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.

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!”

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.

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.

My Fast Drafting class starts on Monday. I’m keeping an open mind about it but I swear I must be mental for doing something of this size. I’m thinking, if you can’t do 2-3 hours of sabers, how the heck are you going to do this? Heck if I know! I guess we’ll find out. I can already see it’ll probably involve some early morning writing and late evening too. I’m certifiable!

With my self-critique still fresh in my mind from Wed, I ended up penning a few haikus. Clearly the theme is still self-critiquing but I did feel better after getting them out. I’m happy to say the poem I started this morning doesn’t sound anything like these. Maybe that’s an improvement?

Hot Air

T’is only hot air,
When no actions are taken,
One must do the work.

Try

Try. Try. Try. Try. Try.
To this I tell you: Bullshit!
Don’t try. Only do.

Right

Either do it right
Or don’t do it at all,
Else we waste our time!

1. Write 500 words per day ✓

Finished another chapter since Sunday. Needless to say I’m still hitting my goal on this one. I’m all setup for my Fast Drafting class and I’m scared out of my mind. Knocking out 500 day is one thing but the class’s goal is to knock out 5000 a day for 2 weeks. What in the heck did I get myself into? I’m not certain I can meet that number but I can try. It’s very clear that I’ll have to make writing the #1 priority and take every single opportunity to write in order to pull it off. We can do anything for two weeks, right? *nervous laugh*

2. Lose 25 lbs. ✕

Ugg. No progress here. I’m not just talking about since the last check-in either. I’ve lost what, 4 pounds since the start of this round? Sure, that’s better than nothing but it’s not results either. There’s 45 days left in this round. Sounds like a lot doesn’t it? That’s 6 weeks to lose 21 pounds. Or in other words, I have to lose 3.5 pounds per week to meet my goal. Since we’re a month in and I’ve only lost 4 pounds total, I know for certain I’m not going to make it. Given my current rate, I might have lost 10 pounds by that point. While that’s nice and all, I consider that a failure. I’m still going to be working on my weight but I’m not sure I want to see a big ✕ on my goal list every week because it’s going slowly. It’s starting to get to me. Going to have to think about how I want to handle this going forward.

So what do you when you bite off more than you can chew. Keep chewing? Spit it out? Cut it into smaller parts? Choke? Gah!

1. Write 500 words per day ✓

Hit the daily target as usual. Though, in order to hit it I had to write long hand. Guess what I’ll be typing up after this post? LOL. Sometimes the computer screen and keyboard is no replacement for good old pen and paper. But words are words no matter the medium in which they are composed. I’ve been using a new pen by PaperMate called InkJoy. I’ve got a 500 rt and I have to say that I really like it. I’m picky about pens. I have a Space Bullet by Fisher so that I can write upside down and even underwater. And yes, I’ve used it that way. But for everyday writing I like it. If you haven’t tried one, go pick one up.

2. Lose 25 lbs. ✓

Looks like the walking we did at the Ren Faire helped push me to 0.5 pound loss for the week. That’s pretty good all things considering. My ankle appears to be healed but wouldn’t you know it on Friday I managed to hurt my back. I’m still trying to figure out how the heck I did that. I’m not old but I’m feeling like it these past couple of weeks. Yes, I did the Ren Faire with my back hurting. Shush. I wasn’t about to let my wife and son go without me. It’s the Ren Faire people!

Before I go and starting typing up my words for the week, I just wanted to gripe about something. It’s not bad, don’t worry. It’s about legal pads. Of all the things I could gripe about why legal pads? Well, specifically, recycled legal pads. I hate killing trees. That’s why I tried going all digital (a complete failure by the way). So when I use paper, I use legal pads made from 100% recycled materials. My gripe? The paper is so darn thin! I can rip right through those legal pads if I’m scribbling furiously. Normal legal pads don’t do that. And yes, there’s a reason why I only use legal pads. Is is so hard to ask for quality and 100% recycled?

I’ve whined about not writing fast enough in the past. I’m pretty certain at this point my writing speed is constant. BUT, you know I can’t just leave it at that. I want to keep pushing myself because that’s what I do. In that light, I ended up signing up for Candace Havens’ Fast Draft and Revision Hell class that starts later this month. If it can help me add any words to my normal output, it’ll be worth it. Also, the Revision Hell part is something I need. I abhor editing so any tips and tricks to make it go down easier will icing on the cake.

Most people know I do lightsaber choreography in my spare time (yes, I can’t help but laugh at the phrase “spare time”). I ended up cutting that out back in November because things just too crazy. Well, things are still crazy but I decided to make room for it anyway. I’m going to try to go to class once a month. I don’t expect to do anymore than that at this point but at least it’s better than nothing. Did I mention I’m getting rusty? And since today is Star Wars day, May the 4th be with you! Hehe.

1. Write 500 words per day ✓

My writing is on track but I’m certainly not in love with my WIP. I keep craving to work on Science Fantasy instead of my current WIP which is a mixture of Low Fantasy and Sword and Sorcery. As embarrassing as this is, the only reason I’m writing my current WIP was because it was “next” on the list to write, not because of the desire to write it. But, I’ve made my bed and now I have to sleep in it.

2. Lose 25 lbs. ✕

No loss for this week yet. Just keeping up the good fight

I updated all my monthly stats and it looks like positive progress all around for last month. I wrote several poems and got one published. I’ve been hitting the word count pretty good for the WIP and I managed to lose and keep off the weight that I lost. I’m hoping May is just as productive.