Day 2 - Daily Writing (Reaching my personal goals, one day at a time)

Goal setting and tracking is working!

Yipee! Day two of daily writing! Since today is Saturday, I am going to treat myself to a pedicure! It's been a long time since I splurged on one.

I wrote in my journal yesterday morning for my 30 minutes. I started doing the same thing today, Easily distracted, from my journal, I began thinking about the story I want to turn into a novel rough draft by the end of the year.I fired up my trusty little laptop, pulled up the story and began writing. A few hundred words flew out, and I am excited about getting back to it later today. The story took an interesting and unexpected twist - which changes so much. 

Later today, I will revamp my tentative outline and see where that goes.  I need to do complete character outlines though, and get to know them a little better. My plan is to sneak away to my office for some quiet time this afternoon. I can write at home early in the morning, but later in the day I am pulled in too many directions.

I am figuring out a way to fit my laptop into the suitcase for our upcoming week long vacation, so I can continue to work on the story every day. Who needs toiletries anyway, right?!?  I despise paying to check luggage, and insist on being a carry-on only gal. If I am not able to make it work, I will hand write my ideas in my journal, and type them when I return. Or perhaps, save the story to Google Drive, and use my iPad mini to write. So many options, so few excuses! I love it.

NaNoWriMo sounds like a good plan for me this year, and I just may have the groundwork set to make November 2014 a personal month to remember!

New writing goals

Because the old ones went down the:

I will begin writing at least 30 minutes first thing every day. I have several writing projects started and, by setting this goal, I will finish one novel rough draft by the end of the year.

Alarm will be set for 5:00 am. Writing for 30 minutes is mandatory.

I will reward myself at the end of each week with one of the following:

Pedicure, new book or Starbucks gift card in a rotating cycle

I will reward myself at the end of each successful month with:

A massage, facial, or a mini getaway.

Once I complete a rough draft, I will treat myself to a complete "Spa Day and a Getaway/Retreat!"

I am excited, already set my alarm for bright and early tomorrow.

Thanks to my teenage son,

I am getting all of my story ideas, starts, and musings into my computer with an online backup. Having a two-foot tall stack of tattered scraps of paper, envelopes, sticky notes, note cards and miscellaneous other items written on was not conducive to me getting anywhere on this journey.

I now have a document that lists all my random ideas, several documents with outlines and story starts and, of course, a document with the story that I am currently working on. I must mention the recycle bin full of wadded paper! I am only halfway through the pile, but feeling productive, none the less!

I have so many new ideas for my blog  gettingbettergodsway.blogspot.com as well.

Very grateful for the patience of my son during this process. He showed me the light as to why I was not being productive with my writing. So many scraps of paper, and no focus.

Researching a secondary location for my work in progress

And chose Bardstown, KY - based on a suggestion from a friend. What an interesting place. I am excitedly researching and looking forward to a future trip to tighten up details once I have the story almost finished.

Onward I go

I am working on a very exciting story. I have eight different story "starts" and had to pick just one to focus on - and actually complete. 

This one is about a young woman, who is the single mother of a handicapped child. She is going through many tests and trials, and even a little romance. She inherits a house from a relative she never met - but there are strings attached.  Did I say strings?  I am excited just thinking about it. With a little research under my belt as far as location and history, I am ready for the next step.

Today I am working out a complete outline - this should help me in scheduling my writing around my day job, as well as putting a timeline on the completion!

Gotta go. This story will not write itself!

Blessings,

Tammy