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meridian_roseI signed up for the Get Your Words Out (GYWO) challenge at the lowest level ("modest", 150k goal). I mention my progress on the monthly post rounds, but I was going to do an actual halfway point survey last month. Computer issues put a stop to that.
Better late than never, however, here is the midpoint post. I'm going to ramble a little about the challenge and what I'm learning from it, and yes, I'm going to count this as words towards the GYWO because this is an essay.
GYWO—what is it?
A challenge where you sign up at the start of the year and aim to meet a goal. The lowest challenge total is 150k in a year. Signing up allows you access to member locked posts including venting and support posts, fun prompts and other activities, and the spreadsheet to help you keep track of your writing.
What counts?
Fic, fanfic, essays—and therefore, meta. The challenge emphasises "intent to publish", although you don't actually have to publish anything. It does not include homework/coursework or reports for your workplace; this is about writing you do for yourself and your potential audience. As a result, diary entries do not count (unless they're diary entries written by a fictional character, and therefore are demifiction, and fair game :D)
The Spreadsheet
I am in love with the spreadsheet. I was worried about how I was going to keep track of my wordcount, but the spreadsheet is set up with all sorts of inbuilt calculations that do all the heavy lifting for you.
Daily Writing
One of the things I love about the provided spreadsheet is the front page box that calculates not only how many words you've written per month, but how the average daily word count, and the average daily word count for days you've written.
Here's mine so far:
There's a classic novel which I can't remember anything else about, that mentions rich gentlemen who race their horses to London and back every day, for the joy of it. Yet if someone told them they must, if they were being paid to do it, they would lose all interest in the practice.
When an article tries to insist "you must write every day" or "you should write every day" or "successful authors write every day" I get angry. It makes me feel that writing is a chore, like the gentlemen who wouldn't go to London if someone told them to. I guess I'll never be a success because I don't force myself to write 400 words of crap every day rather than write 1000 decent words when the urge takes me.
What the spreadsheet has highlighted for me is that I don't work best by writing every day, but my average word count on a writing day makes up for it. I'm supposed to write 411 words a day to meet my goal, and while I don't write daily, up until June I was doing pretty well.
Bad Months
November is usually a bad month for me, so I need to get more words written in other months. Then February was a difficult month personally and only a last minute sprint kept me from falling too far behind. March was a good month personally and for writing and I got in front of the total.
May was a low total because I was working on my trope bingo blackout and made lots of non-fic works. That was okay. I had got in front, and I could keep up, or so I thought.
Then June happened and now I'm 3500 words behind for the month and 10975 behind for the yearly total.
Even now the computer is back up and running I'm having problems writing enough to make a dent in that.
Writer's Block
This isn't a Dry Spell, for which I am thankful. I do have ideas. I just can't summon up the energy or willpower to actually write anything.
I don't know where to start.
I don't know why I should bother.
The novel's fallen by the wayside and having read a lot of free ebooks lately, I've read some awful novels, some okay novels that really needed an editor to be great, and some great novels which make me worried that nothing I produce will be good enough.
It's hard to find and retain audience and without audience there seems little point creating anything, let alone writing masses of words.
It might as well be in my head, amusing me, if I'm the only audience.
I have in the past written novellas that are for my own pleasure, and yes, I've read them since and enjoyed having a text to read rather than merely reimaging the storyline. It's just more difficult to muster up the energy for at the moment.
I've signed up for h/c bingo and I've got a demifiction card, and I'm supposed to working on a second novel or writing in my original 'verses. Yet I can't seem to get started on anything. I'd rather daydream about the sequel to the actual novel and putting the work in to finish and promote the novel just seems daunting. Aside from roughly written fic for Legendland I'm having trouble writing anything.
It's actually pleasurable to be typing this, to have a reason to type. To feel the keys beneath my fingers, the rhythm as I touch type, the simple pleasure of seeing the words pour onto the screen. I rather miss having fiction spill so easily from my mind onto the keyboard. It's an incredible feeling when it comes easily, like sailing a boat with the current, sped along by a strong wind in your favour. Other times you're rowing and it's slower going but still, making progress. Right now, I'm sitting looking at the boat and finding other things to do instead.
Conclusion
So here I am, just over halfway through the year, on a low rather than high which I finished March on.
I knew reaching 150k would be slightly challenging, but I thought it was doable. Right now I'm thinking it isn't going to happen this year. I haven't the energy to even care. As real life stuff slowly sorts itself out maybe I'll find my enthusiasm again.
Better late than never, however, here is the midpoint post. I'm going to ramble a little about the challenge and what I'm learning from it, and yes, I'm going to count this as words towards the GYWO because this is an essay.
GYWO—what is it?
A challenge where you sign up at the start of the year and aim to meet a goal. The lowest challenge total is 150k in a year. Signing up allows you access to member locked posts including venting and support posts, fun prompts and other activities, and the spreadsheet to help you keep track of your writing.
What counts?
