Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Workshop Wednesday - My Descent Into Writing Madness
Yep, all sounds so fun right?
Since I'm writing this post before class starts - one of the suggestions for the workshop is to write all your blog posts prior to starting - it means I can't tell you how it's going so far. I can say that there are some authors taking the class with me that can’t help but have me thinking, “They write books all the time, how the hell am I going to keep up with that?”
From the introductions so far, it shows that no matter how many books you’ve had published there will always be a time to refocus and work on getting back to just getting your butt in that chair and writing till it hurts. While some might find this idea daunting, it humanizes the authors and the writing process for me. Suddenly, I don’t feel like I’m taking the class because I’m a loser that can’t get her ass in the chair. Having recognizable authors there helps me connect that learning is an on-going activity and not just for writing losers.
I've actually wanted to take this workshop for ages and I'm hoping this class will make me disciplined about moving forward faster. I'm also secretly wishing that this push forces me to write more naturally instead of thinking about how I "should" write. My writing needs to find it's voice and I need to learn discipline. Two birds, one stone.
Many of my illustrious co-pirates have not only taken workshops, but taught them as well. So, I thought what better group to come to for some advice and insight on workshops than right here on The Revenge.
Has anyone taken Candace’s Fast Draft/Revision Hell class before? What workshops have you taken and loved or hated? What advice do you give for getting the most out of an online workshop? If you have a workshop coming up, please share it with us! Oh, and if you want to join me you are only 1 day behind! Click that link at the top to check it out and ignore my evil cackling laugh as I try to coherence you to step into the madness.
Friday, March 7, 2008
A Fly on the Wall
I have this uncanny ability to wonder into bookstores at the most opportune moments. I never check local papers for authors appearing at local bookstores, but it appears I have a homing device that clues me in on such occurrences. 
This past Saturday I wondered into a local bookstore and found a large crowd waiting in line for a book signing. The author was Homer Hickam. Mr. Hickam is a native of West Virginia who grew up in the coalfields. His book entitled Rocket Boys generated the 1999 movie October Sky. As a boy, Hickam launched a rocket from a coalfield, and later became a NASA rocket scientist. He has a new book release called Red Helmet. The book tells the story of a Sonya Hawkins, a wealthy and beautiful woman, who falls in love with a coal mine manager, and has a rude awakening when she reaches the coalfields from the streets of NYC. Sonya’s marriage gradually unravels, and a tragedy strikes causing Sonya to don the novice red miner’s helmet and go deep within the mine. Inside the mine, she learns more about herself than she ever imagined possible. While Hickam visited Huntington this weekend, he launched a scholarship program for Marshall University. You might recall the movie We Are Marshall starring Matthew McConaughey. It was about a fatal plane crash in 1970 that claimed the lives of the coaches and members of the Marshall Football team. This scholarship benefits the same University depicted in the movie.
I did something at this book signing that I have never done before. I stood in a corner and observed. I’ve attended book signings before, but I’ve always participated, this time I wanted to be an observer. I’ve found that in some situations you can learn so much more from observation and speculation. In this instance, I couldn’t have been more on target. I watched each individual’s face as they approached Hickam. As at most book signings, their expressions signified awe and gratitude for work well done. Hickam never wavered. He graciously signed each individual’s book, and spoke to them a few moments. He also did an interview with the local news. At certain points during the process, I saw fatigue in Hickam’s expression, but the smile never left his face and he remained the same gracious author. I was impressed, and couldn’t help but wonder what it feels like to attain that kind of success. How launching a rocket in a field as a boy led to the man sitting in front of me. I wondered how it felt to obtain success and then bring it home to where it all began.
I am struggling to write my first WIP. This man has six published books, is a former rocket scientist, and has a movie based on one of his books. What kind of determination does it take to obtain that level of success? If I gained nothing else from observing this man, I received a large dose of inspiration. I thought about how I have grumbled to myself in the last several weeks about the rigors of writing a book. I asked myself is it that difficult, or am I defeating the purpose before I ever begin? This man obviously has put forth a great deal of time and effort to obtain his place in the literary world, as well as use his extreme intelligence to improve space science. In observing Mr. Hickam, I was able to put my own goals in perspective. When God gives me skill, I shouldn’t grumble if it takes hard effort to produce a product of that skill. I need to thank him for it, and view it as a privilege to use it for achievement.
