Wait. New Year’s Resolutions are YEAR-long? Weird.

New Year’s Resolutions.

Seems like an odd topic for mid-July to some, but the reality is when we make resolutions, we make them for the entire year.  July happens to be 6 months down, 6 months to go in the year.

Consider the following:

Infographic Source: betterment.com

I would like to claim that my own determination prompted this post, but that would be a lie.

The Changing of the Planners

Much like the changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace, I recently switched planners.

My daily planner (you know that written out thing that keeps track of the entirety of my life and I’d be lost without) ended in June.  For my replacement planner, I decided to graduate from academic planners (after all, I’m not in school anymore) and use a January-December planner (blasphemy!)

Since I have become incredibly anal about tracking my word counts and such, I decided to undertake the tedious process of transferring all my word count summaries from one planner to the next.

(Read: I was procrastinating actually writing.)

Also, in my now defunct planner, I found a list of all my resolutions.

The Other Resolutions

In addition to The Writing Resolution (TWR), I also pledged that I would:

1.  Read 24+ books

2.  Run a consistent 9 minute mile (obviously I am not running inclined…)

3.  Re-hash my cello skills

Who knew? I am a semi-balanced individual.

On Reading

I admit it: the amount of reading I have done since embarking on TWR leaves something to be desired is abysmal.

To write, you must read. This a Truth with a capital T.  (A Truth that I will address on Tuesday.) [Edit 7/16: Here’s that post.]

Also embarrassing, I remembered my running and cello resolutions, but when I saw “read 24 books” written on January’s calendar, my inner monologue said: “oh sh*t.”

At least I have some vacation coming up to catch up on some reading.

The problem with reading, for me, is that I have a bingeing problem.  This might be the case for creating a more methodical habit as I have (somehow) managed with my writing.

That being said, I lack self-control when I start reading and I’m not sure I’m interested in having any.  I mean, who doesn’t like to get lost in a book? (I hear there are people, but they are strange people who I do not understand.)

At any rate, I am thoroughly reminded.

My upcoming reading list:

How I Write – by Janet Evanovich

Raggedy Man – by Clyde Curley

The Bartender’s Tale – by Ivan Doig

In Other News

Yeah, I wrote a first draft in 14 days. I’m officially over the 50K marker for Camp NaNoWriMo and now I’m loosely editing Project Inheritance. No big deal.

Went for a run on Friday. It was the first in a month. My running mantra amidst huffing and puffing? “More cardio, less bourbon.”

At least my writing assistant doubles as a good running buddy.

Have you forgotten your New Year’s Resolution(s)?  How are your year-long goals coming along?

On Being Ahead of the Deadline

Mark Twain.

Yup, you read the title right.

I am ahead on my Camp NaNoWriMo deadline and The Writing Resolution, my self-imposed deadline.

The Numbers

My goal for July and Camp NaNoWriMo was to reach 40,000 words.

Yesterday, I reached 41,404 words.

Yes, that’s correct – 9 days in, I already reached my goal for the entire month.

Similarly, a word count of 191K is on par with my TWR goals. Do you know where I am? 203K with some change.

Holy guacamole.

Camp NaNoWriMo: What To Do?

As far as Camp NaNoWriMo goes, I decided to expand my official NaNo goal to 50K. Personally, I am trying to make it to 60K.

Call it selfish and possibly cheating the system, but I really want 50% off Scrivener (holy moley, I am in love with Scrivener).

Plus, I do have a week-long vacation coming up this month where I plan to take a break from writing.

TWR: Logistically Speaking

Remaining completely caught up (writing 50K this month) or getting ahead (that’s the 60K) creates a window of opportunity in TWR for editing.

In short, I can use August to edit Project Yarrow to my heart’s content without fear of falling behind or, rather, too far behind.

Plus, I will have more time for projects such as this blog, reading, and the rest of my life.

…What a strange thought.

Short Note, re: Quality & Genre

One of the reasons that I believe my word count shot up so quickly is that I took a break from writing fantasy.

Fantasy, especially high fantasy like Project Yarrow, is time consuming to write.  In some ways, writing high fantasy is easy: a writer creates the world to fit the character’s needs and purpose.  However, creating an entirely new world (or parallel/sub-world) for one story means a writer generally creates an entirely new reality, mythology, history, belief system, even physics… That’s a lot to create and keep track of.

Another reason? My current project, Code Name: Inheritance, is popular, paperback, dime fiction. I do not feel the quality of the story, characters, or writing is up to the standard of Project Yarrow or Project Shift.

That being said, I’m okay with that.  It doesn’t mean the story is junk and completely worthless. It means that its geared toward a different audience and is more self-indulgent than Project Yarrow or Project Shift.

