daily writing schedule

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Michaeline: Random Quarantine Thoughts

I just want to get a little writing done. Well, and about a hundred other things. (Image via Wikimedia Commons) Inu no Koku by Utamaro Kitagawa (1753-1806), translated The Hour of a Dog, a print of a traditional Japanese woman writing on a long scroll and talking to a servant or an apprentice behind her. Digitally enhanced from our own original edition.

Brian Eno News Twitter (not the real Brian Eno, apparently) posts a random artistic strategy* nearly every day, and the one I saw today was: Disciplined self-indulgence. Well, I don’t do “disciplined” very well, but when I make an effort, my self-indulgence is off the charts, so here it goes.

So, first: a bit of news. Hokkaido’s state of emergency ran from February 28 until March 19, which means that as of Friday (a public holiday celebrating the equinox), we are free from government requests to stay inside.

 To tell the truth, though, I didn’t feel very much of a difference, because despite my best efforts, I’ve managed to get a sore throat. So, aside from work and a trip to the grocery store to stock up for the three-day weekend, I wasn’t out and about to feel the celebratory mood.

I’d say the crowd at the grocery store was slightly busier than usual, and I saw more Continue reading →

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Elizabeth: Back to Basics – Writing Life

Stories Yet To Be WrittenFor the past several weeks I’ve been talking about individual craft elements in conjunction with the new book I’m starting. This week, I’d like to shift focus away from the craft and onto the writer.

I’d hazard a guess that most readers have, at one time or another, thought of writing as “probably not that hard”. After all, how much time could it take to write a book if it only takes a couple of hours to read it, right? Since statistics show that up to 95% of people think they might write a book “one day”, I’m guessing the “it’s not that hard” thought is fairly common one.

Turns out, however, that writing is not quite as easy as it may seem from the reader side of the page. Some might even describe it as challenging, difficult, or “a real pain.” Continue reading →

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Nancy: NaNoWriMo: A Multi-Purpose Writing Tool

NaNoIt’s that time of year again. In the northern hemisphere, the air has turned crisp. Leaves are changing colors. Children are choosing Halloween costumes. And writers across the globe are stocking up on coffee, hoarding chocolate, and doing finger stretches in anticipation of National Novel Writing Month.

Here at 8LW, Michille has shared her plans for her own run at NaNoWriMo gold (finishing 50k words of original fiction in the month of November), Elizabeth has been getting us into shape with writing sprints, and several of the ladies are contemplating whether they’ll join the party.

Until this past week, I was undecided about my own NaNoWriMo plans. Continue reading →

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Elizabeth: Motivation Under Pressure

diamondimageIn my blog post a few weeks ago I talked about a variety of ways to keep motivated during the writing process. As the comments on that post confirmed, what motivates us varies from person to person, and sometimes even from project to project.

My stated goal at that time was to finish revising my manuscript so that I could send it off to the folks at RWA to qualify for “PRO” (professional writer) status.   The deadline to submit a PRO application in time to have it processed before the start of the upcoming national conference was July 1st. I’m happy to say that I was able to meet that deadline with hours to spare. 🙂 To do so, I got more than 15,000 words down on paper in about 2 ½ weeks time.

I was thrilled, naturally. Continue reading →

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Michaeline: Getting to the Magic of Writing

Escape the things that are dragging you down, and get back into the magic of writing!

Escape the things that are dragging you down, and get back into the magic of writing! Via Wikimedia Commons, Benvenuti

I talked about positive triggers last week. I generally find that once I sit down to write, I can write something. But I’ve fallen off the writing horse more than a few times, so sometimes just getting into the saddle and putting my fingers to the keyboard can be a huge struggle. Creating a time slot, and having alternatives can be essential to creating a daily habit of writing.

First, let me get the negative out of the way. Know what your time-wasting triggers are. For me, if I check the mail, I’m out of the writing mode unless I can somehow majorly re-set my day (for example, I could take a nap, or change my venue). I have found that I can read Continue reading →