I had another moderately successful week. I was able to meet my goal five out of seven days, which isn’t all that bad. But with a big deadline looming it doesn’t feel like enough. I even took a day off of my Evil Day Job to get more work done, which is completely unlike me (can you say workaholic :P).


However I have new hope for getting this WIP done. This week I saw the light, that dazzling light that shows you to the end of the story, past whatever’s blocking you. I can now see it all. I know I can write it, I can see the whole path. All I have to do is make the time.

There are a few things I learned this week that have helped in my productivity.

1.  Take breaks. I’m known for working for hours straight. At the EDJ I put my head down and work for hours without anyone even looking my way. I can do that in my writing as well, but it’s not the most productive. I found when I knew I’d be working only a certain amount of time, be it an hour, a half hour, whatever…I pushed through and actually ended up writing more.

The best way I found to force myself to take breaks is by watching television. I always watch TV or a movie while I write. As an alarm I'd watch an hour long television show, and push through for that hour, not allowing myself to get distracted by anything during that time.  Then when it was done I took a break to do anything else I needed. I got up and went to the bathroom, got a snack, feed my fur babies. By doing this I could be more productive in the same amount of time, which means I can write overall to make my deadline.

If you don’t watch TV while you work, you could also create a playlist and make sure once you listen to it all the way through take a break, or if you write without any sound you could set an alarm.

2.  Set small goals. The calendar method didn’t work for me because the amounts were just too large. It was overwhelming to see how much I needed to write each day. But when I’m actually writing, if I focus on just getting the next hundred words done it moves much smoother. And I didn’t become overwhelmed.

The trick for the next week will be learning how to fit in as much writing into those little times in the day as I can, lunch breaks, waiting in line, the drive home, etc... I don’t know that I can afford to take another day off to finish up this work. But the deadline isn’t going to change, so I need to make it work in the time I have.

Check back next week to hear my progress. And hopefully I’ll have news on Midnight Mirage by then too. Stay tuned…

My progress is a little stalled. Part of it has to do with submitting a work. Maybe others can ignore the pending acceptances and rejections that are coming your way after you submit, but I can’t.

I’m trying to focus on my WIP 2042, but a part of my mind is always thinking about what acceptance or rejection might be sitting in my inbox waiting for me to read. Though I have so far received positive responses to my submitted work, it’s hard to not worry about what reply might be waiting for you to read, and which will no doubt knock you from your momentum.

What parts of my brain aren’t deviated with what might be in my inbox is considering what to do with the positive remarks I have received. What qualities are important to me in a publisher? What parts of the writing process do I want to focus on, to grow my career on?

I managed to accomplish my goal three nights this week, but that’s nowhere near the kind of production I need to complete my work in time for the deadline. So in order to get myself focused I’ve taken a calendar and plotted out how much I need to achieve each day to finish my work by March 1st.

I use Google calendars, so I can move around activities as I need to. Move up an assignment if I get things done faster, or down if I accomplish them slower L, than I anticipate. It also makes sense for planning out how you’re going to do projects in a longer setting (like the projects I want to do for the next several months).

I’ll check in next week and let you all know if the calendar/list is working for me, and how I’m progressing on my work.

And if you get a chance don't forget to stop by Nocturnal Nights to see my interview of my friend Tina Donahue. She's an amazing writer, with a lot of great advice to share and fun stories to tell.
http://tabithablake.blogspot.com/2011/02/interview-of-tina-donahue.html