Finally…

In summary, I’m racing myself to see if I can complete a first draft of a novel in 14 days flat.

… And the finish line is in sight.

April Review and May Goals

The April Review

Alas! The badge and icon you see to your right is not a winner’s badge for Camp NaNoWriMo. I made it to approximately 44,000 words in April. Yes, 44K!  That means I was only 16K shy of my goal. Considering visiting relatives, a work injury, and some form of strep throat, I’d say 44K out of 60K is just fine with me.

I still feel like a winner.

Moreover, one of my big goals for Camp was to finish my first manuscript project of the year and… I did!  Even if I was the only one hearing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah, I’m going to continue to dance around and let the people at Starbucks think I’m crazy.

Also, my last two days of writing in Project Yarrow – by some fluke of the word count gods – I ended up writing exactly 1,231 each day. Fancy the coincidence of that!  I know, I know, not exactly Earth shattering news but weird and funny to me.

April Analysis

In hindsight, should I have made the ambitious 60K goal?  Yes.

Word count is not everything. (gasp!) Have a lot of my posts focused on word count? Yes, that’s the nature of The Writing Resolution beast, but the purpose behind TWR is to nail my butt to the seat and write more often.  I made the less-specific goal of finishing Project Yarrow before the end of April. And I did. (!!!!)

April is the largest contribution I’ve made toward accomplishing TWR so far. I am behind – I should be at around 120K for the year and yet I’m at 87K (i.e. one month’s worth behind).  Having the monthly target count helped me catch up, so I shall be repeating this from here on out until I catch up and/or until I don’t feel I need it any longer.

I’m glad I made the 60K goal, because ultimately it pushed me to write more.  By writing more, I learned where I can carve time out for myself and that writing that many words is possible – it’s a matter of prioritizing.

Now, as far as using visitors and illness as an excuse, I realize that life happens and life will continue to happen. The key is to work around the rest of life. Again, priorities.

May Goals

Without further ado, here are the May Goals – both writing and non-writing related:

1. Write 50K in Project Shift.

2. Run 26 days per month.

3. Write 2 blog posts (here!) per week.

Have you set any goals for May? 

The Words: The End.

I just typed “the end.” 

Well, that’s not entirely true. I typed “End of Book One.”

Can I contain my elation?  Heck no!  That’s right, I just finished the first draft of Book One of Project Yarrow.

Now?  May a mad dash ensue to finish my second project (Project Shift) so I can return to Project Yarrow to edit with fresh eyes.

Not to mention, it’s still April for about 12 more hours and I’m still participating in Camp NaNoWriMo.

How does that saying go?

The End is Near! But in a good way…

Finally, after years (and a numerous deadlines past), I am within the foreseeable END to Project Yarrow, my first draft of my first project of the year of The Writing Resolution (TWR).  Even at the beginning of the year, it was hard to imagine getting to the spot I am now: page 300, more than 113K words, and a very important plot point/reveal!

Life. And Other Problems.

Of course, as soon as I saw the light at the end of the tunnel disaster struck in the form of strep throat (or lymph node infection, we’re not sure… I just care that its GONE).

A summary of life right (write?) now.

After the NaNoThon, I was jazzed – I was so close!

The next day? I woke up with a sore throat and the inability to swallow basic liquids like water, much less move. Don’t worry I still managed to turn my taxes in on time though.

Then, add to that, a great number of “other” life duties: visiting (out-of-town/state) parents, visiting friends, overtime work shifts (be nice to your waitress, btw, its good karma), helping friends in a tough spot, and other employment searching… Well, life is just crazy right now.The down side?  I’ve had to prioritize my life and, regrettably, the blog took the biggest blow time-wise.

Worthy to note: these duties and people for interrupting my writing time annoy the p*ss out of me. Okay, not entirely – I love my family and friends, I obviously need to work to pay the bills, and since my current pay-the-bills job is driving me batty, I need a different type of work (logically anyhow).  Still, my current recovering health prevents me from creating more writing time by shaving off hours of sleep while attending to these duties and I am left frustrated with lack of time to write.

Ah, what I could do with 2 or 3 more hours in the day…

Never fear though, as I race toward the finish line of both my first project and finishing my 60K Camp NaNoWriMo goal, I have plans for this blog come May.  As long as I make my Camp goal, TWR will be close to on target, not quite though, but I’ll have more time to catch up here.

In Summary?

The end may be near for Draft #1 of Project Yarrow, but a revamp is near for this blog!

