Romancing the Stone: ROW80 Update

Thanks to a full summer and an unrealistic sense of what I could accomplish with the kids home, I fell quite behind in July and August. Since I'm also training for my first half-marathon (which is Sunday, WOOT!), I compared the feeling to hitting my writing wall.

One of the reasons I so love the writing community is that they get it. As I explained here, another blogger/writer not only got it but helped me think of it in a new way... the writing forest. Instead of facing a hard wall, I could now imagine myself in a dense, dark forest. Amazing how freeing that was.

Then my imagination really took off. As a teenager, I loved the movie Romancing the Stone and was quite enamored with Jack T. Colton as played by Michael Douglas. From now on, when I'm struggling through my writing forest, I'll just imagine Jack in front of me, hacking his way through the dense forest with his machete. (Okay, I might just see myself as the sultry Kathleen Turner/Joan Wilder with my dress split up to there as well.)

For me, the trick has been getting back to a schedule. First thing, write. Why does something so simple end up being such a challenge sometimes? It really is about clearing time to sit and do nothing but write.

Since my summer was so disorganized, the "writing" time has been more about planning and getting my ducks in a row. But it's a start. Now I have a rough blog post plan, an editing calendar, a reading/book review calendar. Next, I will draft a letter to Life to honor my detailed schedule by not sending me too many bumps.

Now I'll leave you to your own writing fantasies. Whatever gets you to put your butt in the chair and write. I'm thinking there's room in my new WIP for a young Michael Douglas-esque character. Hmmmm.

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A Round of Words in 80 Days Update

Writing: I'm dedicating the first hour after my kids are off to school to writing. No distractions. Phone muted and wireless signal off. It's one hour. Certainly I'll go over the hour if the muse dictates, but setting a timer will keep me focused for at least that.

Editing: Then it's a small break and onto one hour of dedicated editing time. Again, I'm flexible to extend the time, but an hour is my minimum.

Reading: I'm considering using a good book as the break between writing and editing. Give the brain some time to make the switch while still accomplishing goals. I still need to read a craft book this round, too.

Blogging: I'm planning to join BlogHer's daily challenge in September to reboot my blog writing creative juices. I find writing prompts a great fall back for the fuzzy brain days.

Social Media: Finding my way back to both my favorite blogs and new ones. Now to tackle Triberr.

The groundwork has been laid down for a successful fall. Now I'm just hoping the plan trumps the unknown.