Probably the most difficult thing about writing is the discipline of writing itself. We BADLY want to write those stories in our head. Still, fear, multiple commitments and priorities, and a host of other things somehow always manage to get in the way of our writing on a consistent daily basis.
This month, ACFW is once again hosting NovelTrack/Writing--the ACFW equivalent of Nanowrimo. My goal this month is 30K words. I'm pretty close to target, maybe 2K shy of where I should be, but going well.
The first week of July I didn't get to write consistently every day. Most days, but not all. This week, it has been going great--I've met my daily goal each day. I can't tell you how much better I feel when I set a daily word count goal and meet it. Not only that, if I meet my word count goal before I leave for work, I practically feel like leaping over the moon.
Somehow, getting my word count done in the morning just makes my whole day go better. And as a reward to myself, if I make my word count goal before I leave for work, I use my breaktimes at work to read some fiction on my Kindle, since I never have time to read it otherwise.
The key to accomplishing the daily writing quota for me has been:
1. Set a daily goal I have a reasonable shot at achieving. Not too low, not too high.
2. Get more efficient at managing my email (ie. I really DON'T need to read that thread on women's dresses in 1898.). Only read the critical email and either delete the rest or save it for later.
3. Once I meet my word count goal for the day, do NOT try to exceed it--that way I'm fresh and raring to go the next day. This has been key for me this month--I do not have my entire plot nailed down and this enables me to ponder my story between writing sessions.
4. Remind myself that "slow and steady wins the race." Sure, I may not be able to write 5K words a day like Jane Doe writer does. But if I write a thousand words a day for a year, I've got three first draft manuscripts plus.
5. Cut back on my time reading industry blogs. What good is knowing how to market, publish etc if I don't have completed manuscripts?
Here's hoping for continued consistency for the rest of July. Next month I'll set a new goal for August.
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2 comments:
Just for the sake of curiosity what was your daily word goal?
And if I may be a little more intrusive, what time of day do you write and what tedious thing do you do for a living that cuts into your writing time?
Gerry,
My daily goal this month is 1154 words per day (writing 6 days a week for a 30K month total).
Whenever possible, I try to write first thing in the morning after walking the dog and a few other tasks, which ends up being roughly between 6-7 a.m. give or take. That's my best time. I can do late morning/early afternoon but I have no brain cells for evening writing and very rarely ever do so.
RE: Tedious day job--I'm an administrative assistant with an excessive amount of people contact (by a hermit's standards) so it is extremely draining.
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