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Post by Phalon on Jul 29, 2011 4:43:48 GMT -6
Eight pages in a weekend! Wow! I don't think I could do that unless I had the house completely to myself - too many distractions otherwise. For example, LX wanted me to sit up in her room last for some "creative time", she said. She wanted to finish a painting she's working on, and I could write; my writing group meets next Weds, and haven't a word written yet. And I still don't. She, of course, was listening to music, and I couldn't concentrate on a single thought.
Good deal, Joxie, for going ahead like gang busters! Keep us updated.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jul 29, 2011 15:18:05 GMT -6
Well, I live alone, and I've seen the 3 'Twilight' movies a zillion times so they didn't distract me ... well only the parts I had to stop and watch did, but I knew I had them on DVD and VHS so I could put those in and watch what I missed whenever I wanted. I don't know how many more weekends they plan to run the 3 movies back to back, but since I taped all 3 on one VHS, I can pop it in when the marathons are over.
I'm adding to a finished draft, and a lot of the pages are already half full, so I'm only finishing the page out. I haven't edited the finished part much, as it was edited several times over and I felt it was done then. But now I feel what I have is bland, and I'm adding some punch to it.
You can pat me on the back when I'm done with the rewrite. Procrastination is a friend that would make a better enemy, so I could fall back on it easily. Your inquiring post got me off my butt, so maybe it'll keep me going until it's all done.
Next time you and LX have creative time, you should both have earbuds and your own personal music playing in your ears. Or agree beforehand on what music can/can't be played while you're both working together.
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Post by Phalon on Jul 30, 2011 20:27:23 GMT -6
I'll be ready.
That's why I started this thread, Joxie. Sometimes ideas flow faster than words, and there always seems to be something else that gets in the way of actually sitting down and writing. I figure sometimes all it takes is a little jump start to procrastinators like us going.
Speaking of getting going (that sounds weird all of the sudden), I'd better get going - I've got stuff to write tonight myself too.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jul 31, 2011 22:49:42 GMT -6
8 more pages added to. I was hoping to get 10 pages done, but I won't let that get me down, 8 is great! (18 pages left.) Friday night the 3 'Twilight' movies started early, and the last one ended at nine, so I got out the VHS tape with the 3 on it and started at the beginning again. I didn't start writing until the last one aired, and I'd only gotten one page done, and then did 3 more during the second VHS viewing. Then Saturday night I finished the 4th page just as the last movie was ending, and I got to watch 'The Tourist.' I really liked the movie, but Johnny looked so weird without the eyeliner and headgear.
This thread didn't motivate me too much until your later query, and then I got a fire under my butt. A much needed fire, which I hope can continue. I am good at ignoring the flames and roasting merrily in ignorant bliss.
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Post by Phalon on Aug 1, 2011 5:56:42 GMT -6
Hey, every little flame helps.
I thought it was a fine....an oh-so-very-fine face he chose!
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 1, 2011 17:48:18 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 8, 2011 16:17:17 GMT -6
Zero pages added to, and 18 pages left, still.
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 12, 2011 18:30:34 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 13, 2011 12:34:13 GMT -6
Four pages added to, and 14 left.
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 14, 2011 18:47:45 GMT -6
Six more pages added to, (total: 10), and eight pages left. (I left these eight for last because I don't think I'll get them all done in one weekend. These may take two or more weekends. But maybe I'll hit my stride and get them done in one. )
Now I'll need to read and study my books on (self) Indie-Publishing. Wow, December is 4 months away! Can I make it? Late Winter or Spring might be closer to when I get it done, but as long as I get it done, it won't matter if it's next Summer when I get it all together.
BTW: If you heard cackling this weekend, that was me. Some of the stuff I added had me ROTFLOL
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Post by Phalon on Aug 15, 2011 5:48:17 GMT -6
Good for you, Joxie! That's quite an accomplishment to do all that in one weekend.
I didn't do much; my only goals for this weekend were to write a Scrolls post and a blog, and I did neither. I could rationalize that thunderstorms kept me off the computer most of Saturday (I had the day off work!), Blueberry Fest kept me busy when it wasn't storming, and a lot of the time I was on the computer was spent helping LX hunt down scholarship opportunities to submit her artwork to this year, (we found 3 she's interested in so far). And yes, I did all that, but still had some spare time that I could have been writing, but got distracted in other ways. No focus this weekend.
Great article on self-discipline, (and I love the accompanying photo that isn't). Now if I can only apply it to myself!
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 15, 2011 16:28:19 GMT -6
I have the book mentioned on a 'wish' list, and might get it when I have enough books on the list to warrant the free s/h.
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Post by Phalon on Aug 17, 2011 22:43:55 GMT -6
So...I figure a first step, (aside from admitting I have a problem), on my road to procrastination redemption would be to post a writing schedule for the world (Joxie) to see. That way, there's gotta be at least some accountability for not sticking to it, in a weird kind of way.
Tonight - complete my blog and send it in. Pfft! Schedule's shot to hell right off the bat; I got home from Chicago too late, and am too tired, and too brain dead to write a coherent thought.
Tomorrow night then - complete and send blog.
