A few months ago I wrote a blog on my new “chunky list” method of time management. I proudly proclaimed my affection for lists and recorded my successes. I haven’t talked about lists much lately. There’s a reason. I’ve fallen off the page. My lists are short and general rather than long and specific. Some very measurable things, like laundry, get done in their regular time slot (Monday) but others like “write” aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. My productivity has fallen in recent weeks along with my drive to finish the story.
Enter my friend/critiquer/encourager/fellow-traveller from the other side of the world. We met several years ago on an on-line course. The presenter said “pick a partner.” I decided to find someone as far away from my usual world as I could. My partner, AB, had the same thought, so now a Canadian and an Australian are travelling the road of life and writing together. We e-mail each other every Monday with an account of our week. Sometimes the e-mails are full of glowing achievements, thinking aloud about plot/character problems, or the sharing of a highlight in our personal lives. Other times our exchanges consist of a tirade about the unfairness of the world/family/work/fate, take your pick, or the clueless comment made by a husband. As our friendship grows, there are more of the personal notes in our correspondence but always something about the writing.
Last week I was moaning about being stuck and she was complaining about lack of inspiration. We both have January birthdays and the horoscope for our year was not encouraging! AB proposed that we set a word count goal and tell each other what it was, then report back. I’m always up for a challenge. I set my goal, the same as AB’s as it turns out, and then my week went haywire. Unexpected errands, a power outage, freezing weather and a weekend away, made the goal hard to attain, but I wasn’t going to report failure on Monday morning. I wrote while I waited for the car to be serviced, I wrote before breakfast and after supper, I sandwiched in some coffee shop writing between trips to the grocery store and the pharmacy. By Friday night I’d reached my word count and went off on a wee holiday with a clear conscience. On Monday morning I wrote to my friend trumpeting my success.
I’m not giving up on my lists, they are an excellent tool for me, giving me an overview of my week, illuminating a timetable to accomplish all my tasks, highlighting where and when the writing can happen, providing a roadmap to the end of the book. I’m very fond of my lists. However, I forgive myself easily for not reaching my goals, especially when it’s Christmas and I have a new book or three and a really hard jigsaw puzzle. That word count is just a number I made up. It doesn’t matter to anyone else. But having declared my intention to AB, I had renewed motivation to get there. We’re both Capricorns and hate to fail!
So, if you’re feeling stuck, whether it’s with writing or sticking to a diet or managing your budget, or any other life goal, I recommend finding a partner to hold you accountable. I met AB more or less by accident but we hit it off – a lovely piece of serendipity — but there are other ways of networking. Some of my writer’s crowd have set up small critique groups, our chapter has a goal-setting exercise every February, a couple have a relatives who serve as sounding boards and task masters. There are on-line sites to help writers set goals and achieve them. Here are three suggested ones. Some charge, others are free.
There’s even an app for that at Novelicious
It’s important to find the type of group/partner that works for you. I’m not a chart-type of person so if I have to fill in boxes, the system won’t work for me. If you love tables and graphs and fill-in-the-blanks type accounting, then you should look for like-minded people. If you want to keep it strictly professional, maybe one of the paid circles is your choice. If you like to mix in some personal stuff, then a friend with similar goals may be more your style.
Of course, just like in real life, no one writing partner will fulfil all your needs. I have writing friends whom I meet in person, we brainstorm, commiserate, encourage, share information and sometimes exchange recipes. I love our gab sessions. Fortunately, friends in person and friends on-line is not an either/or situation. I can have both, eat my cake and have it too. How often does that happen?
It has been said before but I’ll say it again, writing is a lonely business. It’s easier with company.
Views: 55
As part of my January clear-out, I sorted through the drawers of my desk. No matter how often I cull, they always fill up again so now it’s part of my New Year’s ritual. Anyway, amid the old receipts and cards, I came across my file of workshop notes. What at treat! I soon gave up my housekeeping and immersed myself in the file. I have notes on “emotional intensity,” “blogging,” “revisions,” “plotting – by character, by structure, by GMC . . .” I have notes on building character based on a flaw, on strengths, on birth sign/order, on secrets.” There are several workshops around editing, the writer’s journey, the hero’s journey and the romance heroine’s journey. In short, I have several textbooks worth of notes.
One of my Christmas holiday pleasures is new books. Whenever I’m asked what I want for Christmas I answer, “books.” I never specify a particular book or even a genre. It’s lovely to be surprised by what others choose. I’ve read away out of my comfort zone as a result and have discovered some authors who are now favourites. This year I received book one in a family saga (in translation), a biography, a pastoral series and a book of short stories. The weather has been foul, windy and wet and cold, so I happy snuggled down with my books by the fire. I’ve finished the translation, hopped about in the book of short stories, read three chapters of the biography and two of the series book. I usually read only one book at a time, but one of the privileges of holidays is permission to do as the mood strikes and not to do in an orderly, organized fashion.
Happy New Year!
Recent Comments