Row80: 4th round and Nanowrimo - What a combination




Today begins the fourth round of A Round of Words in 80 days.  Round 3 was a complete and utter failure for me.  The editing didn't go so well.  I got side tracked by an online critique class which ended up going nowhere when the instructor simply disappeared the last three weeks of the class and never returned.  The powers that be are still trying to figure out what to do.  And I just quit writing.  I was completely blocked and my muse took a vacation.

Happy to say my muse has returned and I'm feeling more creative.  Started reading and working through Writing Begins with the Breath by Laraine Herring.  I like her perspective on being blocked.

"The writing is not blocking you.  You are blocking the writing... The first step when you find yourself stuck is to become aware of what is being blocked...Can you identify some piece of the next step that contains something you might not be reading or willing to address yet?  Writing has a sneaky way of pushing us outside our comfort zone...Stay with the discomfort. Stay with the uncertainty. Stay with the emotions that a scene or memory might conjure up for you.  Stay with the work. It'll guide you home."
Herring intersperses body breaks into the chapters - breathing or stretches to wake up various parts of your body and mind.  And the touchstones at the end of each chapter has you journaling on different prompts and story ideas.  Can you tell I'm getting a great deal out of the book.  I'm back to getting up a bit earlier than usual and writing every morning.  I'm feeling good and psyched.  

My goals are going to be simple this round. Anything I accomplish beyond them will be gravy.

1)  Write everyday
2)  October: continue with F2K creative writing course and prep, plot and plan for Nanowrimo.
3)  November - Write like crazy
4)  December - push to finish nano book so can begin editing come Jan 1st.

Check out what other ROWer's are doing here.

3 comments:

  1. That's crazy about the online class. Is this a class you PAID for?

    Good luck with your goals. I'm sure things are going to go better for you this round. We've all had not so great rounds...like round 2 for me. LOL

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  2. I've a similar approach this time. Focus each day is on writing in the morning, then getting out for some exercise. The other writerly things, from the list. I still have a long list of objectives, just so that I keep them in mind.

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