I Think I Need More Coffee...

Looking over the past month I’m floored at everything that happened. Did I really fit all of that into just one month? How is it my head is not spinning like a top while pea soup spews forth? Well, my head is firmly attached and the only pea spewing going on is all the Puffet’s doing.

Despite having switched jobs, moved across a mountain, over come a major health icky, wrote half a novel, started a writers group, battled an ogre, dived into networking, and manifested a new way of life altogether, I’m still sane and relatively unstressed. My being possessed is something that’s never been up for debate; I am and always will be which is why I avoid the above mentioned pea soup. But that’s another story completely. (see character take over’s)

This time of year, the cusp of Fall, always brings out my most productive side. Why? I have no flipping idea. I hate the cold and wet and dark of winter and Fall is just a nasty reminder that the misery is soon to come. Yet without fail, things get done at such a rapid rate I’m left breathless, dizzy and empty. Like taking one too many spins on a whirl-a-wig and losing that hot dog I shouldn’t have eaten anyway.

And it’s not just my writing that explodes into being, it is life events coupled with insane word/page counts. Oh, I just wrote 10,000 words today, so I think I’m going to finish that up by quitting my job and starting a new one in a whole new industry, just for giggles. I got 50 pages edited? Ok, I think I’ll pack up my two kids (again) and move across a mountain because I have nothing else to do. So what if I just wrote two newsletters, 3 shorts and half a novel, I must be board so I’ll battle an ogre while entering the world of networking and finding a new way of life. I just gave birth to a baby so I’ll start a new novel while moving out on my own and getting two jobs, because hell, why not?

Now, with my two girls, Bells and the Puffet, waking up to a new day, I know this one is going to be just as insane as the one before. If not more so. How much am I going to get done today? Am I going to knock out the rest of my novel, start a new one, fumble my way through the new job, slay a dragon and manifest that 20 bucks I’m short till payday all while organizing the first meeting of my new writers group?

I think I need more coffee…

Goals - Nasty Little Buggers.

Goals, aren’t they nasty little buggers?

They tease you; taunt you like a worm on a hook. “Come, try to reach me,” they whisper as they wiggle, inches before your nose. And if you’re not careful, if you don’t keep your eye on the hook, those goals are jerked away and before you know it, you’re a hungry little bass in an ocean of sharks.

I won’t lie; I’ve had my tasty worm tugged away on more than one occasion. I’ve gotten close enough to get a taste and know I want more. But there’s a fine line between the doable and biting off more than I can chew. I have a habit of filling my plate too high, wanting to fly before I’ve learned to walk.

This time, my goals are less defined, more flexible. Instead of a daily word count, I’ll strive for writing time. Instead of getting an agent by a certain date, it’s querying a certain number each week, that kind of thing. And each day gets different goals depending on life and what not.

This week I plan to:

Write 30 minutes in each WIP (work in progress) each day and there are three of them. (WIP’s not days, last I checked there are seven days in a week. Correct me if I’m wrong)

Locate, join and participate in one writing group.

Write the first draft of one short story for either a contest or submission.

Maintain social networking stuff AKA branding.

Maintain this blog and follow a new one each day.

From where I’m sitting, these seem doable without being overwhelming. We’ll see. And as always, Write on Writers of the World!