Time to buckle down, Horror Hounds

Liam Jackson · May 12, 2005

Okay, folks, I think we can take a valuable lesson from Barb and the Humor Forum. She has a thread entitled "Weekend Progress Report." It's an old thread, and it's old for a reason. It serves a useful purpose and is very popular with the Humor bunch.
The thread serves multiple purposes, including:
*Encouraging people to avoid dread procrastination
*giving and receiving feeback for meeting or failing writing goals
*helps establish realistic goals for writing and submitting, and monitors both
*draws everyone in for a "checK" at the beginning and ending of each weekend for a progress report.
*It's especially good for new writers in need of an occasional push, but many of the older writers participate, too.

Reporting is on the honor system, but once you start, you WILL be asked, dogged, hounded, encouraged, etc. It's all in fun, but the underlying objective is greyhound-bus-over-the-guard-rail serious.

So, if Mac and Spook have no objections, we might want to give it a shot. What's the concensus?

Trapped in amber · May 13, 2005

It sounds like a good idea to me.

(will you have a whip?)

Fractured_Chaos · May 13, 2005

Oh, Lordy! I'm going to regret this, I know I am...but count me in.

Maybe if enough of you hound me and threaten me, I'll be more productive.

MacAllister · May 13, 2005

Allrighty folks--it's Friday. I'm going to borrow a page from Barb--what are your goals? What are you working on? Who is gonna play with us?

I've done about 2K words on the novel-in-progress, this week. Also finished the crits on a novel I was beta-reading for a pal--that took up more time than I thought it would, but I learned a LOT about overall construction, in taking the poor guy's book apart.

My big goal is to start producing more short stuff, and get it into print with respectable rags, before I start shopping the novel around (hopefully late this summer) To that end, I started the Monday Prompt thread. I still haven't actually WRITTEN any stories, to those prompts. Going to try to churn at least one out, this weekend.

Next?

Liam Jackson · May 13, 2005

I cut about 8k from SINS on Wednesday night, deleting a side story that had run amok. Stll have a few loose threads to snip, before I move forward, again. Shooting for a solid 6 hours of BIC over the next three days. We'll see the net result on Monday.

Trapped in amber · May 13, 2005

Okay, goals for next week...

1. 2 hours bic per day
2. Edit four chapters

I'm editing a young adult horror. I really should have finished editing it by now, but I keep finding new things to change in chapters I've only just done. So, I need to go through it, let it rest, then go again. I should know that by now.

I'm working on an adult horror and a childrens fantasy in my BIC time.

jdkiggins · May 13, 2005

Okay, I'm in.
This week I completed and posted my Idol entry and have 1,100 words written on last week's horror prompt (the story sucks and is going nowhere. LOL)

I also have both my monthly columns finished for next month and wrote another short story.

My goals for next week:

Edit at least 40 more pages of my horror novel and work on a query and synopsis.
Write at least 1,000 words a day on my WIP Unearthed.
Send three stories out to publications.
Finish/rewrite and post last week's horror prompt story.
Write a story for the new horror prompt.

Oh yeah, and finish reading The Bell Jar if we're still going to talk about it. LOL

Anyone have NoDoze?

Fractured_Chaos · May 13, 2005

My goals?

2 hours of BIC each day.

1000 words by the end of the week that I can consider acceptable (but not perfect), rather than excrable.

Work on getting that miserable internal edito to shut the hell up, so that I can do a better job of giving myself permission to write badly.

Fractured_Chaos · May 15, 2005

OKay, I was actually "good" over the past few days. I wrote 1200 words, and rewrote another 300. I'm still not real happy with that scene Andrea is introduced in, and it's still not complete, but it looks a tad better than it did...I think.

Anyhow, I posted it here.

If anyone's interested. I edited the original post.

MacAllister · May 15, 2005

Give me a day or so, Lorrie--I'm buried under other stuff, just now, but I'd love to take a look at it.

Meanwhile, ONWARD!!!!!!!!
CHARGGGGGGGGGGEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO GET 'EM!!!!!

WRITE NEW STUFF!!!

Liam Jackson · May 15, 2005

Death to the Pig Lords! Oops. Wrong thread.

Sunday night, 10:23 pm and I've made up the 8K I cut Wednesday night, and gained an additional 3K. I'm 1,100 words from my goal for the weekend. Time to cinch up the chin strap and let 'er fly.

*salute!*
Death Before Dishonor!

Spookster · May 16, 2005

Alright, I'm in. I must be nuts. I'm taking three summer courses (starting today) so my goals are gonna be really small.

My goal for this week is to finish one horror prompt. By Friday. That's it. Just the one. If I can accomplish this, I'll be happy.

Liam Jackson · May 16, 2005

Awww nutz! Missed the intended goal by 450 words. Still, I feel pretty good about the work. It only looks like half-crap instead of all crap.

MacAllister · May 16, 2005

That's still a lot of words, LJ--way to go.

ya know, I MISS the old "Death to the Pig Lords" sig. Heh. And I didn't even know the story about the translator's error resulting in the minor Central American insurrection, back then. BWAHHHH!!!!

Okay, you'se buncha wild thangs! I see lots of goals posted--how's it going so far?

Spooky? Did you pick a prompt yet?

Lorrie? How's the two hours a day going?

Trapped? How's the editing and the BIC going? Moving forward?

