Making Writing A Habit I Can't Kick - Day 5 - Reflection

And the writing continues. Unlike yesterday, I woke up to a phone call which connected me to the outside world much earlier than I wanted to. It was after 9 am, so I can't complain too much. Good thing is, it did get me up and out of bed and out to start my day.
So here comes the update...

1. How much did I write?
2,594

Word count for the day and how long did it take me?
99.9% of all that I wrote today were notes transcribed from this morning. Considering I quit writing on the notes and began transcribing them around 2:15, I have been working on those 2,594 words since around 9:30 this morning. Which puts me at around 4 hours and 45 minutes of writing.

2. What is the current word count of my Work In Progress (WIP)?
Word count for the WIP is 10,742. Which puts me about 10% into what I hope the final word count of the finished, publishable book will be.

3. How do I feel about what/how I did today in the writing session?
I'm actually pretty darned impressed at how much I did. Why would I be impressed that nearly 5 hours of work only netted me close to 2,600 words (which divided out is around 520 words an hour)? Because I wasn't only working on my writing. I had two very long, drawn out text message conversations. One with my mom close to 10 am that lasted nearly an hour. Then a second with a student of mine who literally kept the conversation going for nearly 2.5 hours. 
All the time I was responding to texts and reading through texts, I had the words I needed to put down on the page going through my head. I never lost the thread of the conversation with my characters.
That's a huge deal!! For me that's pure gold information.
I didn't try to dilly-dally getting started on the writing. Once I was up, I had the stack of papers and my fountain pens in hand and I was ready to go. And the interruptions from the conversations had little effect.
So, all in all, a great writing day...although I'm not sure I'm finished, I just wanted to make sure I got this posted.

4. Compare/Contrast today's session to yesterdays.
Was it easier/harder?
In comparison to yesterday, it wasn't easier or harder getting started. I simply recognized what I had to do and I set forth to do it. In future I might actually set a goal for the number of scenes I want to get through, but getting through 3 and considering two were scenes with only the sketchiest of notes, I'm pretty darned proud of my progress. Especially considering the interruptions that could have derailed me. I could have decided to turn on the TV and watch Netflix after the first text conversation with my mom. I could have kept going in that direction when I started the second text conversation less than an hour later. Yet both times, I knew I had a goal and I stuck with it. I knew I had to write. I had to get words on the page.
And I did just that.
Yay Me!!

Did I enjoy it?
Actually I did enjoy it. It was nice to have that physical connection to the manuscript and be able to move through the scenes just letting the words drop onto the page. It's getting a little easier to trust myself to just let the words flow rather than try to direct the scene for the character. As a control freak, it's hard to let someone else take the wheel, but letting my characters do it, is getting much easier, because they actually know where they're going. I'm just along for the ride.

5. What am I looking forward to in tomorrow's session?
I think tomorrow I want to set a goal for the number of scenes to get through. This strategy may be a bit premature and has the potential to derail me and my progress, since I'm not so great at keeping to my goals. Then there's the added issue that I have to go in to the day job to help out with some stuff early in the day.
It may mean that tomorrow will be a transcription day only, which is fine with me. As long as I'm adding to my word count. that's what really matters.

My favorite line from today's writing:
She had a war to plan.

Making Writing A Habit I Can't Kick - Day 3 - Reflection

1. How much did I write?
1,539

Word count for the day and how long did it take me?
Word count for today is 1,539 (not including the updated page on my blog).
It took close to 2 hours, I wasn't really paying attention to time.

2. What is the current word count of my Work In Progress (WIP)?
4,499

3. How do I feel about what/how I did today in the writing session?
It's been a very interesting day. I'm very happy with the progress I made. To be honest I didn't think I'd get nearly as much as I did. I actually avoided writing for as long as possible today, but after an edifying discussion with Claire J. Monroe, things started to click. (I'll probably write a blog post about the discussion once I've processed through it and written up some notes.)

