Ready. Set. Write! Week 7

1. How I did on last weeks goals:
In my "revising" story I got a little more than my planned 2000. But in WIP story I only wrote about 500 words.

2. My goals for this week:
I'm not going to assign any certain number because I'm currently on vacation, but I just want to write whenever I can.

3. Favorite line from my story:

Anna spoke up, irritated that her mother was so cruel. “Social gaps do not mean gaps within compassion, mother, or understanding. Sometimes the difference is in the people, not in their social status perhaps that is what Ezra meant.”

4. Biggest challenge I face:
Kicking off vacation, babysitting, and getting sick was time consuming, it all left me without much time to write.

5. My favorite part about my WIP:
I'm getting somewhere again! I don't feel as stuck as I did before and it's a really good feeling.

How did your week of writing go?

Late edition of Ready. Set. Write! Week 6.

Yes. This is late after ailing in the big chair on Monday and not feeling up to even crawling toward the computer for the weekly Ready. Set. Write! post. However, now that I'm feeling better and only have the cough and congestion plaguing me it's time that I have a quick update. 

I didn't get much of anything done last week after facing a deathly…writers block. What I did get done, I’m not even sure of an exact word count. So the week hasn't been that good to me. L

Since I will be going on vacation on Friday! Then babysitting today! And being sick for two days this week¡ (Up-side-down exclamation point because that was not so great.) I am going to lower the bar, which sucks but I think it’s necessary. In “revision” story I want to write a total of 2000 more words. In WIP I am hoping for 1000 words, but even that seems too hopeful.

A favorite line from my story or a word or phrase to sum up what I wrote…

On this sad occasion of me writing almost nothing I am going to turn my frown into a solid line by summing up my phrase in Latin: Sum nihil. (A special thanks to Google translate!)

So being sick was a down point but that wasn't the main reason the pages are left blank. It was writer’s block that somehow snuck back in to watch me stare at the screen.

Despite this bleak update I will say that rewriting the “revising” story feels a lot better because I love diving back into this story. There are other upsides on bad weeks. 1. What goes up must come down, which means what goes down must come back up right? 2. It could get worse, but chances are it won't. ☺

Ready. Set. Write! (Week 5)

1. How I did on last week's goals?

 -I came close. I wrote 4500 words in my WIP and 1000 words in my revising story. Also my reading has improved after I received FOUR by Veronica Roth! So I'm going to say that the week has been pretty successful.

2. My goals for this week.
 -I'm going to keep all the same goals from last week. Pretty boring but eh it works.

3. A favorite line from my story or one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised.
 -Her mother always said to her, before her departure, that a person can say the right thing but the only thing that matters is not what they say but whether they can prove that they believe it.

4. The biggest challenge I faced this week.
 -Lack of motivation. Ugh. I know what needs to be said but I can't say it. Oh and then there is procrastination...

5. Something I love about my WIP.
 -Even when I'm not writing I can't stop thinking about the story. Who doesn't love daydreaming...

How was your week of writing?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 4

1. How I did on last week's goals?
 -Well not too good. I didn't revise anything really, however I decided that instead of revising it needs some rewriting. Oh well, whatever makes it better. On my actual writing I managed to get to my goal of 4000. However, I didn't read or write everyday like I planned.

2. My goals for this week.
 -I'm bumping up my word count to 5000 again and an extra 1000 words in the "revision" story. I plan to write and read everyday too.

3. A favorite line from my story or one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised.
 -It's rough but I like how it shows Anna's growth: 

 Now she thought of the beauty in his heartbeats, were they irregular, like hers, or were they normal, perfect for a long lasting life in Brevis.

4. The biggest challenge I faced this week.
 -With the 4th of July I had little time to read and write. My motivation also decreased, and I'm gonna blame that on the 4th of July too. ;)

5. Something I love about my WIP.
 -The characters are growing and that is always something to love.

How did you do on your goals?

