So, I’ve made a bunch of mistakes in the few months that I’ve been blogging and working on writing more in general. I thought I’d share them with you so that you can, hopefully, learn from them and maybe not make them yourselves. Or maybe these things were good for you and bad for me, and I won’t know unless you say so in the comments. But that’s what blogs are for, right?
1.) Taking a break
My regular readers may have noticed that I’ve been rather irregular (haha) in the last month. Aside from making some absurd attempt to pace myself and blog on a more reasonable and maintainable schedule (MWF), I’ve had spring break, trips, and a bunch of other things to contend with.
Originally, I thought this would be a good thing. I’d go visit grandma (my mom) in Georgia (never been there before) and come back refreshed and inspired.
Well, I did enjoy the live oak trees (although that name is just weird, isn’t it?). But it’s hard to be refreshed after slogging through a couple all-night drives with 2 kids and 2 cats over the course of a few days, even if you’re not doing the majority of the driving.
More importantly, it is hard to get back into the swing of things. I feel all akimbo, despite my new-found ability to use nearly obsolete words.
So, let this be a warning to you. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Sometimes it is better to work through the pain than take a break.
2.) Working against yourself
Anyone who’s known me a reasonable amount of time will know that I am NOT a morning person. I’m not even a midday person. No, my body-clock thinks that 9 PM is a good time to be awake and buzzing along… like I’ve had 20 cups of coffee.
This doesn’t work well with small kids, because they tend to be morning people. 90% or so of kids under the age of 5 pop out of bed at an hour where most teenagers are thinking about tucking in for the “night.” So, for the last eon or so, I’ve been up at an hour that dawn finds indecent. That’s why I finally said, “To heck with it. If I’m going to go to bed early anyway, because I’ve got to get up early, then I might as well get up earlier and work on my book.”
That worked. For awhile.
If you’ve noticed that my book’s progress has ground to a halt and then dug-in, you’ll see this isn’t working. Now, I tried a couple of variations on this theme, and those aren’t working either. I simply can’t drag my sorry behind out of bed any earlier than necessary. This is probably because I haven’t been able to fall asleep until 11:30-1:30 most nights for the past 2-3 weeks.
Somehow, I finally got a couple good days sleep. Now that I’m not totally & completely exhausted, I can’t go to bed early. After a few weeks, I vaguely recalled that this was how I used to feel. I’d be aching for my bed until about 9:30 AM, then ok, then a bit tired in the late afternoon, reasonable around dinner, like I could sleep standing up from about 7-8, then AWAKE. So, I’m going to stop working against what my body wants to do (as much as I can with the two kids) and try writing at night.
3.) Sitting down to write without a plan
So, I’ll go, “Time to write,” and sit down at the computer. Then I’ll work on my blog, read the news, and generally NOT get my novel done. If I sit down to write flash fiction, then I should write flash fiction. Same goes for my book. When I just think, “write,” it’s not specific enough for me. So, I’m going to try to sit at the keyboard with a purpose. We’ll see if that works.
4.) Stopping with the word-count
Yes, I had a reason to not do the word-count thing. I needed to plan. Well, it’s been a couple of months and that planning hasn’t happened. I think I’ve proven that it’s not going to happen. Time to bring back word-count goals.
5.) Not reading
Maybe this won’t be an issue for you, but I love reading a good book. I backed off because, when I get into a book, I sorta forget about other things like, say, sleeping. But reading good books makes me want to write one. It probably also makes me a better writer (it’s like seeing billions of examples of addition before you go add, right?). So, reading is motivational. If I stop it, I stop wanting to write as much (still there, just lower volume). In short, I have to walk a line here, but I was waaay too far to the side of it.
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There you have it, some of my mistakes, or at least things that I currently am thinking of as mistakes.
Im doing the word count goals too. It seems to help me! Good luck!
Good luck to you too!
Shannon-
My reading time is far removed from my writing time. So, that does not seem to be an issue. I have been forced to take breaks due to family issues and that has made it difficult to get back on track. I have found that cutting back on the blog has helped with maintaining creative tension. We shall see what comes this summer once fishing season begins.
I should probably cut back on my blog, but it’s addictive…
Having just started my own blog a week ago, I thank you for the good advice. You’ve got a lot of good things here. Do you mind if I link to this post on my blog later this week?
No, Josh, not at all. Thank you for asking
Since you just started up, I’m going to suggest my post “Rookie Mistakes.” Honestly, I didn’t think that much of it when I posted, but I got TONS of positive feedback on it. Many people said they liked it and/or wished they’d known some of that stuff when they started (I say that because plugging my own stuff in comments is NOT something I usually do, but apparently, it’s helpful). Here’s the link: http://shannonhowell.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/rookie-mistakes/
I wouldn’t focus on them being mistakes to learn from. Us wannabe writers have to juggle life and writing. You seem to have given yourself some good targets to aim for again, like making sure your writing time is specific to a project and hitting the good old word count again.