4. Compare/Contrast today's session to yesterdays.
Was it easier/harder?
It was harder today than yesterday. It may be because I ended up doing another 648 words last night before midnight and a part of my brain tried to rationalize that "Hey, that's another writing session. So what if it wasn't AFTER midnight. It meets the criteria set forth of a writing session over 20 minutes long. I should use it."
But I didn't. It wasn't right to consider it a writing session for today.
Another reason it was harder was because I kept convincing myself to put other things ahead of the writing. That's where the discussion with CJM comes in. She walked me through some stuff and made me see the underlying cause for my avoidance, and she also identified what the true purpose of this challenge is about.
Discipline.
In some areas I am very disciplined, but with writing I am definitely not. That's why I need to develop the discipline necessary to make sure my writing career can be a long-lived one. 

Did I enjoy it?
I have to say yes and no, with the emphasis leaning toward the "no" more than the yes. After I got into the actual writing components of the story, I had fun. Again it was the freedom to simply transcribe what the character tells me and move on. Considering I said "No", it may be construed that I don't like letting the characters take command.
I've read enough articles, books, and pamphlets to know that just about all the advice given to writers is to take control. To direct your characters where you want them to go. To force them into situations so they have to grow and change.
All well and good, but so not organic. And I'm talking "organic" to the characters, the setting, the story itself.
After the talk with CJM, I knew what I needed to do. I simply held off doing it for about 4 or 5 hours.
Yet, when it all came down to it, I got it done. And I got it done spectacularly.

5. What am I looking forward to in tomorrow's session?
Tomorrow's session is looking better and better because I should be able to finish up the rough outline of notes for the book which will allow me to skim through the story and begin filling in the blanks. It's good to have a plan and some organization established before I get into the straight writing bit. 
It's like I've prepped the playground with all the toys and tricks and treats I could and now I'm letting myself loose on the park. To have fun!
It's going to be fun, and it's going to be interesting, and while it's going to give me the words I need for the story, it's also going to give me something even better.
Discipline.

My favorite line from today's writing:
He didn’t dare trust a word out of the son of a bitch, but he needed answers. 

Until tomorrow and the next session of writing to get done. Have a great night!!

Q

Making Writing A Habit I Can't Kick - Day 1 - Reflection

It's just now 11:06 pm and here's the results of today's Make Writing A Habit I Can't Stop blog challenge:

1. How much did I write?
652 words (although admittedly some of it was notes.)

Word count for the day and how long did it take I?
Total word count is the 652 and it took about 30 minutes.

2. What is the current word count of my Work In Progress (WIP)?
288 words (although the other 364 are notes directly associated with the story.)

3. How do I feel about what/how I did today in the writing session?
I have to admit, I'm not overly impressed by what I did. Not sure if any of it will be kept, but it's a good start and gives me something to work from when I get started tomorrow.
As for how I did, again, not overly impressed because I found quite a few excuses not to write...which isn't a good thing when you consider I'm supposed to be developing discipline.

4. Compare/Contrast today's session to yesterdays.
Nothing to compare or contrast yet, since today was the first day. Will see what happens tomorrow.

Was it easier/harder?
NA -- It was hard because I wasn't sure where to start or what to write. I don't feel like I've made any progress, yet I've identified a few little things for myself that I think will help with tomorrow.
Those things include:
Pre-writing organization
Drafting a rough outline
Identifying turning points and key scene goals and themes
Write out background for Rick to immerse myself in who and what he is.
Expand on villains' backgrounds to immerse myself in who and what they are and the goals driving them and how those goals are impacted/thwarted by Rick and Becka.
Write out background on secondary characters to better understand where they fit into the situation involving the villains and Rick and Becka.

Did I enjoy it?
No, I actually didn't enjoy it because it felt a little forced. I don't feel like the scene is going to be used, but at the same time, it gives me a jumping off point and that's the most important thing.

5. What am I looking forward to in tomorrow's session?
I think I'm looking forward to doing more prep work on the story. I want to try to set up my turning points and sketch a rough outline to a few necessary scenes so all I have to do is create the structure of the story, then fill in the holes. (See notes under question #4.)

My favorite line:
Not much written so I don't really have any true favorite lines... Guess I'd have to say it's:
The aged single malt had gone down smooth, yet it didn’t still the beast growling at its fetters every time his gaze paused on a specific brunette.

Until tomorrow.
Day 1 of challenge - met and completed!!