February Challenge - Write Every Day!

Esmae - Not when we do a holiday with the Mr's parents. XD We're talking all day hikes every day around the Northumberland coast with no breaks. In weather that could send you flying around like Mary Poppins and so cold you need five layers. They don't believe in relaxed holidays. But we saw some amazing places. <3 I'm with you on cats. Ignore you for most of the day but as soon as you write they're on your lap, blocking your view and trying to push the laptop off your lap.

Layla - Well done on a whole page!

niknicnac - Ouch! Sorry about your hands. =( Hope they're getting better quickly.

peartree - Glad you're getting better. Keep resting! Your health is much more important.

heykatydid - That's great you got some inspiration for WiP #1. And well done on your word count.

I gave into exhausation on Day 19. Way too tired so only managed about 400 words before I gave into a headache. Did 658 before work today for Day 20 so I'm chilling for the afternoon.

Plotting new idea.

Nik - ow! I'm glad you're ok & you still got 424 words in!

peartree good to see you! I find that when we sleep that much - we really needed it. Congrats on the 561 words!

katy - congrats on those 625 words, & sorry to hear about the job disrupting things.

Kit - congrats on the 400 words despite the headache, and on the 658 this morning.

Taylor - keep at it!


Day 20 - a little over a handwritten page, & more work on the new project
some W3 javascript training
& got a book from the liberry
I'll call that 3/3

8
days
left!

Peartree: So glad you're feeling better!

Heykatie: Sorry you're struggling so much with your anxiety. Hope it gets better soon, and 626 words, definitely a win. Thanks for the non-burny wishes. Thankfully, it didn't hurt anymore last night, but when I got in the shower this morning my left hand decided to remind me it was burned. It didn't last long though. It was just a minor burn from some really hot water.

KitKate: That puts you over a thousand words. Way to push through.

Layla: Still going strong I see. Can you bottle it? The rest of us want to borrow some. If you write a self-help book, I'm definitely buying it.

My hands are doing great, just very minor burns. You might could see some redness if you squint hard, lol, but it sure did hurt bad for a little while. Today's word count is 1,009. Not sure how I managed that, but I'll take it, makes up for Saturday's flop.

Hey Everyone. Thanks so much for your kind words about Cinder. I am feeling a bit better. I miss him, but he was very sick, so letting him go was a kindness. The hardest part about sharing our lives with these four-leggers is that they don't live long enough.

I haven't done any work on my novel since I last posted, but I'm planning to get some work done tonight. There's seven days left to this month, so my goal is to get those ten hours of editing in before the end of the month. I think I might revise my goal in March, but that's my plan for February, and I hope to finish the month on a good note.

I started a new short today. Beta feedback for the old one came in universally negative for all the reasons I feared. Going with an angle that is more "me" and hopefully will ring home. Man, I don't like having to write multiple drafts only to figure out a story is rotten. That's what brainstorming is for!

Finished rewriting the first chapter, it's much better. ~2500 words, of which only 5% or so came from the old version.

swim swim swim!

Nik - speaking of bottling - I'd like to write 1K in a day - congrats on that. It's funny you make that observation because I had been thinking that I needed more energy - I guess when I needed it I got it? (Had a lot of stuff to deal with this fall...)


Lakey - I totally understand that whole thing of - life & everything showing up & then -- no time/energy for writing. (((hugs)))


DL - (((hugs))) for you, too. & heaven (((hugs))) for your small friend who has left this world

Keep at it, Taylor!

Keithy, you're a pretty good swimmer by now


Day 21 - 1 page handwritten, a *wee* bit on the new project
another unit of W3 javascript
paid moar bills - all up to date now; (and got $15 taken off my monthly cell bill (how'd that get there???)); traded in 5 books and a store credit and got the Ukio E tarot deck - responsibility & self-pampering ftw!

Congrats on getting some work done, Layla and Keithy.

Sorry others have had distractions and have not been able to write.

We r under the weather at our house, so I am doing what i can and will check in when I can. Up to page 135/200, so slowly making progress....

Drive-by check in because my depression and anxiety is so bad that I can't keep my eyes open anymore, but somehow I did manage to write 523 words on the way to work today before the worst of the symptoms hit. I hope everyone else is having a better week!

Hey guys. Kind of a drive-by from me. I swear all it takes is one day of not working/writing and all of my previous momentum grinds to a screeching halt. I'm still stuck on this scene, mostly because I haven't really worked on it, because I'm wondering if I should just cut it entirely. It's a mess. (Like, there is a section that pretty much says 'And they find a thing, a magical super awesome amazing PLOT DEVICE, oh and also take cell phone pictures.') Plus I've hit the point where the inner critic is insisting the whole idea is a complete waste of time anyway so why not abandon ship and start the newer, more interesting one and.... ugh.

I'm glad some of you are making progress. It gives me hope!

Congrats to everyone who is maintaining their goal! I am up to 15k words on my third novel. Here's hoping I'm up to 20 by the end of the month.

Quick question to everyone, how much editing do you do while writing? Do you just write and edit later or edit throughout the process?

Carrying on with my slow brainstorm relating to the new chapter.

My goal is to do something every day.

Swim swim swim...

Hey Melody - keep at it, look forward to hearing from you when you're ready to check in

Katy - congrats on the 523 words in the face of all that stress.

Esmae - it's so true. Even one day away can make what was easy(ish) the day before seem incredibly hard. Hang in there!

