11 January 2015

Addicted to reading

I'll just read a few chapters and then go to sleep so I can be rested and ready to tackle my to-do list tomorrow, I said to myself at 10:30pm on Tuesday night.

The next thing I know, it's 2am and I'm 216 pages into Abbadon's Gate. I texted my brother to let him know I was hooked on the book he'd loaned me, and then I considered putting it down for the night. But I can't stop now; he's still on the alien space station! I felt a sense of responsibility to the characters at this crucial plot point, as if Holden's success with the station was contingent on my decision to continue reading at that moment. Just one more chapter...

If I hadn't fallen asleep while reading I probably would've read all night, and then all of Wednesday would've been a wash instead of just the morning. I suppose it's good that my body overrode my mind on this one.

As it was, I spent Wednesday morning sleeping instead of writing, and then I spent the rest of the week feeling like I was trying to catch up and doing a poor job of it. Despite this, I made good progress on most of my goals this week, the exception being my creative projects. (Figures.)

ROW80 update
"A Round of Words in 80 Days is the writing challenge that knows you have a life." 


Note: This update only includes the past week's tasks and the coming week's tasks. If you'd like to know how they relate to my goals for this round, you can read my 2015 Round 1 Goals post.

Creative projects
Past week's tasks: lock down 1st drafts of 5 chapters in WIP1; finish 2nd draft of "The Choice" for SF. Worked on WIP1 3 of 5 days, locked down 1 chapter; got stuck on revising "The Choice" (am working on 2nd draft) & didn't finish it. Sigh.

Coming week's tasks: lock down 1st drafts of 5 chapters in WIP1; finish 1st draft of "Split Infinity."

Blogging
Past week's tasks: 1 more post on this blog; 1 post on pseudo's blog; planning for next guest post series; contact at least 1 potential guest blogger/interviewee. Posted once on the pseudo's blog; published "Swallowing the Atlantic" on this blog; contacted author Ruthanne Reid and she agreed to write a guest post about her definition of success (yay!), will publish next Friday; did not get planning done.

Coming week's tasks: plan next guest post series; 2 more posts on this blog (incl. Friday guest post); 1 post on pseudo's blog; 1 post on travel blog.

Reading for fun
Past week's tasks: read Mere Anarchy by Woody Allen; order House of Leaves through the library. After reading the first 2 stories in Mere Anarchy, I decided the book's not for me and read Abbadon's Gate instead (so good!); ordered House of Leaves and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao from the library.

Coming week's task: Read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

Community participation
Past week's task: comment on 2-3 ROWer posts. Exceeded! I commented on 4 ROWer posts. I also tried participating in #writeclub on Twitter on Friday, but the sprints and I were not on the same schedule, and this is when I got stuck on "The Choice" and decided to give it time to marinate.

Coming week's tasks: comment on 2-3 ROWer posts; find a writing/publishing blog to follow.

Social media
Past week's tasks: 30 mins on Twitter, 3 times; 2 FB posts on the LLC page. Achieved the first one & exceeded the second one.

Coming week's tasks: 30 mins on Twitter, 3 times; 2 FB posts on the LLC page; schedule #AskAnEditor Twitter conversation & begin promoting.

Editing/coaching    
Past week's tasks: emails out to last year's clients & other friends of the LLC; blog post focused on coaching. Planned to send 25 emails, sent 11 (they took longer than I anticipated to write...and okay, yes, I psyched myself out because I hate making asks); the blog post was indeed focused on coaching and I got ideas for 2 more posts, which takes care of most of the rest of this month's Wednesday posts. Yay!

Coming week's tasks: emails out to 5 more clients/friends of the blog; blog post focused on coaching.

New Round 1 goal: Research/choose a print self-publishing option. 
One of my goals this year is to self-publish at least one book in print. Since I've never done this before, I need to figure out which platform/company I'm going to use for it. Based on what I already know about the options, I'm leaning toward print-on-demand, and I don't have a huge budget for it. A good place to start will be with the post on print options that Andrea Scovel, last year's intern, wrote for this blog.

Coming week's tasks: Re-read Andrea's post; do a Google search; choose 5 options to begin researching in more depth.


This is a blog hop! Click here to read other ROW80ers Sunday updates.

What are you working on this week? When's the last time you stayed up late or all night reading, and what was the book?

6 comments:

  1. I like the way you've set up your goals and projections!

    I'm much more likely to stay up all night writing books than reading them, these days, and I have definite nocturnal tendencies. But the last book I can remember staying up all night to read was Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, which I read a few months back for the nth time. Every time, I notice new things about it! =)

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    1. Ah, Stranger in a Strange Land, I remember you well. I liked Moon is a Harsh Mistress a bit more. Maybe i should try reading it again...hmmmm :-)

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    2. I love books & movies that you can keep going back to and getting new things out of. Gone with the Wind and Labyrinth are two movies that do that for me. The book that I've probably read the most times is Pride & Prejudice; I get laughs every time. ;*)

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  2. House of Leaves is FANTASTIC, if a bit weird (the good kind). Been going through my 2015 reading list pretty quickly so far. I have been using Saturdays as a reading day, usually 4 to 6 hours later and the daylight is gone. :-)

    I'm interested in the 'books to print' choices and options. Not at that stage yet, once I am ready all hell will break loose. I'd be curious to hear what you find. :-)

    Been a relaxing weekend, but the goals are coming along. Have a great week, Sione!

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    1. Yeah, three or four people recommended House of Leaves to me, so I'm looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about. If I keep pulling all-nighters as a result of pleasure reading, I'm going to have to switch to Saturdays as well. What an amazing luxury we have to spend hours & hours reading!

      Will certainly keep you updated on my research/decision-making around which self-pub print option(s) I choose.

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  3. But isn't it great to be reading a book that keeps you up for 'just one more chapter' I love it - it wrecks me for the next morning but so worth it - goals are good all the best for coming week:)

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