it go. Freaking out about things I can't do in this project isn't going to get me to my goal, but accepting how those anxieties are making this project less enjoyable than it should be, and letting them go? Yeah, today was pretty big in the land of Kol & getting my goals accomplished.

What did you learn about your project today?

kol

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.

- Walter Elliott

I think this is my favorite quote so far XD.

How have you persevered today? Anything you are hoping to change to make creative-time a habit?

kol

“I’m not a big fan of inspiration. I’m too old to sit and wait for the muse to give me a little kiss… I write a lot, and I’m not afraid to make mistakes or to write badly. I can always fix something weak and dull. But I can’t fix a blank page.”
— Ron Koertge

How goes your fight against a blank page (or a blank photoshop document :D)?

kol

“When asked, “How do you write?” I invariably answer, “One word at a time.”
— Stephen King

It is entirely possible to make 365 drawings in a single day. There are some writers who have finished Nanowrimo's 50,000 words in 24 hours. And there are many more who dream about creating great works, yet never take that first step, too overwhelmed by the sheer size of mountain that sits before them.

Daily objectives for your creative projects can help you climb that mountain, one step at a time. 50,000 words in 30 days breaks down to 1,667 words a day, a much more manageable chunk of writing to achieve rather than focusing on the entirety of the book. But there is a downside to having the same daily goal for the month-- not everyone can sustain the same levels of creativity for each day. I myself have yet to write each day for a particular Nanowrimo challenge (I did manage a personal best 27 days in 2005 :D).

So today's question is two-fold-- how do you approach breaking down your project into bite-sized chunks? And do you plan for the possibility of days you know you won't be able to create?

kol

"You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke." ~Arthur Polotnik

For the vast majority of participants, Nanowrimo is not a project that will leave you with a polished first draft, ready to be sold to the highest bidder. This is a challenge of quantity, not quality, and there's no shame in admitting it. The goal of the month is clear-- write 50,000 words (or, using one of our trio of clauses, satisfy a goal of your own devising). Most novels these days are much larger, which means for the vast majority of us, we won't even end the month with a finished project. And that's perfectly fine!

I find November a bit easier to tackle when I think that this month is not about finishing a project, but about achieving your goals. It turns November into a month of exploring the unknown rather than time spent polishing a gem to perfectly reveal the layers inside.

And I don't know about you guys, but I'd much rather be an explorer than a jeweler! So what did you guys explore today? And how did everyone's first day go?

(For anyone just joining us this year, a proper fiery send off to the challenge can be found on last year's first post.)

kol

You just keep pushing. You just keep pushing. I made every mistake that could be made. But I just kept pushing. ~ Rene Mcpherson

What did you push through today?

kol

I am a slow walker, but I never walk backwards.~ Abraham Lincoln

STOP HITTING THE DELETE KEY OR I'LL DELETE IT RIGHT OFF YOUR KEYBOARD. That goes double for me! Backspace does not exist until December 1st!

With that in mind, how is everyone doing at the half way point?

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Savage Garden - To The Moon & Back

pictishmouse

O HAI. ^_^ Since Kol is working like a dog, I thought I'd make the daily post. XD I have no awesome quote to share, but maybe my accomplishment for the day can inspire you.

How did I go from absolute zero over the past two days to this? One little step. I just did one little thing, and it wasn't even really a drawing thing -- I made the background using a Photoshop tool. That's it. That was enough to inspire me to start playing with basic colours for the motorcycle (and I am CURSING MYSELF LIKE CRAZY that I gave Dusty a black motorcycle XD). One thing lead to another, and there it is. ^___^

So maybe if you find yourself in a similar position -- intimidated by the project, stuck and unable to think a way out of a problem -- just take one little step. Doesn't have to be a fancy step, or even a step that'll end up in your project; maybe answer a prompt somewhere else with one of the characters from your novel, or write up a quick, silly little vignette. That can be the one tiny little thing you need to shake that creative logjam loose. <3

Current Mood: *cheerleading*

kol

“If you don’t have daily objectives, you qualify as a dreamer.” ~ Zig Ziglar

What's your daily objective? It may seem like an odd question to ask this late in the game, but trust me, this is perfect timing. We are four days in, perfect time to re-evaluate what realistic daily goals are. Mine change on a daily basis, depending on my work schedule and how I feel. Some people maintain the same goals all month and win Nanowrimo without breaking a sweat. Where do you fall?

Current Mood: amused

kol

Loafing is the most productive part of a writer's life. ~James Norman Hall

The worst thing you can do is sit down and expect to write 50,000 words in one sitting. It can be done in a single day, but it is doubtful you'd end up with anything of salvageable quality and you would have destroyed your wrists. That's why you have an entire month to knock back 50,000 words, to pace yourself and give you enough time to rest between writing sessions.

Exhaustion kills novels. Try and write too much in one session and you'll know precisely why. The brain needs time to recover from writing, and usually by day three people need a break.

So take a shower. Go for a walk-- there is a world outside your computer, and trust me, it is filled with all sorts of things you can steal for your novel. Go on a mini adventure, recharge that creative brain. Trust me, your novel will still be waiting for you when you get back. Just don't use this as an excuse to skip writing today!

What did you do today?

kol

There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein. ~Walter Wellesley “Red“ Smith

I lied yesterday. The most important lesson I've learned in my eight years of beating Nanowrimo isn't to write one word. No, lesson #1 is to ignore the 50,000 word giant in the room. Don't obsess over all those words. If all you do is focus on how ridiculously far away you are from your goal, you'll never find success. You'll never find the motivation or the momentum to finish. Narrow your focus instead to what you can accomplish-- your daily goal.

1,667 words are all you need to write each day to win Nanowrimo. 1,667 words are manageable. They aren't intimidating. They aren't that nasty giant number, breathing down your neck, whispering how close to failure you are. 1,667 words can be knocked out by most people in 1 to 2 hours.

Focus on what you can accomplish in a single day. Leave the worrying for the last week and just write.

What did you accomplish today?

kol

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

50,000 words. 30 days. Nanowrimo (or whatever project you are using November to finish) can seem like a nasty, invincible giant you only have 30 pebbles to defeat it with. How can you knock such a beast down? It can be easy to get lost in how much you have to do all month, easy to be defeated by that 50,000 word target. Plenty of people are defeated by Nanowrimo, so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of words they cannot put a single word down on paper.

There are many tricks to beating Nanowrimo, and I hope to impart all the ones I've learned over the next 30 days. But the most important one I've found is to turn on your computer, put your fingers on the keyboard, and type out your first word.

People get so overwhelmed on the first day of a writing challenge, they frequently fail to put down that first word. They give up before they start, defeated by how much they need to do. But just by writing that single, glorious word? You've finished .002% of your novel.

See, that was easy! Now comes the hard part, follow up. Write another word. And another. Pretty soon you'll hit 500 words, and guess what? YOU HAVE WRITTEN 1% OF YOUR NOVEL. 1% OF YOUR NOVEL IN ONE DAY! YOU ARE AMAZING :D But you know what? I think you can do more. I think you can get to 2%, no problem. Just keep taking those small step forward, word after word, and you'll reach your goal at the end of the month.

I know all of you can do this. We're all going to be rockstars this month and have wonderful projects at the end of the month! But lets worry about the end later-- how far did you get today?

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31

Wrimies: A Novel+ Productivity Community

Entries tagged with daily progress

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

Day 3! My official 8th Nano begins today X3

(no subject)

(no subject)

Profile

December 2012

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags