Sunday, June 14, 2015

Writer Down, Writer Down!

I am not sure what happened, but by the time I realized I missed the midweek check-in it was already Thursday and I didn't have time to post. This is an extremely busy time of year for me. I have to find and organize the kids curriculum on top of a hundred other things that normally go on. Oh, who the hell am I kidding, I haven't been able to get this writer thing going. Every check-in feels like the same old crap. I post how I didn't reach my goals AGAIN and that I will do better next time or I rearrange my goals for the billionth time and still don't reach them. I am truly not sure what I am doing. It seems like I dream about writing, talk about writing and read about writing, but when it comes down to it I never seem to get much done. So here I am again saying that I haven't gotten much done. I know, you're all shocked.


ROW80 Rundown:

1. Spend 2 poms on plotting using Hiveword.
I was able to work on my plot Monday and Thursday. Today was a rough day where I wasn't able to make anything besides dinner happen. That may not seem like a lot, but it felt like a monumental task to me.

2. Spend 2 poms on posts for this blog.
Nope, not a peep since last Sunday.

3. Spend 1 pom on social media for blog posts.
More NOPE! Where did that damn cat get to?

4. Spend 1 pom on visiting other ROW80 bloggers.
I visited a little from last Sunday's list, but nothing for Wednesday's.

How do you make writing a priority? How do you get everything done and make time for writing? Why do I keep asking the same questions and not making any progress? <Possibly rhetorical question, answer with care.


Top by Pixabay.
photo credit: Procrastination dragon via photopin (license)

14 comments:

  1. Maybe you just need to take a break. Totally forget the writing thing for a while. Enjoy life and your kids and summer. Heck, don't even clean the house. Just veg! If it is meant to be - and I am sure it is - the writing muse will return at some point and you will be able to get all your words written.

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    1. Lol I will tell my family that you officially have me permission not to clean the house. It's not a break for us. We homeschool through the summer and take our vacation in November and December. My daughter is heading for high school curriculum in September so finding what we will use is what is taking most of my extra time.

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  2. Don't be so hard on yourself! This is a crazy time of year, so much going on and stress out the wazoo.If you can get even a single paragraph done celebrate it! Sometimes progress comes in those days when we can only write five sentences or maybe even only two. :) It's okay not to write a ton at a time or miss a day here and there writing at all. The story will get told we just have to stick to it and remember to enjoy it even if it's just a few words on the page at a time :)

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    1. With you there to kick my butt if I give up I am sure I'll eventually get this story told. Thanks for sticking up for me when I'm picking on myself.

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  3. If you're busy, it's a totally understandable reason to not be writing. Sometimes, you need a break. After my release in May, I took all of May off and some June due to burnout. I hated it, but it was good for my brain and muse.

    Do you use the Pomodoro method? I try to use that myself, and it works well. It amuses me b/c I work in foodservice and one of our products has "pomodoro" in the title. ;)

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    1. Yes, I use a modified version of the Pom Method. I seem to be able to weedle out 20 min at a time, but one second longer and suddenly the house is in chaos. I usually use my breaks to refocus everyone on the task they are supposed to be engaged in or direct them to their next task.

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  4. I think it is different for everyone. The peanut galley before me (thanks guys) all speak the truth, so I will try not to overlap too much. What I will say is this. You have to do what you feel is right, Erin is right., Burnout happens in more than one form. And therefore you need to take that step back and enjoy the chitlins, spend time with them, and maybe the muse will surprise you. The great thing about writing, that I have discovered is this, it will always be there, waiting patiently for you with a coffee or tea or coffee. Hope you have a better week, Love! ~hugs~ If you want, you could come visit me and my porch. ;-)

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    1. Yea, my muse is still ticked at me for giving up caffeine and needing at least 7 hours of sleep, but at least we're on speaking terms again. Thanks for the hug and the advice. *Hugs back*

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  5. Hang in there, Kiddo. We have all experienced these paralyzing writing-blocks. I went through a period where I couldn’t put two words together without hitting the backspace key. For hours, I would stare slack-jawed at the blinking cursor, waiting for the pure-genius that would never come. I questioned my dreams and felt like a fraud. But, then I had a breakthrough. I started a writing journal that only I would see, and I gave myself permission to write crappy sentences, just so long as I wrote in it. Heck, I didn’t even re-read what I wrote. I just wrote. I wrote about mundane things at first, ranting on about my frustrations. But them I started writing random scenes and exotic settings that would pop into my mind, many of which would never end up in my story-world (although many did). In other words, you should write just to write. Don’t worry about the subject matter. Write a silly scene that makes you smile, even if it’s just a page long. Soon, you’ll have two or three super-secret silly scenes. Breakthrough! Writing causes momentum, and the momentum that writing causes, causes more momentum. You’ll find your lost writing Mojo, so — Just Write!

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    1. These are great ideas for writers block. I will have to save them. At this time it's not so much writer's block as time blocked. I do love the mantra "just write" to get the momentum flowing.

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  6. Sometimes it can get like that. Sometimes you need a break(I am so not good at that), sometimes you need to push through. It can be hard to tell what you need to do.

    For me(and I know what I do doesn't work for everyone), I get up super early. My kids are early risers, so I get up at 4 so I can get some writing in first thing. And they're pretty independent, so I can sneak some time in when they're playing, other than breaking up the constant fights. I also have everything I want to get done that day listed out. Without that list, I wouldn't get anything done.

    Hope you can figure out what works for you and that things get a little less busy.

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    1. Thanks, I hope things get a little less busy as well. Early is not my strong suit and I only seem to run on half speed before 9. My daughter can work independently and doesn't want to play with her brother, but he is at a stage where he wants lots of interaction with others and his little friends next door are gone to camp.

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  7. My secret weapon?

    Unschooling!

    I'm not even close to kidding!

    Yes, I still have to write the Dull as Dirt When Our Life was Intensely Awesome reports, submit IHIPs, Letters of Intent and peer reviews, and administer tests that frankly would insult anyone's intelligence -

    But the kids don't need to be directed from task to task - they're always learning, and, though it's messy and not really predictable, they blow me away with what they learn and how they learn it...

    A couple of years ago, I read them one of my rough draft novels. It's set in Shakespearean England. It took most of three evenings, but, not only did I get to hear myself read it aloud, they learned a lot about writing, Shakespeare, and other things, and they had some really good ideas.

    More, in my research, I found an awesome watercolor kids' book on the subject, so I asked then if they wanted to read that, and we did.

    Life's pretty much like that. When they're occupied with their own things, I can be occupied with mine, and, when they need or want me, I can be there.

    I'm not saying it would work for anyone else, but it makes it a lot easier for me to indulge my passion, and have my family's cooperation, if I'm also indulging and supporting theirs, rather than trying to move them in directions they don't want to go - humans, as a general rule, resist that, and the ones who live here have their own very distinct ideas on the subject-

    So I roll with it, and,as they're getting older (just about 11, and not so many months from 14), I can say, "I'm in the middle of a writing sprint", and have that be taken seriously (maybe in part because, "I'm in the middle of a Pokemon battle" is something I take seriously...

    I hope you find something that works for you. =)

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    1. I did a lot of unschooling when my daughter was little, but it's not really working for my son. He wouldn't do anything except pick at his sister and constantly said he was bored even if there were tons of things to do, play with or watch. I pulled out a unit study and he loved it. So that is what I do for him. It requires planning and organization that I'm not great with, but he is a lot happier.

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