I'm 17 days into the 90 Day Challenge, and I'm prod to say that I've written EVERY DAY since January 2. Yes, it's only 17 days, but I'm building the discipline of not waiting for my muse to tap me on the shoulder before I get off the couch and sit at my desk.
January is crazy for my day job - all of my clients have the same Jan 31 deadline, in addition to the normal weekly business. I generally work from 6 am to 9 pm, stopping to eat (when I remember) and speak to my husband when he walks in the door. Not this year.
The first thought in my head in the morning for the first week was this: When Mr. Ava Milone leaves for work, I'm going to get one more hour of sleep.
The second thought in my head was: If I go back to sleep, my writing time is out the door. Then I have to write on my calendar, "Today I chose not to write." Ick.
Two hours, on a timer, every morning. If I miss it in the morning, I make time in the evening, after dinner. Weekends included. And 17 days into the challenge, I've got over 15000 words of my first draft.
Progress. It's a good thing.
How are your 2011 goals shaping up?
Happy Writing!
Ava
Great work, Ava! I love the feeling of getting so much writing done. Keep up the enthusiasm!
ReplyDeleteHoly Moly, Ava! Look at all those words! And you can sleep when this is over.
ReplyDeleteI finally got my story flowing again and can now write new stuff instead of figuring out how the old stuff fits together. I'd be doing that now, but I left my outline at home. Which is weird, because this is the first time I'm writing from an outline.
Your desire to have your first draft done in 90 days is an inspiration that I'm taking for my own.
-Abigail
Thanks, Mallory and Abigail!
ReplyDeleteAbigail - I wrote Dark Water from a really rough synopsis, story boarding as I got chapters done so I could see where I'd been.
I have lots of notes and pictures already on my board for Big Dixie, and the board looks great, but most of the research won't come in until Act 2. I'm also trying to use the Turning Point method so the first draft task isn't so overwhelming. That was my plan anyway. It's still overwhelming. But it is good to see progress. I'm eating this elephant one bite at a time....
Ava