Hello Weekend Writing Warriors.
I’m almost ready to share snippets with you again. I’ll be back very soon.
This will be my tenth round of 80 days. A Round of Words In 80 Days or ROW80 is the writing challenge that knows you have a life. Join in at any time. State your goals and check-in on Wednesdays and or Sundays.
I ended my last round with lots of forward movement after moving slowly at the start. Looking back, I recognize the nerves and other personal issues that were standing in my way. By the end of the round, I was so hungry for progress, I almost wore myself out trying to catch up to my goals.
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You may remember I was polishing a WIP at the end of the last round. I may not have told you, my publisher released a submission call in March for a new anthology. The call was right up my alley, romance in the work place. So, while polishing the WIP I had wanted to have finished last December, I was also looking at a ticking clock on a fabulous opportunity since submissions were due by April 11th. I made notes of the plot points that popped into my head, but I stayed focused on polishing my WIP.
I finished my last read through on the WIP on March 26th and hit send. By the 27th, I was in crazy plotting mode for the submission call and then I got an email … ACCEPT! In one day, my publisher accepted my book. WAHOO!! 😀 Party, shimmy, shake, back to work.
I started writing the submission call on March 29th. I averaged 900 words a day and finished the first draft on April 7th. At that point, I thought I had either the best thing I’d ever written or a worthless piece of junk, lol.
I spent three very long days polishing and worrying I was just wasting my time, but I kept going. I love these characters and I love the fast pace of the story. It’s sexy. It’s heart wrenching. It’s submitted. Yes, I hit send on a 10k story I started writing not even two weeks ago. I think I’m nuts, definitely sleep deprived.
Even if they don’t accept it, I’m proud I tried. 🙂
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It’s tempting to take some time off. I’m so tired. However, I don’t want to lose my momentum. I have two WIPs to finish polishing and another I need to start writing. I will also have a new book to promote this round. I have added items to my goals to guard against burnout.
My main goal will be to find a balance between it all.
My goals below are in addition to my evil day job, volunteer duties, and my family.
The Goals – Round 2 2014
- Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters
- Daily progress in writing craft, word count, editing, and/or plotting
- Take care of and be kind to myself (start w/ a relaxing ritual, the healthy journey, and daily breaks from technology)
Here’s to a fabulous round of 80-days.
What you might have missed here this week:
What’s In a Cover – my guest post at BTS eMag Daily Blog
Inside Look with Erin Nicholas author of Up by Five
Inside Look with Lynn Rae and Peri Elizabeth Scott authors of Prohibited
Mid Week Tease – Not What He Expected
Ah, the frenzied life of an author. Finding balance is key. I’m still working on it.
Good luck on the anthology submission–one of my WIPs is a “romance in the workplace” story. Congrats. on the acceptance and good luck with the goals.
I can so relate to the “nerves and other issues standing in my way.” That’s what I’m working on this round. So glad you’ve made progress with that and are on a roll with your writing, while being cognizant of the need to keep being kind to yourself and watch out for burnout. Great work on the short story! Keep up the good work, and have a great week!
Balance is so important and I am finding that out now that I have my “plan” for the ROUnd and this year. I find that I can’t keep up with social media the way I did when I wasn’t elbow deep in (2) WiPs…and I need to learn to be okay with that. This week I’m going to try and take breaks from twitter and just write/revise…and also just to relax. We’ll see how it goes. 🙂 Good luck on your submission and with your goals. I hope you have a great week!
Yay! Congrats on your submission being accepted for publication. That’s great news! Enjoy your happy dance!
I like that you’ve made self-kindness one of your goals. I think so many of us, especially writers, don’t spend enough time taking care of ourselves. I’m trying to be easier on myself this year, but it’s not as simple as it sounds. Good luck!