eBay sales: model, book, mixer paddles
Bonanza sale: Doll
Craft projects completed: 0
#Milwordy Update: (747 words) Just getting started, but I’ve seduced another one of my friends (JM Beal) to do it as well. Again, as a plus all the words count, even those from this blog. I’m hoping that will lend some consistency to my blogging.
Called out from work today, not because of the kick-off of this, but just because I’m tired. I’ve been working (overtime) for the past two-weeks. Long days and short nights to get everyone back to work — safely — so that they can be paid once the CARES act runs out. That means seat by seat analysis. That means squinting at measurements and talking to department heads to move people so that they don’t have to wear a mask the entire day while they’re sitting at their desks. Will this be a perfect solution? At this point, I don’t have it in me to care anymore. I’m burned out on the project and desperately needed the break.
In fact, a lot of things have burned out of me lately: sadness, rage, motivation. That’s one of the reasons I took on what look like an enormous and impossible number for the next year. I want to rediscover my passion and my love for writing and I need a reason to give it some space. External accountability is part of that. By stating that I am doing this challenge, I get the opportunity to make it a priority. I don’t like to disappoint people. That means I don’t always make room for the things I enjoy. I have always wanted to be a writer, yet I pushed down the possibility of being a professional writer, and just wrote around the edges and the crumbs of time I had available. That means that I only really devoted myself to writing two times a year: my 3-day challenge in September, and Nanowrimo in November. (I highly recommend both challenges actually. They at least get you most of the way through the book.) This challenge means that I’m putting two hours of my day into a bucket for writing. At least.
Nanowrimo (50,000 words in November) has been a god-send. I’ve made friends and learned that I can reach what seems to be improbable goals. It also means that I’m not alone in the madness.
The 3 Day novel (write a complete novel over 3 days on the Labor Day weekend. It’s associated with a publisher, but I stopped actually submitting there years ago.) challenge however, is different. I give myself three full days of deep dive, no holds barred writing. I immerse myself completely in another world and come out with at least… 90% of the final book. All three of my published novels were written during the three day challenge. This of course, doesn’t mean that I don’t edit them after that, but the main framework? the characters? all of that is written.
I’ve also signed up for some workshops and lectures on writing. Just to keep the theme for the year. I think challenging myself to learn about writing, actually writing, and making myself complete things, is my goal for the year. Maybe some of those pieces will just be little meditations like this. Some of them may try to address social injustices. Some of them may be the coursework for a company I’m building with a friend. All of that is possible. And the restriction and the freedom to work in that box makes my creativity focus down for a little bit.
Some other challenges you might want to try to stretch your creative wings:
The ABC challenge: Start your story with a letter. Then the next sentence starts with the next letter. Unless they’re really looking for it, most people won’t notice what you’re doing. Very few people actually do this challenge these days, though it used to be a stable back in the earlier years of online fandoms. *winks*
The 25 word challenge: Write a cohesive story in 25 words
The random word prompt: Get a friend to write down 30 random words. Take a word each day and write a story about it. This is what leads to my writing from prompts stories. I have a list a friend wrote for me about a three years ago that I’m working off of. I might have to request another one.
Well, that’s it for today. Unless I suddenly decide to write from a prompt this evening and it stays short.
BitterSuites 