Prepare for: writing schedules and time management, waitressing as writing fodder, the short story vs. the novel, theories on writing, when you realize your high school English teacher was actually right about some things even though you cringe to admit it, and other valuable topics.

 

Cheers to anyone else participating in Camp NaNoWriMo and may this last week of Camp serve you well!

Write on, my fellow logophiles! 

Impending Deadlines and Camp NaNoWriMo

Exactly 4 weeks ago today, I created my first blog post for this blog with the stated goal of keeping me on track while I make my way towards The Writing Resolution aka TWR.

My self-inflicted deadline for Project #1 (Code Name: Project Yarrow) was March 17.  That date has passed with about 38,000 words to go on that my first writing project/novel of the year. Yikes!

So,  with some urgency, I have created a new flexible deadline: April 1.

Whoa, hold your horses, you might say – that’s soon and a lot of words to write! But, here’s the thing: I’m participating in Camp NaNoWriMo in April. That means, starting April 1,in order to stay in line with my resolution and have my words count toward both my resolution and Camp NaNoWriMo, I need to be on a new project. Plus, lets face it, it would be rather silly to have to keep two separate insane word counts. Contrary to what you might think, I actually don’t enjoy counting words – that’s why I keep track of it via apps. Much easier.

At any rate, I’ve got about 38K until that first project’s first draft is “finished” making the total count for the project 120k (40K written prior to 2013).  Why 120,000 words, you ask?  For one, its only an approximation.  Two, I have been writing long enough and having this particular story rolling around in my head long enough to know that is – in fact – approximately when it will be done.

Crunch time for Project #1? I think so.

A little screwy that Camp NaNoWriMo is my reward? Possibly.

Do you make yourself writing deadlines, even if you don’t have an editor?

 

3 Word Count Apps for iPhone: Preliminary Reviews

Okay look, I’ve got to warn you: I am an app junkie when it comes to my iPhone. I can go on a spree and download 10 (free) apps in one sitting. My method includes a lot of deleting after trying them out for a bit.

Naturally, to support The Writing Resolution (TWR) tracking, I looked for an app. Yes, there is indeed an app for that.

Our contestants: WriteChain, WordTyrant, and WordOne.*

WriteChain
First to download because it was FREE. Gotta love that.

Idea: Set a word count goal per day, each day you get a link in the chain. Cool!

Organization Scheme: Daily for word count quota.

Cool Options: You can specify how many days you can slack on your goal (you know in case you have to do things like eat and sleep).

Other notes: Very easy to use. Definitely made with the tech-phobe in mind.

Problems: For my purposes, it’s easier to track a total word count even though the basic idea is to write 1,000 words per day, but I can go over or under as long as I reach 365,000 by the end of the year. In other words, I want to see if I am behind, ahead, or neck-and-neck with my total goal (365K). Also this is purely word-based DAILY without the ability to split it between different projects. Lastly, I use apps to visualize my progress and motivate myself to keep going, generally with a pie chart, graph, or percentage bar – this app didn’t do that. There is no visual representation of your progress beyond the progress page that lists your word count log (aka “links”).

Additional Links/Reviews/FAQs:  Even if you can barely download an app from the iPhone app store, you won’t need FAQs for this app they are provided here though. Really, I promise.
| iTunes | Developer Website – How Not to Write Blog |

WordTyrant
Was excited about this one because I heard it thrown around during NaNoWriMo [though it is NOT “the official app”] so I was willing to pay the $1.99 to try it out. 

Idea: break the total word count for your project into daily targets (i.e. what those of us who have participated in NaNoWriMo have done manually for years)

Organization Scheme: Monthly word count quota

Cool Options: (1) You can separate your monthly word count into multiple projects. Lets say you have a monthly goal to write 50,000 words but want to split that between 2 different projects. This app will do that. Alternatively you can have 2 separate projects. (2!) And OMG … The visuals. Pie charts, line charts, and percentage bars – oh my! This totally engaged my ADHD. But seriously PIE CHARTS. I love pie charts. … (3) Projects supposedly can carry over into the following month, but I haven’t had it for a month so I don’t know how functional this is… (4) Many ways to share your progress via Twitter, Dropbox, and E-mail. (5) You can turn off the monthly target feature, but… [see problem #3 below]

Other notes:  Definitely structured for the monthly word count NUT, like you know… in November when you’re (obviously) participating in NaNoWriMo.  Also, this app could be useful for those in a monthly time crunch and/or those working on multiple projects/stories.  I feel this app, for a first time developer, sought to accomplish too many things without enough clear, intuitive organization [see “Problems” below].

