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Today is the last day of Round 3 in A Round of Words in 80 days. Where did I get to in the past two and a half months?
Well, my initial goal was 5,000 words per week. I felt that it was doable and also I was at the beginning of my first WIP (see writer lingo definitions here) so I wanted to make some headway. So 5,000 words is about 714 words per day. Well, as the ROW80 slogan goes “the writing challenge that knows you have a life,” I found that life didn’t allow me to write 714 words a day. Knowing that this would probably happen I set a “back-up”/overal goal of 50,000 words total for the whole 80 days.
Where do I stand? Well, instead of pushing myself to the limits in the past 4 days to write the 6,000+ words I had left to make my goal I (A) based on the comments on sunday’s check in, I decided to step back and realize that I have accomplished a lot already (B) I’m “under the weather” as Canadians (and possibly other English-native speakers) say – meaning I feel a bit sick. So did I write those 6, 475 words? No I didn’t.
Normally, I’m the kind of person who would have stayed up until all hours of the morning hammering out those 6,475 words because I have never missed a deadline before, but with ROW80 you can change your goals and as I mentioned (A) and (B) happened and I also hit a small road block (note I didn’t say writer’s block) in my WIP. So I (A) stepped back and (B) took off an entire evening from the computer last night. Yeah, I did it. Of course I checked my email and social media platforms once before dinner and once before bed, but that was it. I read a book and watched a movie and man did I feel liberated and refreshed!
Having a full-time day job and then coming home in the evenings and spending more time on the computer is not good. For me anyways, so for Round 4 of Row80 which begins on October 3rd, I will re-evaulate my goals. As mentioned in a previous check in (with a train theme), I found that I work better when I “sprint write” meaning I am more productive when I take a few days off from my WIP and then write a few hundred or even thousand words in one go. I know writers should practice everyday, so on the days I didn’t work on my WIP, I blogged. Since I’ve discovered I’m a sprinter, I’m going to take this into consideration from the Round 4 goals. I’m also considering including blogging and reading books in my goals to give me more options of things to work on.
My progress for Round 3:
- My WIP stands at 46,190 words and over 150 pages.
- I hit a milestone with this blog: My 100th blog post was on my travels to Brasov, Romania (even though this wasn’t on my goals list).
- I hit a milestone on Twitter: I surpassed the 400th follower mark (a super bonus thanks to all the lovely tweeps out there)
- I have had many wonderful guest posters here for my Wednesday Writers’ Uni-Verse-City
- I have learned a lot about the craft of writing and about what works for me
- I also have brainstormed some new ideas which I can’t wait to implement them in my first round of re-writes because for me draft 1 is just getting the story out.
All of my goals wouldn’t have been achieved without the wonderful support of all of you. I’ve met so many great people who are truly inspiring and friendly. Everyone’s comments and tweets are like getting a little present in my inbox each day. Some days I’m lucky and get lots of little presents. So thank you!
Now who’s ready to party? On October 5th there will be a rockin ROW80 Twitter party. It will mark the completion of Round 3 because we ROCKED THE ROW and it will also be the kick off for Round 4. More details will follow, but for now save the date and check out Jenny Hansen’s blog for the announcement of the ROW80 Twitter party. If you want to help spread the word about the ROW80 Twitter party, just drop me an email, a comment below or a tweet.
Until next time,
Nicole
[…] Nicole Basaraba’s as well. Nicole knocked it out of the park on her goals. […]
I think you did really well. I didnt even sign up because I know I wouldnt have bene able to set a definite goal…oh that sounds bad!
Anyway, what im saying is..well done. I have enjoyed reading your progress and found it really inspiring.
Thanks Ellie. I could only hope that my posts are somewhat inspiring rather than a tad depressing. 🙂 You say you may not have been able to set a definite goal, but you have already written and self-published a book, so I think you’re a head of the game.
But that was then and this is now. I have never finished a novel, and i think that is what holds me back, I still have that fear of I wont get it right. Every project gets so far and then abandoned. I guess we all have those moments.
Great job, Nicole! I’m curious at to what your WIP is about, now that you’re about halfway done. We learn a lot, don’t we, when we’re challenged? I sure did. See you at the party and then at Round 4!
Hi Marcia,
I have been strategically keeping my plot on the down low. 🙂 I am at the half way point in the word count but I’m only 1/3 of the way through the story – problem, yeah I think so. A big one…to be dealt with during revisions. There will be many more Rounds needed for this WIP.
Looking forward to the party!
awesome job on your goals. I am with you I think I made a mistake this time round with setting myself the goal of writing everyday, at the end of the round, while I almost achieved it (I missed two days due to computer issues) I am burnt out. I think next round I will stick to x words per week. See you at the Party 🙂
Yeah, I couldn’t set myself a daily word goal because I knew I would never make it. So that’s why I set a weekly goal (5,000 words) and a total goal of 50,000. It worked quite well. Not I think I will have to work on scheduling writing time for Round 4.
See you at the party!
Lovely post! I am joining ROW80 in round 4, so I am hopping blogs to see what other people have done. I love how gentle you have been with yourself. Life is a learning process. Ultimately, you’ll be a better writer because of what you learned in round 3. Kudos! I’m going to set a weekly word count goal rather than daily. I’ve learned recently that some days I need to sleep more than I need to write, and other days I need to write more than I need to sleep. I’m a square peg. I think the weekly goal will help me avoid trying to jam myself into a round hole.
Woop Woop! I’m happy you’re joining Round 4. I learned a lot and all the participants’ blog posts taught me a lot too!
Come to the Twitter party on Oct. 5th at #row80. You can meet all the Round 3 peeps and the new Round 4 ROWers.
Congratulations on all the progress you’ve made!