Ok well hmm. How AM I doing on those goals? What were they again?
#1 - bottom in chair 30/day, mon-fri.
#2 - Edit/crit/write one poem/wk
#3 - take weekends off for family time.
#4 - New goal - don't let the damned plants die
#5 - second new goal - take dinner meals a little more seriously
The loveliness that is ROW 80 (round of words in 80 days) is that goals should, er, reflect/respond to real life.
So, how did I do since Sunday?
Monday - a barely functioning day. Lost my 30 minutes. No poetry. Watered plants. Must have cooked something. Went to son's baseball game and saw the game time open with two does tearing around the fields and smashing into fences. There's something you don't see everyday.....
Tuesday - still unpacking from weekend trip, unearthed to-do list. Put off writing until writers group session in the evening. Zip for poetry, checked the plants, defaulted dinner to a frozen pizza and a really good fruit 'salad'. At writer's group, did 540 words (about 1/4 too many for the scene) and wrote with minor cute baby interruptions for about 40 minutes. The power of the bottom in the chair. Oh, yeah, and I successfully (finally) ensured the trucker body will be found several pages later - I just haven't figured out in what condition.;-) 1 missing scene down, 9 to go. This story feels more than 2/3 done - yay! (wait, I may have said this before)
Wednesday - checking in now, trying to plan where the 30 minutes will show up today. Let alone the cooking/errands......stuff. Travel may be broadening, but it's heck on routines. I am utterly afloat here.
Despite my love of poetry, I seem to be incapable of tackling it lately - our family schedule keeps ramping up and these kids aren't going to raise themselves. And to be honest, I'm the last person to 'come up' with a great poem on my own - if they show up, I'll write them down, but if I force the effort, they just...kinda stink! In fact, lame, labored, and pointless is the usual result.
So, poetry is more on the wish list than the goal list, but that's okay. If I finish the WIP I can read and/or write as much poetry when and where and how I wish.
What I will say about ROW 80 is that if not for it, I'd not have anything but an idea for a WIP. I would not have 17 more pages of story, and I certainly wouldn't have other writer's willing to let me read their work - which has helped me almost more than I helped them. And I wouldn't have a friend who read myself and said 'you HAVE to finish this'.
It's better than where I was before :-) And if you want to pop in to see who is Seriously rocking this challenge, the list is below :-)
I hope everyone has a great week and weekend, summer feels like it is just around the corner. And wow, did ANYONE see that moon last night? That should inspire something, right?
S.
#1 - bottom in chair 30/day, mon-fri.
#2 - Edit/crit/write one poem/wk
#3 - take weekends off for family time.
#4 - New goal - don't let the damned plants die
#5 - second new goal - take dinner meals a little more seriously
The loveliness that is ROW 80 (round of words in 80 days) is that goals should, er, reflect/respond to real life.
So, how did I do since Sunday?
Monday - a barely functioning day. Lost my 30 minutes. No poetry. Watered plants. Must have cooked something. Went to son's baseball game and saw the game time open with two does tearing around the fields and smashing into fences. There's something you don't see everyday.....
Tuesday - still unpacking from weekend trip, unearthed to-do list. Put off writing until writers group session in the evening. Zip for poetry, checked the plants, defaulted dinner to a frozen pizza and a really good fruit 'salad'. At writer's group, did 540 words (about 1/4 too many for the scene) and wrote with minor cute baby interruptions for about 40 minutes. The power of the bottom in the chair. Oh, yeah, and I successfully (finally) ensured the trucker body will be found several pages later - I just haven't figured out in what condition.;-) 1 missing scene down, 9 to go. This story feels more than 2/3 done - yay! (wait, I may have said this before)
Wednesday - checking in now, trying to plan where the 30 minutes will show up today. Let alone the cooking/errands......stuff. Travel may be broadening, but it's heck on routines. I am utterly afloat here.
Despite my love of poetry, I seem to be incapable of tackling it lately - our family schedule keeps ramping up and these kids aren't going to raise themselves. And to be honest, I'm the last person to 'come up' with a great poem on my own - if they show up, I'll write them down, but if I force the effort, they just...kinda stink! In fact, lame, labored, and pointless is the usual result.
So, poetry is more on the wish list than the goal list, but that's okay. If I finish the WIP I can read and/or write as much poetry when and where and how I wish.
What I will say about ROW 80 is that if not for it, I'd not have anything but an idea for a WIP. I would not have 17 more pages of story, and I certainly wouldn't have other writer's willing to let me read their work - which has helped me almost more than I helped them. And I wouldn't have a friend who read myself and said 'you HAVE to finish this'.
It's better than where I was before :-) And if you want to pop in to see who is Seriously rocking this challenge, the list is below :-)
I hope everyone has a great week and weekend, summer feels like it is just around the corner. And wow, did ANYONE see that moon last night? That should inspire something, right?
S.
By friend, I hope you mean me when I said, "you HAVE to finish this" :) If it wasn't me, then now you have two people saying it!
ReplyDeleteyeppers, my dear - that would be you ;-) Got good feedback on my evil trucker scene last night - too wordy though - so I'm hoping to slam together 2 more scenes this week - hate losing momentum!!
ReplyDeleteTime for me to bop over and see what you're up to - btw - really wanting to do new reading.
ahem.
Well? ;-)
Hi, Shari. Thanks for the chat just now. I was a little behind in reading your posts. I hope you know that although I am not a fellow writer/poet/artist, you have my support! And I very much enjoy reading your work and your posts....! We'll have to have a "toast" to the neighborhood as summer settles in.....
ReplyDeleteWatering plant and keeping them alive is an excellent goal. Too late for me this month, but excellent nonetheless. Congrats on the bottom in chair time.
ReplyDeleteHey Jeanine - I'm always happy when you stop by - the blog or my place ;-) I'm going to try a new cocktail recipe one of these days - maybe to celebrate a new poetry submission? ;-) You can help :-)
ReplyDeleteHello Clee! thank you for stopping by - your blog is a lovely hang out and makes me wish for a bit more reading time! Yes, the bottom in the chair trick works everytime and I need to remember that - you and the rest of the ROW-ers are an excellent inspiration on that point ;-)
Have a great week - hope you keep nailing your goals!
This weekend I am going to send you a few chapters to see what you think. No rush to read them, just want to see if I should keep going w/ it!
ReplyDeleteOh and BTW, I checked out your portfolio...LOVED your photos! Truly awesome :)
Sweet!!! thank you Claudia!!!! I like having something fresh in front of me, and I learn almost as much from the experience as you do! It's very, very cool to have beta-status with you ;-)
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the pics - the fish is a scanned and tweaked watercolor of my beta(Ghengis). The profile red/gold face is digi collage from my own sketches, a motherboard, text, etc. The sketches/painting are from various years, and the photos are just a few that turned out really nice. Helps to have a hubby with a good profile ;-) The promo pieces are probably the best i've done but not much time for that work anymore - I'm a pixel-picker! Glad you peeked at them because if I give you feedback on your covers, you should know whether or not you can trust my taste! ;-)
Ack - too much about me - send them chapters!!! :-)