I feel like I'm back in school.

I've always loved projects, but I had a very hard time convincing myself to start this one. My motivation used to be to get "A's" which was a good motivator. In this case the pay off (if it ever comes) will be a book that is well developed, hopefully read and (dare I say) liked.(?) I have been putting this off. Since I've needed to complete it in order to continue writing, I've been putting writing off too. It just seems so formal, and that it's not my job. In many ways it's not. My character is the one doing this research. He's the one the mapping, reading, putting things together (in a slightly neurotic way). However, it has to be really done because I while I don't believe in what he's researching (it's fiction after all). He does. Not to mention I created him. So I'm taking "facts" (which is a term I use lightly) and allowing him to make assumptions about them. However, I have to get it all straight before I can allow him to manipulate them. It's really hard to leave my judgments out of it. However, on the positive side, someday if all this works out and my dreams come true and yadda yadda yadda, all of this work could become prized possessions of my zealous fans. ha!

Wow this post makes me sound crazy one more than one level. Until next time.

Welcome 2012!

November and December were months that I slacked on just about everything: exercise, reading, and writing. I did pick up a few new GRE words with the help of a $1.95 audio book for my IPOD containing the 500 most necessary words. The dude has a deep old man voice which amuses me, but he does not pause when his instructions clearly suggest otherwise. In all fairness: R&R and my trip to California, not to mention the Christmas/New Year Season in general seem to be as good excuse as any to slack a bit.
However, I have turned it around the past couple days. I wrote about 500 words yesterday and already 900 today. Meager in the long range, I realize. I had to restart somewhere. I got great advice from inadvertent slacking a few days ago. I was reading an article I stumbled upon while dreaming that one day I may be able to be a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's of America. This lady, Rachel Aaron wrote an article about increasing her word count. It had a lot of good advice, some of which I knew: I won't write as much if the Internet is available and butt in seat time is a must. However she has a perfect writing triad (or at least that is what I shall forever think of it as), which at each corner had one of the following: time, knowledge and enthusiasm. Time: I have plenty, but I use it poorly. Knowledge: this I was lacking and I didn't even know it! She increased her time by taking at least five minutes to plan out where her novel would go for that day. That way when she sat down to write, she didn't have to waste time making it all up on the spot (which does take longer). Enthusiasm: I sometimes lack, but after planning out where I'm going during my writing time, I am honestly more excited to see every detail play out. While I haven't gotten anywhere near sitting down for six hours to write or 10,000 words per day (which might correlate), I have been able to forgo the session where I sit down to write and become so confused that I give up before I start. So thank you Rachel Aaron (whose link to the mentioned post is below), you have helped me become happier while writing because I'm less confused, more excited, and hopefully will increase my output and finish this damn book!



http://www.sfwa.org/2011/12/guest-post-how-i-went-from-writing-2000-words-a-day-to-10000-words-a-day/