Joanne? Well...I guess every group needs its own overachiever...What's goin' on this week? Moving forward?

Trapped in amber · May 16, 2005

I am in fact taking a quick break from bic (slaps wrist) but I only have about 15 mins left to do, so I better get on with it. (Breaks don't count as bic time for me, or I'd never get it done).
I have to do some editing later. So, sort of on course so far.

Fractured_Chaos · May 16, 2005

MacAllister said:
Lorrie? How's the two hours a day going?

I BIC'd about 200 words this morning, got disgusted with it, and deleted it.

I need more coffee.

MacAllister · May 16, 2005

Lorrie--heh, you gotta let that stuff sit a few days, before you start deleting. It might well be better than you realized, at the time.

Sometimes you're on a roll, and the words seem perfect, and they flow easily. Other days, you slug through page after page, even though every single word seems wrong, trite, stupid, etc.

I've noticed a frightening thing: When I read back, a few weeks later, I usually can't tell which kind of day I was having when I wrote the text in question.

Fractured_Chaos · May 16, 2005

Ergh. >.<

I think my biggest problem is, my low-self-confidence side is warring with my "I can do this" side.

I've got everyone here cheering me on, and Sam threatening me with a cat o'nine tails, and I -want- to do this. But then I start looking at what I've written and think I can never be as good as anyone else.

I hate when that happens.

Liam Jackson · May 16, 2005

Lorrie, if it's any consolation, almost every writer goes through this. The feeling is so common, it has a name; The Imposter Syndrome. Relax. This, too, shall pass

Fractured_Chaos · May 17, 2005

LiamJackson said:
Lorrie, if it's any consolation, almost every writer goes through this. The feeling is so common, it has a name; The Imposter Syndrome. Relax. This, too, shall pass

"Relax", he says.....

*deep breath...in through the nose, out through the mouth...put yourself in your "happy place"*

...

Okay, I'm relaxed.

...

What?

jdkiggins · May 17, 2005

MacAllister said:
Joanne? Well...I guess every group needs its own overachiever...What's goin' on this week? Moving forward?

Congrats! to all who have made goals, come close and are still working on them.

SO MUCH FOR the overachiever, LOL and my goals for next (this)week: Friday night when I posted this, I seriously thought I could accomplish most of it and probably would have. That was when I thought the antibiotic the doctor gave my mom would actually knock out what he thought was a slight case of bronchitis. Since then, I've spent much of my time at Mom's, the doctor's office and the ER. She's home and we're working on getting her better (chronic bronchitis and a touch of pneumonia), but I didn't get any of this done. NOT A ONE! All I can say is thank goodness I posted my Idol entry before I posted this list. LOL

Edit at least 40 more pages of my horror novel and work on a query and synopsis. (edits are being done on puter from hard copy edit, so I wasn't by my puter. This baby will have to be put on hold until I can concentrate.)
Write at least 1,000 words a day on my WIP Unearthed.
Send three stories out to publications.
Finish/rewrite and post last week's horror prompt story.
Write a story for the new horror prompt.
Oh yeah, and finish reading The Bell Jar if we're still going to talk about it. LOL

Heck, let's just say I couldn't concentrate on writing at all, so I had 0 words this week since my list post. I'll be "trying" to work on a rewrite of the one horror prompt and try to work on the second prompt this week. We'll see how it goes.

Liam Jackson · May 19, 2005

Lorrie

drgnlvr said:
I BIC'd about 200 words this morning, got disgusted with it, and deleted it. I need more coffee.

The highlighted sentence reminded me of an old quote by Oscar Wilde:

"I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again."

Like I said, we ALL have those days.

Fractured_Chaos · May 19, 2005

LiamJackson said:
The highlighted sentence reminded me of an old quote by Oscar Wilde:

"I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again."

Like I said, we ALL have those days.

Oh, Lordy! I can sooooooooooooooo identify with that. :ROFL:

Trapped in amber · May 19, 2005

JD, I hope your mum's getting better. :Hug2:

Sometimes life goes, 'nope, you're not gonna write now, you're gonna deal with this.' Nothing you can do about that.
Have some cake :Cake:

(just ignore the eyes and the screaming

)

MacAllister · May 22, 2005

Holy mackerel! It's already another weekend...I've done very little, I'm afraid. *sigh* Except I did lay a lovely cobblestone-pattern tile floor in my dining room.

I better get my @ss offa here and go write a prompt story, or something. I see Blue Texas did one of the prompts--hurray!

And if I may make a gentle suggestion, those of you who don't frequent the SYW forum, a bit of crit work on someone else's story can be a nice way to hone your own story-telling skills....

So check in, ya'll--how's it going? Getting anything done?

Time to buckle down, Horror Hounds

Heathen Horde Elder

Distra-- Ooh! Shiny!

'Twas but a dream of thee

Heathen Horde Elder

Troubled-Talks with animals.

Distra-- Ooh! Shiny!

Distra-- Ooh! Shiny!

'Twas but a dream of thee

Heathen Horde Elder

Maiden of the Blade

Heathen Horde Elder

'Twas but a dream of thee

Distra-- Ooh! Shiny!

'Twas but a dream of thee

Distra-- Ooh! Shiny!

Heathen Horde Elder

Distra-- Ooh! Shiny!

Troubled-Talks with animals.

Heathen Horde Elder

Distra-- Ooh! Shiny!

'Twas but a dream of thee