Friday night - write and post Scrolls thing I told Scrappy I'd post last weekend.
Next week - work on writers' group story; due September 7th. Whip out another short blog.
August 29 - September 3rd - finish writers' group story. Start reworking and editing another for a contest entry due September 9th. Yeah, yeah...I know, a contest. But the story is already written, meets the criteria, there's no entry fee, I get to keep all rights unless it wins, and if by some miracle of a chance it does win, they only have First American Rights. I figure why the hell not send it in; there's nothing to lose.
2nd week of September - edit a different short story to send in to a fiction magazine. Low pay if chosen, the lowest I've ever considered, but hey, it's fiction. I don't write fiction, but I like the story. Again, why not give it a shot. Due any time Sept - Oct. Start working on another blog entry.
3rd week of September - complete blog. Query gardening magazine with a piece I've already written.
That ought to keep me busy for a while, I'm thinking. Oh, and the punctuation thing that Siren posted; I think I'd like to give that a try just for the heck of it. And oh, oh, oh - at the Trade Show today, a co-worker and I were talking with a sales rep; he gave us a copy of a magazine his company publishes; thus far it's only available by subscription, but it's hitting news stands with this months' edition. Co-worker tells me I ought to send an article to them. Sales guy says, "Oh?" Co-worker tells him I'm a writer. I stand there looking all embarrassed. Sales guy opens the magazine and shows me who I'm should send manuscripts to. Low and behold, it's the wife of the editor of the magazine I currently write for. Small world. Maybe I'll dig a bit deeper and see what kind of stuff they're accepting....since I kinda sorta have an "in" already. (eye-roll)
Let's see if I actually get any of this done. (another eye-roll)
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 18, 2011 16:32:57 GMT -6
The thing is, if I set a deadline, I procrastinate even more than before ... so that doesn't really work for me. Although, your last query did get my butt in gear .... but I wonder how long that will work before I let myself blow off queries? I really am my own worst enemy. I always sabotage myself whenever I get close to actually doing something. So, will I really meet the December deadline? Will I meet any deadline?
Indie-Published or Bust!
Indie-Published or Bust!
Indie-Published or Bust!
Indie-Published or Bust!
Okay ... maybe I'm motivated once again. Although, Mom needs me to help put meds in her dialysis bags for a week, so I'll probably use that as an excuse to procrastinate until next weekend.
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 20, 2011 6:20:29 GMT -6
Two pages added to, and six more to go. That may be it for this weekend.
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Post by Phalon on Aug 21, 2011 21:35:00 GMT -6
You are doing way better than me. As you can tell from my lack of posting in the story, I haven't stuck to my deadlines...although, I did finish my blog on Friday (can't send it because the page isn't loading correctly, though), and I'm almost finished with the Scrolls post.
I'm quite the opposite of you; I need those deadlines even if they're the self-imposed ones for little things I'm doing. Throughout the day, ideas pop into my head for this and that. When I finally get a chance at my computer, I flip-flop between things, trying to get down ideas before I forget them. Five minutes working on this, ten minutes on that, then on to something else. By then, I've pretty much lost focus, and I've got bits and pieces all over the place, without any one thing progressing.
Deadlines force me to focus on only one or two things.
Even then, sometimes other stuff gets in the way. I hate teenagers, and I can't wait for school to start in a couple of weeks. Every night this past week, LX has had The Might As Well Be The Boyfriend over, and he stays until curfew. Last week, it was her friend Steph, who doesn't get off work until midnight, so they haven't seen each other for a while. I understand the kids are trying to pack as much summer into these last few weeks before school. I'd rather have them here then out somewhere else, with god-knows-who, doing god-knows-what, but they're driving me nuts, and I can't get a dang thing accomplished.
I really need a room of my own.
Oh, and then there are the times they go out, and I sit here worrying, unable to focus on writing anything. Like now. "Oh, we're all just going down to the beach." The beach closed a half hour ago. There's no cell phone reception down there. And she's missed her curfew.
Did I mention I hate teenagers?
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 30, 2011 20:53:34 GMT -6
I read this weekend, so I still have 6 pages to go.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 3, 2011 17:16:00 GMT -6
Two more pages done, and 4 more to go.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 5, 2011 19:49:02 GMT -6
I'm hoping to get the last four pages done sometime this week/end. Today I spent several hours setting up everything so that all I have to do is write it. (Eclipse & New Moon were on satellite today, so I took advantage of them. )
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Post by Phalon on Sept 8, 2011 6:31:05 GMT -6
Did I say I hate teenagers? Maybe "hate" is too strong a word; it's more like "I like having you around, but I've got a million things to do, and right now you're annoying the cr@p outta me."
I'm still way behind where I set out to be at this time.
Still heavy on the Teenage High Drama around here.
I'll catch up...someday soon, I'm hoping.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 16, 2011 1:44:26 GMT -6
Two pages added to, and two more pages left to add do ... then I'm done. Well, for a few weeks, and then I'll see if it needs more editing. In the meantime I need to read those Indie-Publishing books, and decide on what the covers should look like. What should go on them. What fonts to use. Etc.
