I took Laurie Halse Anderson up on her Write 15 Minutes A Day challenge for August. I almost missed Day 1; I was tired and it was late, but I remembered to write just as I was going to bed. I just wrote in my journal for the first time in ages.
Day 2, I felt like I should be writing in my novel, but I’m still researching scenes (fact-based historical novel) and don’t know what they look like yet. So I used Laurie's prompt and wrote about the things that were conspiring to keep me from writing today. Two days – did it!
Aug.3: I was still too overwhelmed to add scenes to my novel, so I spent more than 15 min. writing character descriptions, much needed.
Day 4 already? I wrote way after the timer went off, and started a fiction story about social networking and murder. Bwwah ha ha! The details were flowing.
Day 5, Thursday, I worked on the synopsis (outline) for my novel revision, writing where to add scenes.
Day 6, I had an awful headache, so I went to bed without WFMAD. I don't think I even wrote 15 minutes straight at my dayjob, except maybe at the end when I wrote a cutline for a cute photo (I write at work, but I'm not counting that).
I made up for that on day 7, Saturday. It took nearly 2 hours, but I wrote a whole scene to add to my novel-in-progress, from a 6-year-old’s pov. I read Laurie's prompt afterwards: makes me think of "close-ups" - details I need to add: his little hand holding his mom’s, her hand rubbing her big tummy.
One week down!
Aug. 8: writing prompt, listed 25 books I want to write. And I actually want to write at least nine of them.
Aug. 9: I wrote a tribute to a genealogy friend on my blog.
Aug. 10: Making lists works for me when I can't think of something creative. Wrote lists about a history experiment.
Aug. 11: Didn't make it on Wednesday, got home at 10 p.m.
Aug. 12, Thursday: Worked on my synopsis at morning writers' group.
Aug. 13: Blogged about a genealogical brick wall.
Day 14, Saturday: I tried to work on my novel, but I'm in that last third of this multigenerational saga, and I just don't know enough about these characters or what happens in their lives. Finally, after dilly-dallying about an hour, I journaled about my problems writing this portion.
Two weeks down, halfway point, Yeah!! (Today's writing is this blog post) I've written every day except two: one that involved a bad headache, and the other that I didn't get home 'til 10 p.m. (family time).
So, what has WFMAD done? I don't have (more of) a routine, because my work hours are different every day. I haven't worked more on my novel, because I'm stuck in this third section where I don't know what happens. But, WFMAD has forced me back into my journal, posting on my blog, and just generally given me an excuse to write other things to help get the words going.
Day 2, I felt like I should be writing in my novel, but I’m still researching scenes (fact-based historical novel) and don’t know what they look like yet. So I used Laurie's prompt and wrote about the things that were conspiring to keep me from writing today. Two days – did it!
Aug.3: I was still too overwhelmed to add scenes to my novel, so I spent more than 15 min. writing character descriptions, much needed.
Day 4 already? I wrote way after the timer went off, and started a fiction story about social networking and murder. Bwwah ha ha! The details were flowing.
Day 5, Thursday, I worked on the synopsis (outline) for my novel revision, writing where to add scenes.
Day 6, I had an awful headache, so I went to bed without WFMAD. I don't think I even wrote 15 minutes straight at my dayjob, except maybe at the end when I wrote a cutline for a cute photo (I write at work, but I'm not counting that).
I made up for that on day 7, Saturday. It took nearly 2 hours, but I wrote a whole scene to add to my novel-in-progress, from a 6-year-old’s pov. I read Laurie's prompt afterwards: makes me think of "close-ups" - details I need to add: his little hand holding his mom’s, her hand rubbing her big tummy.
One week down!
Aug. 8: writing prompt, listed 25 books I want to write. And I actually want to write at least nine of them.
Aug. 9: I wrote a tribute to a genealogy friend on my blog.
Aug. 10: Making lists works for me when I can't think of something creative. Wrote lists about a history experiment.
Aug. 11: Didn't make it on Wednesday, got home at 10 p.m.
Aug. 12, Thursday: Worked on my synopsis at morning writers' group.
Aug. 13: Blogged about a genealogical brick wall.
Day 14, Saturday: I tried to work on my novel, but I'm in that last third of this multigenerational saga, and I just don't know enough about these characters or what happens in their lives. Finally, after dilly-dallying about an hour, I journaled about my problems writing this portion.
Two weeks down, halfway point, Yeah!! (Today's writing is this blog post) I've written every day except two: one that involved a bad headache, and the other that I didn't get home 'til 10 p.m. (family time).
So, what has WFMAD done? I don't have (more of) a routine, because my work hours are different every day. I haven't worked more on my novel, because I'm stuck in this third section where I don't know what happens. But, WFMAD has forced me back into my journal, posting on my blog, and just generally given me an excuse to write other things to help get the words going.