The writing challenge that knows you have a life.

As a pre-published author, I do a lot of writing and studying and waiting. While I wait in submission land, I’m working on the next MS I’ll submit. This pattern could really go on forever. This is good and bad, right?

A benefit of the pre-published is no deadlines, other than the self-imposed. The downside of no externally imposed deadlines is that you can stay in a comfortable pattern and that does not prepare one for the post pre-published days. Sometimes a new challenge can put a skip in your step too. Challenges are exciting. They’ll push you past your comfort zone and this is what I need.

Between now and the middle of June I plan on writing and polishing a 10k novelette. Eek! I took a look at the schedule and it’s going to be tight. I need to finish the first draft and the first couple of read throughs well before Memorial weekend. Everyday I need to write just over 2k. Everyday. 2k.

I don’t know if I can do this, but I’ll never know unless I try.

Have you stepped outside your comfort zone lately? If not, pick something and go for it. If you have, please share what you’ve learned.

The Goals – week-5 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters – done.
• Daily progress in writing craft, word count, editing, and/or plotting – almost done. This was one of those weeks filled with extra tasks and they took up all my writing time on Monday and Tuesday. Grr. I could have gotten some craft study in the evenings of these two days, but I chose to read a book instead. I started my new challenge on Wednesday. I spent most of of my writing time on Wednesday and Thursday doing character development and plotting. I ended up writing a little over 3k by the end of day Saturday.
• Workout a minimum of three times a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep, and my calorie limit – not done. The sinus cold did go away. The weather was beautiful here midweek and I went for a walk/run. It felt great, but my calf muslces were not happy the next two days. WEEK 6 PRIORITY
• Weekly Nia study (i.e. studying the song/movement structure) – not done. WEEK 6 PRIORITY
• Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities – done. I handled all kinds of things this week from paying bills, deposits, and lots of reports.
• Organize something in the house each week – not done. Other than cleaning the house for company I didn’t get to this goal. WEEK 6 PRIORITY
• Spend time in the Garden – done. I’m continuing with my garden tour with the pictures in this post. Each week, I’ll try and share what’s blooming. I started weeding the beds in the front of the house. My husband finished the job and mulched. Score.

What you might have missed here this week:

Spotlight: Her Master’s Kiss by Vivien Sparx