Things have been a little crazy this week. I’ve got a friend who’s having.. some issues. Trying to encourage her to get help for the various issues but that’s like talking to a brick wall. On the other hand my Grandfather is really ill and is in the hospital. I’m sure I’ll be heading up to NC to visit him on Friday. Writing and weight loss efforts have failed miserably this week because of everything that’s going on. I hope everyone is having a better week than I am.
A Journey of Weight, Writing & Beyond
Envy Is Never Good
I’d like to apologize for my little rant on Friday. I was just frustrated. I thought I was frustrated with the class but really the frustration lies with me. I see so many people doing so well with the class and I see their surprise at how much they’re doing. I want that for myself. Truth be told I’m envious of their success. I shouldn’t be. I should be focusing on my journey and the success that I’ve achieved so far with this class. My daily word count is double what I normally do with ROW80 alone. Envy is bad. I believe Sheryl Crow put it best when she sang, “It’s not [about] having what you want you want, it’s [about] wanting what you’ve got”. I’ll do better.
I received Cartomancy this week and have started reading it, when I’m not writing of course. This one is flowing so much faster than the first book. At 80 pages in I’m hooked. Stackpole has answered some lingering questions from the last book and has introduced a whole slew of new ones. I think I’m most curious about how someone murdered in the last book has the chance to rise from the dead. My interest is piqued for sure! I can already see why another book is needed to complete the story. At least it’s not like Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, no offense to those who love it.
When A Class Isn’t a Class
Okay, I’m 5 days into this class. It, the Fast Draft portion, ends next week. I’m not one to normally be negative or at least I try not to be. But this class just isn’t working for me. The only reason I’ve increased my word count at all is because I’m forcing myself to take more time than I normally give myself. That’s not Fast Drafting. That’s More Time Drafting. Pfft. Clearly, the class IS working for most of the people. Does that mean I’m defective? Of course not.
We each have our own stumbling blocks. Mine is clearly my inner-editor and lack of time. Time we can only control so much. Sometimes I can squeeze more time in and sometimes I can’t. That’s life for you. But the inner-editor? That’s all me. There are others who struggle with the “IE” as much as I do. Some have this magic switch to turn him or her off but I don’t appear to have that switch. Or if I do, it’s welded in the ON position and no blowtorch can cut through it.
I thought we’d get more than basic tips and a crack of the whip out of this class. But Candace Havens’ Fast Draft class is just a smaller paid version of NaNoWriMo and she’s the ML (municipal liaison, aka the leader). When we ask for help, she answers questions. But when it comes to IE trouble her advice is ALWAYS to read over her class notes again, shut up, stop over thinking it and just write. I need something more than a canned response but that isn’t happening this century.
I can’t write crap for the sake of writing crap. I just can’t. I REFUSE. I really am glad people can turn off their inner-editor and let the crap fly but I just can’t do it. No matter how hard I try I’m just not wired that way. Call it OCD. Call it stubborn. Call it whatever you want to. But for me this class was a waste of $20. There are tons of others who feel the complete opposite and that’s great- for them. Can you tell I’m frustrated? I really had high hopes for this class.
So what have I learned? In the end the only thing that matters is that you just sit down and write. It doesn’t matter how long it takes or how someone else does it, you just write. Stop reading all these writing how-to books. Stop taking all these classes that promise the moon or a draft. Just write the damn thing. Forget social media, blogging and building a platform (sorry Kristen Lamb). Just write the damn thing. That’s all that matters in the end.
UPDATE: Candy did write me back and provided some really helpful advice. I’m going to see if I can apply it. That’s the biggest challenge of them all. I guess as Jamie Hyneman says, “When in doubt, C4!”
Report Card #1
I’m two days into class and it’s not what I thought it would be. To be honest I’ve got mixed emotions about it. We’ve been given a set of rules and steps to encourage our inner-editor to “take a hike” and helpful hints in case our writing runs aground while we’re going at full speed. And if that’s not working, Candice will delightfully crack the whip in your direction. For the 40 some students in her class, most are finding that more than sufficient to crank out an abnormally high page count. Many are in excess of 20+ pages a day.
BUT there are some of us, myself included, who just can’t get our internal-editor to let go. I’ve tried all the tips and had adhered to all the rules. I’ve come at this with an open mind but I can see it’s not producing the amount I thought it would. So far I’ve only been able to churn out 5 pages per day. Admittedly, this is more than double what I normally write but I was hoping to see at least 10 pages per day. I’m going to keep at it and stay positive, hoping that magic moment happens in which the words start flowing faster, but I’m a realist when it comes to things like that.
Let’s Kick The Tires And Light the Fires
Ready or not, my class starts tomorrow. That of course impacts my ROW80 goals too. It’s composed of two classes really, one for Fast Drafting and one for Revisions. All in all it’s 4 weeks long. I’ve seen a lot of people do different challenges at the same time and keep the efforts for each separate. Not me. I’m all or nothing. So for the next 4 weeks or so I won’t be posting my normal Friday or ROW80 check-in posts. I’ll pop in now and then to say how thing are going but my main focus will be the class.
Just like with the writing habit my diet and exercise will have to get more stringent. I haven’t lost anything this whole week but I also have done much in the way of getting on the treadmill. I guess it’s time to lay down the law and things done. I’m going to be stressed but that’s not anything new. The trick will be focusing it into the words instead of the food. I guess we’ll see how that works out.
After the class is over, that leaves roughly about 2 weeks left of ROW80. I honestly don’t know what my goals will be at that point but I’ll resume my ROW80 stuff then. Maybe with new goals? June is going to be busy month. What am I saying, every month is a busy month. LOL. Anyway, see everyone on the flipside. 
One more thing, Happy Mother’s Day to those wonderful mothers out there, especially to my mom and my wife.