Hey Magnus, hope you have a nice session at the cafe tomorrow

Hi Fantomas, and welcome. Congrats on getting all those words down. There's actually a thread on the Basic Writing Questions devoted to exactly that question! (my quick answer is neither. I write two versions - I write to the end, review, and then start a whole new document and write it again. On the 2nd version I edit as I go/write *very* carefully)

Keithy, keep at it!

Day 22 - Just shy of 1 handwritten page, faced a *lot* of resistance to working on the new project but I managed to get to it, only did a little, but - ... I got to it.
half a unit of Javascript.
I did a few small Self-care/Responsibility items -
I'm going to give it 3/3

Lakey & Taylor: Success is about not giving up. Don't let the writing blues get you down.

DL: Big hugs. They really don't live long enough, but for the time we have them we love them so much.

Keity: Keep swimming! You're really packing a big lunch.

Layla: Life really likes to pack it on us. I don't know who's writing my story, but I feel like they decided to drive me up a tree, make the branches brittle, place a giant bear at the bottom, called in a storm, and then set the @#! tree on fire. Our job is to figure out how to survive the mess which you seem to be doing. Keep at it!

Heykaty: See above. Hope things get better soon, and way to keep pushing through.

Esmae: I'm sure it's not that bad. You'll get through it. Just keep pushing, or you can swim like Keithy does.

Magnus: I'm sorry to hear you're still having a rough time. For me, indifference is a big part of my depression. Don't let it get a sneak attack in on you.

Fantomas: Welcome to the thread, and congrats on the 15k! In answer to your question, I force myself not to edit while I write because I end up rewriting the same chapter about 15 times if I don't and never move forward. Just a little OCD. *straigtens a book on the coffee table*

Nothing yesterday. I came home and crashed. 634 for today.

I had planned to get back on track on the 21st, but I just didn't feel like working. Last night I forced myself to sit down and edit. I only worked for half an hour, but it did get my brain working again, and I caught a minor plot hole, so it was a productive session. Tonight I plan to work some more. Honestly haven't had a chance to catch up on this thread, but will be more active going forward. Hope everyone else has been meeting and exceeding their goals!

Made some very good progress into the draft. Hoping to finish tomorrow or Sunday at the latest.

Hi Nik - congrats on the 634 especially after a crash (I might seem like I'm on top of things but, boy, when I was up that life tree with the fire and the wolves and everything… what you're seeing now is Layla's recovery phase)

Lakey - yeah, you're right! & I have benefited so much from the feeling of being encouraged that you get here. I really like it that we all take an interest in each other's progress

(((hugs))) all round, you guys are the best!

Hey DL - congrats on the half hour of work! I'm glad to hear that the juices (are there editing juices??) are starting to flow again

Taylor, 'very good progress' sounds great!


Day 23 - 1/2 page handwritten, a wee bit of work on the new project - almost gave myself a pass because:


I DID MY TAXES - (or got them done for free by law students - still took 2 hours...) 2017 and *2016*. When I did my 2016 taxes last year I owed a lot (saw the amount and just went into shutdown...) because I was self employed without making enough to live off; I ended up using my estimated tax payments for rent… One of the law students, when he heard about being me being a '1099 employee' - I forget his exact words but he expressed a desire to go on a legal crusade against companies who pay employees as contractors. They were so nice & so helpful - & volunteers.

Finished the W3 javascript unit I started yesterday - just a wee bit of work but -


3/3

Taylor: Nice work, and good luck finishing the draft over the weekend.

Layla: How awful that you ended up owing so much because an employer took advantage. Glad you were able to find assistance to help you straighten it all out. It must be such a relief to have that burden off of your shoulders!

I am back into the groove. I edited for 2.25 hours last night! Plan to get more done today.

Yesterday I did some useful work on the new chapter 3. But today was a washout, too busy with a million things to do.

Anyway, I'll keep on swimming tomorrow.

DL - yeah - they were a shitty company - although the work itself was fun and my boss was great. BUT - I made mistakes, too. Like failing to look for more work then when they cut back my hours - it was easier to decieve myself that they'd get back on track & be able to give me more hours (even with the lousy 1099 thing) than it was to put myself out there and look for work... Live and learn... (and the filing is off my shoulders but - I still have to pay that taxes, of course.)

Anyway - congrats to you on the 2.25 hours of editing groove!!

Keithy - & congrats to you for the new work on ch. 3

Day 24: Saturday, unstructured day, so a pass on writing a pass on income increasing work, but I did a lot of tidying/sorting

1/3

Like the K says - keep swimming!

DL: glad you're back in the groove and making good progress!

Lakey: Sorry about the family drama, never any fun! This thread is very helpful. We provide the nudge, but ultimately you've got to make the push.

Taylor: Glad to hear you're making good progress on the new draft.

Layla: Good to hear you're in the recovery stage and not still up the tree. Ugh, and taxes. Enough said.

Keithy: Keep swimming, and if you see any pretty lights, swim away!

Yesterday I enjoyed some family time and took a break from the writing. This morning, my husband and I meet with a consultant about getting some new kitchen cabinets. I'm still searching for the part of me that melted into the floor when I found out how much it's going to cost. They're cabinets, not Jaguars! We have to replace our cabinets and counters because they're falling apart, but I might have to sell a kidney or something! I did manage to get some writing done tonight. 871 words. A nice distraction from this morning's shock.