Fic, fanfic, essays—and therefore, meta. The challenge emphasises "intent to publish", although you don't actually have to publish anything. It does not include homework/coursework or reports for your workplace; this is about writing you do for yourself and your potential audience. As a result, diary entries do not count (unless they're diary entries written by a fictional character, and therefore are demifiction, and fair game :D)
The Spreadsheet
I am in love with the spreadsheet. I was worried about how I was going to keep track of my wordcount, but the spreadsheet is set up with all sorts of inbuilt calculations that do all the heavy lifting for you.
Daily Writing
One of the things I love about the provided spreadsheet is the front page box that calculates not only how many words you've written per month, but how the average daily word count, and the average daily word count for days you've written.
Here's mine so far:
There's a classic novel which I can't remember anything else about, that mentions rich gentlemen who race their horses to London and back every day, for the joy of it. Yet if someone told them they must, if they were being paid to do it, they would lose all interest in the practice.
When an article tries to insist "you must write every day" or "you should write every day" or "successful authors write every day" I get angry. It makes me feel that writing is a chore, like the gentlemen who wouldn't go to London if someone told them to. I guess I'll never be a success because I don't force myself to write 400 words of crap every day rather than write 1000 decent words when the urge takes me.
What the spreadsheet has highlighted for me is that I don't work best by writing every day, but my average word count on a writing day makes up for it. I'm supposed to write 411 words a day to meet my goal, and while I don't write daily, up until June I was doing pretty well.
Bad Months
November is usually a bad month for me, so I need to get more words written in other months. Then February was a difficult month personally and only a last minute sprint kept me from falling too far behind. March was a good month personally and for writing and I got in front of the total.
May was a low total because I was working on my trope bingo blackout and made lots of non-fic works. That was okay. I had got in front, and I could keep up, or so I thought.
Then June happened and now I'm 3500 words behind for the month and 10975 behind for the yearly total.
Even now the computer is back up and running I'm having problems writing enough to make a dent in that.
Writer's Block
This isn't a Dry Spell, for which I am thankful. I do have ideas. I just can't summon up the energy or willpower to actually write anything.
I don't know where to start.
I don't know why I should bother.
The novel's fallen by the wayside and having read a lot of free ebooks lately, I've read some awful novels, some okay novels that really needed an editor to be great, and some great novels which make me worried that nothing I produce will be good enough.
It's hard to find and retain audience and without audience there seems little point creating anything, let alone writing masses of words.
It might as well be in my head, amusing me, if I'm the only audience.
I have in the past written novellas that are for my own pleasure, and yes, I've read them since and enjoyed having a text to read rather than merely reimaging the storyline. It's just more difficult to muster up the energy for at the moment.
I've signed up for h/c bingo and I've got a demifiction card, and I'm supposed to working on a second novel or writing in my original 'verses. Yet I can't seem to get started on anything. I'd rather daydream about the sequel to the actual novel and putting the work in to finish and promote the novel just seems daunting. Aside from roughly written fic for Legendland I'm having trouble writing anything.
It's actually pleasurable to be typing this, to have a reason to type. To feel the keys beneath my fingers, the rhythm as I touch type, the simple pleasure of seeing the words pour onto the screen. I rather miss having fiction spill so easily from my mind onto the keyboard. It's an incredible feeling when it comes easily, like sailing a boat with the current, sped along by a strong wind in your favour. Other times you're rowing and it's slower going but still, making progress. Right now, I'm sitting looking at the boat and finding other things to do instead.
Conclusion
So here I am, just over halfway through the year, on a low rather than high which I finished March on.
I knew reaching 150k would be slightly challenging, but I thought it was doable. Right now I'm thinking it isn't going to happen this year. I haven't the energy to even care. As real life stuff slowly sorts itself out maybe I'll find my enthusiasm again.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-11 08:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-13 09:02 am (UTC)A very debilitating struggle indeed. Other creative people understand, and those who don't get it never will.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-13 09:05 am (UTC)The longer I leave the novel, which has already been *years* in the making, the more unnecessary and pointless it seems. Which is ridiculous. There's no deadline. I can go back to it whenever I want to.
/writer issues
Thank you. *hugs*
no subject
Date: 2014-07-15 10:54 am (UTC)"Official launch" gives me inferiority/pretender feelings and seems an impossible goal right now, but maybe one day!
no subject
Date: 2014-07-15 02:29 am (UTC)I don't know if 150k in a year would work for me, but I really like the idea of a longer term goal. (100k would be perfect.) Maybe by the end of the year I'll have my endurance up higher and it'll be just right.
It's an incredible feeling when it comes easily, like sailing a boat with the current, sped along by a strong wind in your favour. Other times you're rowing and it's slower going but still, making progress. Right now, I'm sitting looking at the boat and finding other things to do instead.
Best description of writing I've read. I feel your frustration, but this so captures the feeling of every stage of the process. It makes me want to pick up the oars again and keep fucking rowing until I'm far enough out for the current to catch me again.
Thank you for sharing. <3
no subject
Date: 2014-07-15 11:14 am (UTC)Glad to see you around :)