Baby tonight,
the DJ got us falling in love again.
So dance dance
Like its the last last night
of your life life
Usher :: DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love
Yesterday, my mother turns to me and asks So, are you going to write another story? She means it exactly that way, as, she hasn’t read much of my writing (not because I do not want her to, but, I do not like to impose on her – I know she isn’t a huge fan of reading/literature) and hasn’t seen everything that I’ve been churning out. She read the story I had out in Finding Home and she seemed to like it. She wanted more. You should write another story, she said.
In fact, I should have told her this year I signed up for something called Get Your Words Out. I thought about it last year, but I ended up shying away from it. It seemed big and scary. I wasn’t sure how many words I wanted to churn out in the year, what projects I wanted to work on, etc. This year, though, I know all those answers. This year, I had no reason not to.
I pledged (what sounds like) a whopping 250,00 words to be written in 2012. That equals out to a 1000 words a day, every weekday and a few days of leeway here and there. What I wanted to accomplish anyway. I’m actually looking forward to it.
Up first, I hope to tackle the draft of Stereoport I’ve been mentioning for a while. I’ve whittled it down to what I think will work, plotwise at least. I expect to have the draft done by late April. Which seems so far off…
After that, I want to get to work on a short fiction collection subverting or otherwise inspired by Rap and Hip-Hop songs. Which I am hoping to have done by early July in time for a summer release. I may put it out myself (most likely). I think it’ll be fun.
Other than that, the rest of the year is free. There’s a lot of words there to fill up with something, but, I don’t want to plan too far ahead of the game. Structure is nice, but, it can get claustrophobic. I hope to ride a happy medium there.
250,000 is a lot more than one story, when I think about it, but, I think it’s a fair assessment to say I’m not stopping.
Yeah Mom, I’m going to write a hell of a lot more.
18 Comments
Wow, that's a lot of writing to do! I need to finish what I've already started before committing to creating more. :(
Good luck with your goals!
Thanks! I like having high goals – I may not achieve them and that's okay, but, if they're too small, well, I may finish them and never keep going. SHOOTING FOR DA MOON!!!
Finish finish finish! Can't wait to see what you come up with :D
Wowzers…good for you! I find that when under pressure I do my best and most creative work. I am rooting for you always! :)
I think what your mom means implicitly what she asks if you're going to write more is actually: Can I read more of what you've written? That's nice that she's curious. My mom never asks me, although I've told her about my blogs and such.
I'm not really an avid fan of word counts to help motivate myself, but I do think it's important to work on something every day at least (which is what I'm going to try). My little "Letters for Burning" blog helped me out with that enormously last year.
this is an awesome task, I hope it involves free fall and scribbles on napkins Good Luck
I like your list! I'm tempted to steal this format entirely for my dusty, cobweb ensnared corner of the internet. Also, I like what you write! And stuff.
250,000 words this year? That's a lot! *_* Even if you don't hit that particular number, I think it's still really good to aim high. The important thing is that you persevere – write even when you don't want to! Building good habits, I guess.
Good luck! I'm sure you'll accomplish a ton this year!
wish you great 2012
U have nice blog
Thanks Lisa! Let me know if you ever wanna be on the beta-reading squad :D
well, she doesn't necessarily wanna read more – she wants to see my ass in the chair doing more, i think. my mom has issues with reading and stuff i rather not talk about here, so, i know it isn't I WANNA READ MORE OF YOUR WORK, but she wants to see me continue for my dream :)
I think wordcounts are perfectly great because it's a goal and even if it sucks, you get to that goal. I'm not adept at finishing everything I write yet, but, if I can get 1000 words a day, I'd be happy with myself. It'd be working towards and end – especially when you're working on a novel and you can't see an end in sight :)
I'm really sure that Letters was way helpful in that!
YES! I hope so too! I enjoy writing littles everywhere I can. Thanks <3
STEAL IT. STEAL IT ALL <333
Thanks love!
YUP! You're exactly right Catherine – it is all about a huge high goal to keep yourself motivated! I'm aiming for that moon! Even if I fail, I still got up there.
I def hope to keep writing through the muck!
<3 THanks
That's nice to have that support though. I'm fairly sure if I ever published anything, my relatives probably wouldn't be interested unless I was getting paid a lot or something.
Oh, I imagine wordcounts would be a lot more helpful with novel-writing! But I'm writing mostly poems and short stories right now, so I guess that's different. I can't wait to read your novel though, since the stuff I've read from you has always been really great.
I did steal it! Mostly as a procrastination tool, but hey! It's a post. And now the whole internet can see how silly my brain is.
My parents rarely ask me, either, though I think they are curious about it. They probably just figure I won't let them see it, which I won't. Hah. They can see it with everyone else: when I publish it! (And by "publish" I mostly mean "post it on my blog" but whatever.)
I really have no qualms about sharing my writing, despite the fact that it's sometimes a bit too strange or unsettling for some people (see: my family, mostly). I guess I don't care what people think about me anyway, haha. I don't think my family will be all that curious until they see that I'm published in a legit way or if I'm making money from it, probably. They don't really understand why writers write, I guess.
I'm better at sharing with strangers and writing friends than my family. Mostly, though, unless it's someone I can turn to for good con-crit, I'm unwilling to share until it's completely finished, and I don't have much that is "finished" that I like enough to show anybody. Like, if I posted it on my blog (which I have done with some poetry) I'm perfectly okay with anyone reading it, but they have to read my blog to do so, and I'm not entirely sure they know it exists.
Post a Comment