Problems: (1!) Not very easy to navigate/intuitive… To the point where I uninstalled and reinstalled because I wanted to lose my data!  (2) There is no “lite” version of the app so you have to pay to try it. 😦  (3) Despite a plethora of projects, you can not make any deadlines since it’s ordered by month first and THEN ordered by project. If your deadline isn’t a monthly one, intuitively this app becomes difficult to navigate.  (4) Returning to #1, I am not sure I completely understand how to use this app because I had difficulty navigating (not a problem I usually encounter!) — I will continue my investigation/finetuning and try to figure it out to give it a fair chance. (5) Also, re: #1 & #4 – the product says that there is “support” – in actuality, I could not find any concrete advice.

Additional note on WordTyrant: I really feel like this app has a lot of potential.  Since it was focused around NaNoWriMo, I hope they do and update/overhaul of the app with a new version for November 2013 that will be awesome.  I just think it needed a little more fine tuning…

Additional Links/Reviews/FAQs:  For as complex as this app was for me to navigate, there weren’t a lot of resources that I could find on the web about how to use it. (Maybe everyone else’s brain is organized like this, just not mine??)
| iTunes | Review/Interview from Literarium Blog | WordTyrant Website (supposedly “support”?) | WordTyrant Twitter | EbonShores (developer, as I understand it) |

WordOne
I downloaded this app last because of some bad reviews. Lite version is FREE (yay!). Full version is $1.99. 

Idea: you have projects, make a target word count for each and track your progress.

Organization Scheme: Word count by PROJECT.

Cool Options:  (1) This baby was basic enough to do what I wanted & intuitive to use – I just plugged my numbers in and voilà! Away I went. I liked it so much that I paid for the full version shortly thereafter so I could add more projects/word counts!  (2) You can also give yourself deadlines. (3) When you’re editing your project, aka adding words to the count, you can either count the number of words you wrote that day or the total word count (i.e. I can either log: A. I wrote 2,000 words today or B. My new total word count for this project is 13,294.)  (4) There is “in app” help and directions as well as an online support forum, if you’re having trouble.

Problems: (1) If you have more than 1 project you want to track, you’re going to have to pay for the full version. (2) Progress visuals not as eye-catching as WordTyrant. (3) The first time you EDIT and ADD to your word count, its clunky and a bit confusing if you haven’t read the directions. But after the first time, its easy as pie. (No pie charts though…)

Additional Links/Reviews/FAQs:  It is important to read the “Help” section, I think, before starting/trying to add your word count to a project. They are included IN APP.
| iTunes: WordOne LITE App | iTunes: WordOne COMPLETE | RookSoft Support for WordOne w/ Instructions (actually useful, by developer) | Abria Mattina Article/Review |

My Choice: WordOne (paid/upgraded version)

But…

If you are purely focused on daily word output, I recommend WordChain – especially if you are not app friendly. (Like my mother could use this thing if she wanted to track her word count) …WordChain could also be a great motivator for NaNoWriMo (especially with that coasting feature)

If you are project-focused, I recommend you download WordOne Lite and check out the free version. See how you like it… It’s nice that they offer a free version before the upgrade. Also I think it is the most user-friendly while still having complex(ish) features.

If you write for a targeted word count with multiple projects (journalist or short stories or ____), WordTyrant might be for you. I myself am going to continue to work with it and give it another chance – especially during NaNoWriMo. (Those pie charts are calling my name!)

Then again, it can’t hurt to download the free version of WordOne and totally free WriteChain to give them both a go! 

Questions to Help You Decide Between Apps

• Do you use your iPhone (or other apple device for these apps) enough that it is even worth having an app?
  • e.g. My iPhone is practically glued to my hip (probably due to my age & app junkie status), ergo
  • If not, maybe consider other methods of tracking.  I also track my progress with an old school, handwritten daily planner.
• How is YOUR brain organized with regard to word count?
  • Deadline based: WordOne
  • Project based: WordOne or WordTyrant
  • Monthly word count quota (esp NaNoWriMo): WordTyrant
  • I just want to write 500/1000/xxx words per day, log it, & call it good: WriteChain
• What do you want to accomplish by counting your words?
  • Are you trying to make a deadline?
  • Are you just wanting to log/track your daily word count and that is it?
  • Do you want stunning visuals to keep you motivated?
  • [[[IMPORTANT!]]]…Or maybe (gasp!) you should NOT count your words… [[being too focused on the count can ruin your sanity and your writing]]
• Do you want to separate your word count into multiple projects?
  • WordOne or WordTyrant for you then.
• Are you looking for visuals (percentage bars, pie charts, etc.) to show your progress?
  • The app with the best visuals, hands down of these 3, is WordTyrant.
  • WordOne has limited visuals.
• Do you want all your writing stuff in one app?
  • Then, actually, none of these are for you. I’ll be reviewing more writing apps when I get the time and money to do so. Like… ones that have clouds that store everything for you, back it up, and let you create character charts… Sounds like Oz doesn’t it?

