Weeks 5 & 6 Writing Challenge Analysis

This is going to be a quick and dirty analysis of the last two weeks because I have to get out of here and go paint a dragon...

For Week 5...

Week 5 was all about the beginning editing - and that was a major struggle. I went into the week knowing I had scenes that had to be written, but no plan on how to get them done except "When I get to it, I'll write it."

I did very well on getting pages done, 125 edited, just 15 shy of the goal of 20 per day. As for my hours dedicated to the writing, I was 0.7 hours shy (about 42 minutes) of meeting the goal of 4 hours a day.

Blogging was okay. I was able to get the Week 4 analysis up on time (Sunday) and get another random post, Reading - Writing - And Change..., done on Friday, so that goal was met. Yay Me!

courtesy of
emoticonsonly.com

With the blogs and the transcribed edits, I wrote 4,445 new words, with 2,522 being on my blog.

And all progress was reported on my Twitter and Facebook pages. No new work was done on my other manuscripts, but I'm not going to stress over that until I finish this book.

Which means, for the most part, in Week 5 I came close or met my goals for the week.

For Week 6...

This was the litmus test week and I can already tell there will have to be some more tweaking and refining of my goals and methods.

Biggest take away from Week 6 was the realization that I definitely must have an editing plan moving forward. After the fumbling and "uh, what next" issues during Week 5, it was clear to me that when it comes to editing, I must know exactly what I need for the story moving forward. And that was how I spent my Saturday - the first day of the challenge week. I spent over 4 hours going through the rough draft and making a list of all the scenes I would need to finish the story - 19. And found that I had scenes that needed to be finished - 6, giving me a total of 25 scenes.

Having just that little bit of information made the week go easier - even if I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped.

My almost finished living room (that sofa was on the opposite
side of the room when I started)

Blogging wasn't so hot...as you can see the Week 5 analysis that was supposed to go up on Sunday ... didn't happen. In fact, Sunday was the crazy move everything around day which started at 2 am EST and, after a 4 hour nap, ended around 3pm EST. I literally tore apart my bedroom, living room, and office (which is the dining room) and moved shelves, desks, sofa-recliners, and televisions because the flow of energy in my house was bugging me.
Still, I got some editing and transcribing done on Sunday.

My 90% done office...I love my table and roll-top desk!

The second blog post was supposed to go up mid-week...kinda happened. I was able to make a quick Writing & Insanity post on Thursday, but nothing illuminating and fun. Although, I must admit...you  may be seeing a post on work spaces...

Now for the numbers...

Week 6 was 9.9 hours down from Week 5 (17.4 compared to 27.3), my edited pages was up 169 pages, and my transcribing/new words on the manuscript was up 918 over Week 5.

Considering Week 6 was my first return to full-time work week, and I was getting back into the groove of things, it's quite obvious I have to make some adjustments. Good news for me was, I didn't stay late a single night I was back to work. And once I was home, I immediately got back to the editing or transcribing.

Going off Goals set for Week 5 (write/edit/transcribe 4 hours a day to complete Rogue Master; 1 hour a day to create new manuscript outlines; 2 blog posts a week) I didn't do so hot, but I'm very proud of how much I was able to get done and the fact that I did it while back to work.

And since this challenge is about making Writing A Habit I Can't Kick, I'm still winning - because I'm still writing!!

Even better, when I was driving back from a regional training with two of my co-workers, both of them commented on how much more positive and excited I seemed than the previous school year. And they both attributed it to my being able to write again - they're right...it is all because I'm playing with my passion again.

And that's why I have to go paint a dragon.

So - Goals for Week 7 (with the tweaks to keep me successful):

1. Work toward completing Rogue Master clean rough draft:
• Edit a minimum of 20 pages per day
• Spend a minimum of 3 hours per day transcribing/writing/editing
• Post progress on Twitter and Facebook
2. Begin work on new manuscript(s):
• Spend a minimum of 1 hour per day plotting/outlining a new manuscript or
• Read through previous unfinished manuscripts for scenes or
• Transcribe/write on new manuscript for 1 hour each day
3. Post at least 2 blogs per week:
• Weekly Challenge Analysis - Post by Sunday
• Create a list of blog posts (minimum 8 posts/subjects)
• Blog on any other subject - post by Thursday

Going by the numbers, this means I have to do a minimum of 28 hours of writing every week.

I can do this!!

Will see you on Thursday, have a great week, and when I get my dragon done, I'll post some pictures!

Have a great day!
Q