Six months ago I would have said that I was a morning writer. I do my best work first thing when I’m at work, but my writing takes off when I write at night. No idea why that is though I think that is just the routine I’ve found myself in.
I find the balance between blogging, writing, reading and life difficult to maintain all of them at the levels I want. The blogging has taken a back seat for the last month or so … actually so has the writing
but I will get back into things. I think once you get back into the story your inspiration will flow.
I hope you find the balance that fits in with your life.
Thanks, Pete.
I think we all have trouble with the balancing thing. I actually asked an author (via Facebook) if she’d do a post on it. I wrote the whole story up (http://shannonhowell.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/advice-from-a-pro-i-e-not-me/). Long & short, she’s game. Should be interesting.
It should be interesting. I do think that a full time writer should have more time to do the whole package. For others who have another job it is finding time within the margins to get the balance right. I’ll check it out though
One of the best things to do…is to fail. Make lots of mistakes. Find out what doesn’t work, for you, and zero on the things that do. Not a morning person? Write your 500, 1000, 2000 words after the house is quiet for the night. Two pages a day (or, ten a week) gives you a novel-length book’s worth of words (or two, depending on your perspective) in a year. Sometimes it feels like the mistakes are a bad thing, but if you turn them into positive understand of who you are as a writer, they are awesome.
Absolutely.
I heard somewhere that an intelligent person learns from his mistakes, but a wise person also learns from the mistakes of others.
I hadn’t considered how some of these things play out (or interact), so I figured I’d share because my readers are ALL wise (they read my stuff, how could they be otherwise??)
I find word count goals work really well for me too. I’m very interested about how they go for other people.
Sometimes they work for me, sometimes not. I think sometimes I go too quickly and don’t do the planning I need, but other times it helps me through a slump.
Hi Shannon. The thing about trying to balance writing and life is that if your life changes, it disrupts your writing routine. For those of us with small kids it is unavoidable. I dread summer vacation because then I won’t have that extra time in the afternoon. And when your routine changes, it takes a long time to figure out a new routine.
Reading is important, yes. One thing I noticed that makes a difference is what you’re reading. I have heard this before, and I find it to be true for myself, that you should read while you write because it does nourish your writing; however read something in a different genre than what you’re writing. That way you avoid duplicating what you’re reading.
And, sitting down to write without a plan can be problematic. You open yourself up to playing around blogosphere that way. One thing I do, when I’m waiting for my coffee to brew at 4am, I think about my agenda for the next 1 1/2 hours. I remind myself what point I’m at in my book, I think about what scene I need to work on next, etc. I consider this a warm-up exercise because I’m thinking about the book so by the time I’m ready to sit down (with my coffee) I know exactly where I’m supposed to go in my story.
I’m not a big fan of word count goals, but I know they work for a lot of people. I tell myself instead to write for 45 minutes, uninterrupted. During that time I don’t check emails or do any research or blog. I find that when I have a word count, I am constantly checking the counter, and I’m paying less attention to the quality of my story. And by quality I mean substance, plot, getting the story down (not grammar or sentence structure, not yet). If it’s all about number of words then my writing tends to be flat and plodding and I’m not in my story, if that makes sense. I’m only on the surface–because I’m paying too much attention to word count.
Basically, IMO, you should figure out how much time it takes you to write your desired daily word count. For instance, say you want to write 500 words a day. You should time yourself to see how long it takes you to write that much (UNINTERRUPTED–don’t open any internet connections). This might take a few trials until you figure it out. But, say you find out that you can write 500 words in 30 minutes. Then you should plan out 30 minutes every day of uninterrupted writing. That way you know you’re getting your word count in, but you’re more likely to pay more attention to the story as opposed to paying attention to the word count. All you’d have to do is set an alarm or a timer of some sort so that when it dings, you know your writing time is over.
I just worry that when we make our target about word count, then we’re losing sight of the most important part of writing stories. That it’s enjoyable.
All very good comments in there. The one thing that I really like about word counts goals is they help me when I’m stuck. I feel like I HAVE to write something, so I do. Sometimes this gets me unstuck. Mind, I’m horrible at planning, so I’m not quite sure where the heck my story is going (ok, I know where it goes, I just don’t know anything about the path there). You’re right though, I’m not paying attention to those very important things when I do it. However, if I set a timer, I can just sit there stuck (and it’s amazing how well I can waste time w/o the internet!). So, I probably need both (it couldn’t be simple, could it?).
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Hi, Shannon.
I was recently nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award (for some unknown reason!) When it came to the bloggers who inspire me I thought of you. You blog some great advice and start good discussions on subjects we are all facing. I wanted to pass along my thanks and keep up the good work. http://petedenton.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/50th-post-very-inspiring-blogger-award/
Thank you, Pete! Sorry to take so long to thank you here (hardly made it to the computer last week once my 2 year old got an ear infection).