Oh. And do keep in mind there’s an infinite amount of apps out there.  These are only for iPhone, as far as I know. From the time I started writing this article and finished editing it (nearly a week btw!), it is possible that there is a brand spankin’ fancy new app out there.  I mean, I found “Word Count Log” after I’d already written this! Rats!

Do you use a writing app on your iPhone? Word count tracker? Or…?

(Let’s face it: as an app junkie, I love suggestions.)

========================================

*Other iPhone writing apps related to word count to be checked out by your truly at a later date: (1) Word Count Log, (2) Write or Die … though it does not have an iPhone version yet and I love the concept :(, (3) Your suggestion here (especially if you are a developer willing to pay for a free download for me… winkwink).

Also to come: web-based “tickers”! (Oh my!)

Because my mother told me to: why write a blog

The Case Of My Mother

Awhile back, my mother asked me if I had a blog.  The answer was simple: no.  “Oh,” she said in that monosyllabic-mother way, indicating some form of disappointment and resigned, loving acceptance.

Then she asked me again three days ago when I was visiting, elaborating only with “Well, you’ve always written well enough.”

Let’s be clear: my mother is not tech-friendly.  She still calls me to figure out how to run the universal remote and refuses to get a Facebook account.  Yet, the woman knows enough tech to suggest I write a blog because she knows I like to write.

The Case of My Friend, Part 1

Then there’s my friend Maggie.  About two years ago, she asked me to read some of her work, which I  gladly did.  Somehow this led to my first-ever admission to a living breathing human being that I sometimes wrote stories of my own.

You see, I did not openly discuss writing with my parents as a child. I left them to infer that I wrote from my obsession with crates upon crates of notebooks, endless hours in front of the computer word processor, other miscellaneous office supplies, and the most dramatic, self-depreciating, and mercurial tantrum you ever saw when I learned the valuable lesson of backing up computer files (I wailed like a grieving widow and then some).

So I not only shared that I wrote with Maggie, but let her read a story was – in itself – an abnormal novelty.  Since reading those first 20 pages, she has not stopped bugging me about said story’s completion.

The Case of My New Year’s Resolution

Partially due to the (well-deserved) pestering and partly due to my own need to complete something significant this year, I made a New Year’s Resolution: I would write 1,000 words per day in a set writing project. After completing one project, I would move directly along to the next.

While writing 1,000 words per day has not proven difficult, sticking to one project is notoriously hard for me.  I have heard about writer’s block, usually described as the inability to produce text.  My block, however, is more like Tigger on a day he forgot his Ritalin and Pooh-bear gave him too much honey to eat so he’s bouncing all over the Hundred Acre Wood, but no one knew that the Heffalumps became cocaine-pushing drug lords and slipped some in Tigger’s tea.

In other words: I lack focus and discipline to complete one project before moving onto the next.

The good news?  That’s something that I can work on.

The Case of The Next Great American Novel  

Okay, I admit it. My dream is to write the “Next Great American Novel.” …C’mon, cut me some slack, I’ve written novel-like pieces, albeit secretly, since I was in 5th grade; even if I lack the discipline to write it through all the way to the end.  So, of course, I’ve loosely followed publishing, self-publishing, querying, and blogging as promotion since high school.

How better to fit in line with my goals of becoming a more disciplined, more professional-like writer than to start a blog?  Of course, I scoffed at this idea.  Who would read it?  My mother?

The Case of the Friend, Part 2

Of course, yesterday as I visited with my friend Maggie – you know, the one who inspired me to make a hair-brained resolution about writing 1,000 words per day – she asked me, innocently: “Have you ever thought about writing in a blog?”

Really? Really?! Really.

I yield, I surrender, I concede my stubbornness: I will write a blog to accompany The Writing Resolution.

The Case of Accountability (i.e. The Status of The Resolution)

I admit it: I’m already behind.

Have I written 1,000 words per day? Oh yes.

All in the same project? Oh, that’s funny.

The Case of the Blog

My mother may be the only one to read this.  In fact, I added the subscribe via e-mail feature on the right specifically for her, though you are more than welcome to use it too (or a feed-burner or whatnot like the rest of us in the 2013).

Why am I writing a blog?  Because my mother told me to. (She will be the first to tell you that this is an isolated, freak incident where I am actually following her advice instead of doing the exact opposite from what she advised.)

Thanks Mom.

The Mama and I