Small Achievements

Well, I'm not sure how I'm going to do for the weigh in tomorrow, but I am incredibly pleased with myself. Today marks my fifth consecutive day of writing on my novel, At Setting. Tonight alone I managed to write 1650 words! I knew all along that what I needed to do was to go back to basics. How did I manage to write 51,000 words in 30 days back in November? I had a plan - to write 2000 words per day - and I had a strategy that I knew worked - writing in 10-15 minute "sprints" with fellow writers in a chat room and then chat for 10-15 minutes in between. I'm fortunate enough to be part of an online group that runs sprints like these all year long and not just during Nanowrimo, so I finally tracked them down today and was welcomed back to the fold with open arms. Hopefully I will continue to write with them, at least a couple of times per week.

I've had writer's block in dealing with a particular scene for a while. In my novel, the heroine, Cora, has spent her entire life in a regulated and enclosed community. I was finally ready, after about two-thirds of the novel, to introduce her to the outside world for the first time -- but I was so overwhelmed in intimidated by the enormity of the scene I had set up that I had stage fright about it for months. Finally, this week I decided that I simply had to write it. No matter how horrible, cliched or awkwardly worded it may be, I had to get Cora's feet on the ground and let her see the outdoors for the first time. The biggest help in getting started on the scene was to simply take a notepad and write the scene outdoors. It was amazing how much easier the words came to me when I could close my eyes and experience the warm spring around me and then put it into words. Even though I only wrote about 2000 words total this weekend, and I think I can safely say that I have conquered the writer's block for now! I'm remembering why I fell in love with this plot and looking forward to continuing my work.

Tomorrow, I might have to focus on whether or not this back-to-basics idea might work with getting my diet and exercise under control. But for tonight, I'm off to bed.