Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Crack Your W-I-P: Ticker Tuesday

Oh, sad, sad little ticker!




10,345 words. I wish you were double that, Word Count. But it's progress none-the-less.

Life has intervened and kept me far too busy with other tasks the past few days.

Today I celebrate my youngest girlie's eighth birthday, and she's pure JOY!

BUT, I wanted to check in with you (ever so quickly) because you all have been rockin' it! One more day of March. Let's go out like a lion, shall we?

11 comments:

Molly Hall said...

I feel for you. Life intervened for me too and half of March was kind of lost... I am looking to April and hope I'll make major progress on my project! I get my writing time in the evening tonight, but in the meantime I'll be cheering everybody on!

Laura said...

Over 10,000 words is still great progress!

It's Spring Break here, so not too much to write, plus we're packing for a trip. I have delusions of getting lots of editing work done while spending 20 hours in the car. =)

I didn't reach my goal for the month, but I still made progress on a couple of difficult chapters. So I'll take it!

Hope everyone is having a great day!
-Laura

Bish Denham said...

Hey, That's great! Not only do you get to celebrate your daughter's eighth birthday, you get to celebrate the half-way point.

Yat-Yee said...

Life had other plans for me too. But I did manage to get out about 5,000 words before having to dive back into an old novel to revise. So I'll call it good.

Martha Brockenbrough said...

Happy birthday, Skylar!

March went really well. I'm worn out...woke up every day before 5 and wrote till 6. Then I did my regular work. But I cranked out 27,000 words, and I didn't start till March 9.

So, I hereby send my word-count fairy to whoever needs it. I highly recommend that little Freedom app, if you have a mac. Turning off all the distractions really helps.

Jennie Englund said...

When IS a good time of year to write/revise?

I have yet to find a month of pure potential, where nothing--not school, not break, not track, or basketball or science club, not magazine deadlines--gets in the way.

Any tips, anyone?

Michèle Griskey said...

Hi everyone!
I have no idea on my word count this month, but I have been working. I'm about to be derailed with a new project. I shouldn't be doing this, but a wise editor/teacher told me the new project would be the better choice. We shall see.

Martha, I'm very impressed you wrote 27.000 words in just an hour every morning. I spend at least an hour staring at my screen. :)

Martha Brockenbrough said...

Michele, what keeps me from staring at my screen:

- I have a detailed story synopsis (about 15 pages). I veer from it and add new stuff all the time, but I don't have to think about what I'm going to write because I planned it ahead of time. (This is easier to do with a genre story, which I'm working on).

- When I fall asleep at night, I think about the next day's scene or conflict or characterization--whatever I know I need to get across. This not only helps me fall asleep really quickly (I think because my brain really doesn't want to work), I feel like it sets my subconscious mind to the task. I'm generally ready to go when I wake up.

And I really only do have a limited time. I'd like to finish a draft by June, when the kids are out of school and I have even less time to work.

So, while it sort of feels like a death march, it's a discipline that seems to get me through. Sometimes, not having enough time can be a real gift.

Anyway, everyone is different and I love hearing the creative life adjustments that get people through.

Good luck, all.

Cuppa Jolie said...

Wow, everyone I'm impressed.

Thank you so much for hanging with me this March. But I'm sure your in my same boat, the work's not over. We must continue to Crack the WIP.

Jennie, you're right. There's never a good month. We all have days that are better than others. And when your not forced to work by clocking in and clocking out, so many things can interupt work of equal importance. Such is the writer's life.

Martha, the other question for you is how is your brain awake enough to write at 5:00? Or is the still-in-a-bit-of-the-dream-phase a good time for creativity?

Wherplash...keep a crackin'!

Yat-Yee said...

HI: I gave you an award at my blog.

Jane Makuch said...

So, Do I get to send licorice to anyone? Martha, are you the only one who accomplished what you set out to do?

I miss our daily check-ins:(

Thank you Jolie.