The Polite Policy

There is a constant struggle that I see in society. Some people might not see it as a struggle, maybe that's just me, because society has had this polite policy for as long as I've been alive, really longer. But I am going to use a great quote (of course!) that is in DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth.

 "Mom used to say that politeness is deception in pretty packaging."

When I first read that I thought it was the weirdest thing I've ever read. Politeness was (is) something I want to stand by. It's classy, to be polite. Right? Right. I want to be a classy lady.

But I've also heard that old saying "The truth will set you free" and whatnot. I want to be free. Maybe it's me being one of those stupid teenagers but freedom is something that just gets to me. It's so appealing, and not just to me, to a lot of people, I mean that's what America is all about, right? Freedom! Yeah..

But society relies on kindness. People expect, or at least hope, that others will be kind to them. And the truth is not always kind. Society wants people to be polite, like children are raised to say please and thank you, even though they may not always stick with it. Politeness relies on saying "nice to meet you" even when it may not be that pleasant to meet someone. Politeness relies on apologies when you've done something wrong, even if you aren't truly sorry. Society relies on politeness and politeness often relies on those little white lies.

I don't want to be told those little white lies anymore. I want to be set free, I want to know the truth. I want to know when my writing sucks, when I have something in my teeth, when my fly is unzipped, when someone isn't sorry. All of those impolite things that you can't say, just tell me because maybe I can fix it, and if not I can deal with it. But one thing is absolutely for sure: I cannot fix anything, if I don't know that it's a problem.

The truth will set me free, and on the other side of freedom lies possibilities. I think that those possibilities are going to feel a lot better later than any white lie will in the moment.

So what will you choose? Politeness or Truth? I'm eager to know.

Ready. Set. Write! Check in

1. How I did on last week's goals?
 -I accomplished all of my goals. My goal was to write 5000 words and I ended up writing 6000. I was right on point as I revised seven pages, and wrote everyday.

2. My goals for this week.
 -Because it's going to be a very busy weekend with the fourth of July and whatnot I'm going to cut back on my word count and aim for 4000 words. I'll try to revise five pages, at the least, and of course I have to write everyday, it just might not be a 1000 word stretch. However, I'm kind of disappointed in myself when I realize that with all this writing I'm not reading as much, so I'm making the goal to read everyday.

3. A favorite line from my story or one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised.
 -It's rough but I like how it shows more about Ezra then even I knew.
 "'I used to think, when I was a child, that children eventually grew up to become adults, but the older I get and the more I look at you, Anna, I realize that just isn't true. We are all children, some of us just lost the compassion because we thought that wasn't needed, others lost the absolution because we try so damn hard to make the right decisions. Me, Anna, I lost the ability to look at this city and think there was something waiting for me here. Hopefulness is what you used to call it before you decided to grow up without me too.'"

4. The biggest challenge I faced this week.
 -Well, I found the time to write, even though it means writing until 1:30 am now I'm just battling sleep deprivation, so it makes my words a little too soppy with emotion. At least I'm writing though.

5. Something I love about my WIP.
 -I like discovering all the stories that live inside of one story, and I'm definitely seeing more with Ezra stepping back into Anna's life.

Check in for Ready. Set. Write!

1. How I did on last week's goals?

 -Well... I admit it I didn't finish 5,000 words but I did write everyday! Which is really good, it just wasn't enough. I also did revising in my other story so I got two thirds of my goals checked off.

2. My goals for this week.

 -I am going to keep writing everyday and I'm going to aim for revising a page a day too. I'm also not going to shy away from this 5,000 words in a week thing. So my goals aren't really changing.

3. A favorite line from my story or one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised.

 -It could definitely use some work but here it goes: "And as he noted this he began to see Anna as a threat to Brevis, perhaps if the time was different, perhaps if it was not the week of the festival or even the day of the gathering he would not see her as such, but now he did."

 

4. The biggest challenge I faced this week.

 -Was simply finding enough time to write. Usually there is time but with orientation, work, babysitting and cleaning time felt so limited.

5. Something I love about my WIP.

 -I really like choices and challenges the main character has to go through. Nothing is easy.