The most important denominating factors for achievement is determination and the belief in one‘s self. I view writing a book like losing weight; nobody can diet for me, just as no one can write my WIP. The desire comes from an ideal that you can do anything your heart desires as long as you want it badly enough.
I believe that the culmination of success is not reached just because you publish, for at that point, the real test begins. You must maintain your game. You have to prove to the world that you’re not a one-book wonder.
This weekend I observed an enormously successful man, and couldn’t help but think how it felt to be sitting on his side of the table. I can’t imagine walking into a bookstore and observing my book upon a shelf, or opening the newspaper and reading my name on the NYT bestseller list. I want to know what it feels like to become a full time writer. I want to be able to give part of my success back to my community. Overall, I want to achieve a dream.
I hope I get the chance to live that dream, and I hope that when I do, I handle it with the same gentle graciousness that I saw displayed in Homer Hickam.
What are your aspirations of success? When you become successful, do you plan to do more with that success than publishing more books? If you are already published, how did it feel to learn you succeeded, and do you feel a tremendous amount of pressure to maintain that success? Do you believe in the power of observance?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
To Goal or Not to Goal, That is the Question…
Though I am sure to be met with much chagrin from my pantsing comrades here aboard the boat, I have devised a goal spreadsheet of sort. A kind of time line in which I determine where I should be in my writing and how many pages I want to write a week, then how long total it should take me to write my book and sort of a tentative completion date.
May 25. That’s my completion date.
I see that you’re skeptical. If you think you’re skeptical, let me clue you in on the little conversation I had with myself over this date.
*GM cues the lights and allows her multiple personalities free rein aboard a makeshift stage on deck*
Little bitty voice: Whoooaa… huh? May 25 is really close. That’s, like, before the summer and stuff.
Calming voice: Yes, little panicky voice, that is before the summer and stuff.
Little voice escalating and becoming laced with hysteria: Well, how do you perceive we’re going to manage that?!
Calm voice again: Well, just like everything else happens, you naggy whiner. One bit at a time. It’s all mapped out here.
Little voice, now a loud obnoxious voice: Oh! I see how you are! You think this spreadsheet, with its color coding and pretty mathematical calculations, is going to help you in those moments of writer’s block sure to come?!
Calming voice, with a sigh: Um, no, I realize this is just a spreadsheet, nitpicky pain in my ass. I do know I will have to write the book myself.
*The lights return to normal and GM gives a sheepish shrug.*
I’ll spare you this part. Just imagine the amount of skirmish that would ensue if someone told the pirates on the RWR there would be no more rum. Ever. Yeah, it wasn’t pretty.
For some reason, the idea of a timeline frightens many and that includes me. Somehow, setting such goals/deadlines is more frightening than tackling the herculean task of writing a novel one page at a time with no definitive end in sight. Why is that?
I think it’s because if I miss the deadline, I could feel bad about it and lose momentum. This would jumpstart a downward spiral of declining self-esteem and loss of motivation, resulting in the imminent death of my WIP, perhaps even my writing in general. *panting in drama queen fashion*
I have thought of this, trust me.
However, I’m a procrastinator. If I don’t have deadlines, I’ll put stuff off until I can’t put it off anymore. Therefore, because no one is standing over me, expecting my completed manuscript, it gets set aside. “I’ll do it later,” I say. “I’ll work through that hard scene tomorrow,” I hedge.
Recently I realized that this was making me angry with myself. I’ve found out that I’m now that someone standing over me, expecting my completed manuscript. And the longer I put me off, the worse I feel about it.
Now, that isn’t to say that my date won’t get pushed back again. Originally, I’d set a goal to have my WIP finished by February. However, that was before changing it from a straight-up Regency to a paranormal Regency. I had to adjust. I assume that there may be more adjustments in the future. Vacations, family illnesses, etc. But, a little more accountability never hurt anyone. Or at least an attempt at accountability.
As the captain is so fond to say: this isn’t a rule, it’s more of a guideline.
How about it, wenches and pirates? How do you feel about goals/timelines/deadlines and the like? If you hate them, why?
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