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Post by Phalon on Sept 18, 2011 21:45:32 GMT -6
Did you get those last two pages done, Joxie?
I had to go back a page, and see where I should be according to the schedule I laid out. HA! As if I needed to check to know I barely completed anything.
Let's see....about a month ago, I intended by this time to have written two blogs and have a third in the works, complete a Scrolls post, a writers' group story, rework and edit a short story for a contest, edit a different short story to send in to a fiction magazine, and query gardening magazine with a piece I've already written.
What I've actually done, (without sticking to my original weekly schedule):
Got one blog sent in and posted; have two more started but neither are anywhere near being finished.
Got the Scrolls post done!
Finished a short one-page story for the writers group in the nick of time; I wrote it the day of our meeting, and actually, was pleased with it.
Reworked the story for the contest, and though I sent it in, I'm not as happy with it was I would have liked. I felt parts I had to edit out, and other parts I wanted to expand would have made for a better story, but I had a word limit and deadline to contend with.
Did not start on the second short story I want to edit before sending in to a magazine.
I did almost finish writing a short story for next month's writers group just in time for Halloween. It's wasn't on my to-do list, but it's a fun little thing that popped into my head with a sort of horror theme, and I wanted to get it out before I forgot it.
Haven't started on the garden magazine query yet. Have no ideas whatsoever about what to write for the punctuation paragraph contest, though I'm still thinking it sounds fun.
My revamped schedule for rest of September is to get at least one blog, and the horror-themed story done; to at least download the short story from disk, and if miraculously something comes to me, to get the punctuation paragraph complete. The way things are going, it'll be miraculous if any of it gets done!
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 18, 2011 22:04:39 GMT -6
No, not yet. Rain is starting to pick up. A bit of thunder every once in a while, and more for tomorrow. If I don't get to get online due to thunder, I'll take advantage to finish the two pages. Then I'll have to wait until I can hook the computer back up to type it all up and print it all out and stick it in the drawer for a few weeks while I learn about Indie-Publishing. I think the book cover ... or 'jacket' will be my downfall.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 21, 2011 16:52:44 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 21, 2011 23:50:24 GMT -6
14 pages typed up and printed out. 20 more to go.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 22, 2011 17:46:41 GMT -6
6 pages typed up and printed out. 14 to go. 2 of those 16 pages needs to be added to.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 23, 2011 16:35:28 GMT -6
12 pages typed up, but not printed out. Waiting on the two pages I haven't added to yet. Yikes! Now I have to plan a book jacket and learn how to format a book file.
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Post by Phalon on Sept 25, 2011 6:53:22 GMT -6
You notice we're flaming hot in here, Joxie?
I take it you write out things by hand, then put them in the computer. That's something I rarely do; I usually find it easier to think sitting in front of a computer screen. I do have occasions though, when switching it up seems to help.
This week for example, I got the writing group story almost finished by jotting things down during commercials while watching the season opener of "Criminal Minds" (Did you watch it? I think Hotch looks very fine in a beard; much less Hotchly)
I also did some research for my blog; just a handful of two-minute drills to verify that some of my facts were actually factual.
That's about it. With the LX/Boyfriend Trauma and the Hubs/Father Drama going on, my entire writing period for the week adds up to about an hour and a half.
But at least I got a clean house outta the deal. My finely-honed procrastination skills aren't just regulated to writing; housework often occurs last minute before company comes.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 26, 2011 16:51:41 GMT -6
Yeppers. But I do write on the computer sometimes. I like the freedom of writing by hand better though. Since I have a desktop I have to sit in the one spot to write when I type out my works, but writing by hand I can do anywhere, and in any position. I have this theory that if I ever get a laptop, I'll probably do more writing with the computer. One of the things I also like about writing by hand versus typing it out on computer is that I have less chances of losing my work forever. Another reason why when I do major editing on the computer I print out a hard copy for my files. If the computer gets fried, I still have a file I can use to replace the digital file. (I mostly edit on computer, though I do rewrite by hand sometimes too.)
Yeppers, I did watch it. I've been a fan of Thomas Gibson since his 'Dharma & Greg' days.
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Post by Phalon on Oct 20, 2011 7:11:33 GMT -6
So, I got the check and advanced copies of the first article (actually, the second one I wrote; the first one will be in the magazine's next edition).
And dang. I knew it'd probably be edited for length; I was expecting it, actually. It's a departmental article that is typically only allotted three pages, and with the two sidebars (that were requested), I knew it would run over the limit.
One sidebar was cut entirely. No biggie on that; I have enough related material to weave an entire new article, and hopefully send somewhere else.
It's the editing that was somewhat disappointing to me. They changed very little of what I wrote, but edited out a few transition sentences from one paragraph to the next. To me, it makes parts of the article sound choppy; even a transition sentence in my bio was cut, leaving a choppy sounding couple of lines.
And of the few instances in which they did change my wording resulted in a grammatical error! Now that irks me, (not that I follow any grammatical rules myself, but this is a glaring mistake).
Ah, well....I guess along with working on my procrastination bad habit (which I haven't been working on, btw), I have to learn to be less wordy so they don't cut so much in the future.
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