22 February 2015

Readjusting expectations, writing project plan

This week I did less writing than I intended because:
  • I'm a little wiped out still from pushing so hard to finish the beta draft of WIP1 earlier this month;
  • I've had more administrative tasks than usual as a result of bringing on some new editing work and a new coaching client (yay!);
  • I got caught up in world building and character development for the short story I worked on this week, it turned into a idea for a novel, and I got overwhelmed/slightly depressed because I'm not sure where to go from here. I still want to write this short story, but now I feel like I have to plot an entire novel in order to get to the short story, and I don't have time or energy for that right now.
I was already a little behind schedule on the collection of short speculative fiction stories, but this week make me realize that I needed a) to adjust my expectations about how long it will take to finish these stories, and b) a new writing project plan to reflect that.

So one of the things I did this week was revise and extend my writing project plan from March through August according to my current priorities. Interestingly enough, with the exception of finishing the first draft of one more short story, the SF collection fell off the docket in favor of my pseudonym's WIP2 (which is going to be quite an undertaking, as it involves quite a lot of research) and putting together my book of dream poems (prose poems inspired by dreams I've had), which is something I think I can do during the weeks that the novels are with beta readers and editors.

The new project plan means that I'm revising my ROW80 Round 1 goals to exclude revision of the SF project stories in favor of focusing on the revision of WIP1. The other changes will be reflected in my Round 2 goals.

This coming week is going to be an extremely busy and short one because I'm finishing up an editing job and because I'm heading out of town Thursday for a 4-day "birthday weekend" with friends. So much excite!

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: Read, think about, and discuss WIP1 beta reader feedback with my developmental editor, Diane. Take another crack at the first draft of "One Book" this week. Done and done. While (as mentioned above) the work on the short story kind of spiraled out of control, I did enjoy the world building and I got a new working title out of the deal, "The Literati," which I think is infinitely better than "One Book."
Coming week's tasks: Re-read WIP1 & make notes, formulate my revision plan.

Blogging
Past week's tasks: Publish the next guest post in the writing success series on Friday. Done! Nancy Christie's post about how she defines success as a writer went up on Friday. I also reblogged a post I wrote for Nancy Christie's site back in December 2013 about the top 5 things I look for in an editor.
Coming week's tasks: I already have the next (and final) post in the series about writing success in my possession, so all I need to do is prep it and schedule it to go live on Friday. Am excusing myself from posting on Wednesday; too much other stuff to pack into the short work week.

Reading for fun
Past week's tasks: Begin reading House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Have not started the book yet. Spend my usual reading time (before bed) either working or watching TV.
Coming week's tasks: Begin reading House of Leaves.

Community participation
Past week's tasks: Comment on 2-3 ROWer posts; participate in #writeclub on Friday if I don't already have the "One Book" first draft done by then. Commented on 4 ROWer posts. Gave up writing time on Friday to work on other things, so no #writeclub.
Coming week's tasks: Comment on 2 ROWer posts.

Social media
Past week's tasks: 30 mins on Twitter, 3 times; 2 FB posts on the LLC page. Spent time on Twitter. Posted more than twice on FB.
Coming week's tasks: 30 mins on Twitter, 2 times; 2 FB posts on the LLC page.

Editing/coaching
Past week's tasks: Draft new copy for my website and write a list of blog post ideas that came out of the envisioning work I did last week; send new website copy to friend for feedback. While I made progress on these tasks, I'm not done yet.
Coming week's tasks: None this week, but will pick back up with new website copy & list of blog post ideas in March.

4 comments:

  1. Congrats on the new client! And the new novel idea even if you're overwhelmed with it right now.

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  2. So, you sound as busy as me most weeks. :-) I'm going into the last 2 weeks of rehearsals for Mousetrap.

    Happy early birthday!!

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    1. Thank you, Cindy! I love how many artistic pursuits you have.=*)

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