Last week:
I realize at this stage I really shouldn’t need inspiration, I need to slog it out (perspiration) and just write. Monday was great, Tuesday was a bit tough…but I made 500 words non-fiction and 500 words fiction (okay in 3 different prompts or stories). Wednesday I found a lot of material on my search for contests and prompts, and so slogged on with the 500 words in fiction. Thursday and Friday I focused just on the fiction and started some character maps (although, that is technically Week 5, see below on “Baby Steps”).
Vocab: I only managed 3 days worth of new words. Oh well! I have this wonderful new desk calendar called “Seize The Day And Make It Yours” – its tagline is “inspiration for the working woman”. The quotes in it are positive, life-affirming. Perhaps I should also start my warm-up writing with either a quote or a new word, that way I am not confined too much.
Targets: I want to do 12 Baby Steps to a Story starting with one of my pet short story ideas and perhaps one of the novellas and then NaNoMo in November. That should be fun and wrap up my year nicely, especially if I can reach my daily target of 2,000 (fiction) words per day by mid-March I’ll be chugging like a train by November. I am leisurely doing Tiberghien’s book with a supportive Creative Writing group that meets on Saturday morning (yeah, I know, Saturday morning! That’s dedication!)
I would love to have something (one piece) fiction-y submittable/published by December. I would also love to have something non-fiction-y submittable/published by December. I am keeping the list of journals private for now, so that’s all you, Dear Reader, need to know right now (Sorry! Don’t you like surprises!?!?)
I think that’s enough clarity: thus, my goals are outlined for this year as I said I would do (as detailed as I can get here on this Blog!). Feedback and contests are important short milestones, so I have to find new partners for this as well. Last year, this didn’t work out as well as I would have liked. Press on!
This week (3):
To consistently produce 1,000 words per day – primarily on fictional stuff, but some journaling, and non-fiction (no more than 300 words). Using writing prompts, these will be at least warm-ups that could develop into further pieces, later on.
Next week (4):
Subject/topic writing, 10 minutes on current event. Use a story-telling tone, if possible. Keep up 1,000 words!
Lastly, let’s revisit Question #1: (from the Toasted Cheese website): In an essay titled "Why I Write," George Orwell argued that there are four motives for writing (aside from the need to earn a living): sheer egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse, and political purpose. Read the essay, it’s fantastic. I am keeping it as a reference.
Political in the broadest sense – everything I want to write is political in the way its directed to the audience, a communication message if you will, necessarily partisan and maybe discriminatory – yes – but I have something to say. To you, you and you, and you and you. (My 5 readers!) That’s what started me on this journey, and that’s what keeps me going. This is why I write (as well as ego and artistic enthusiasm and historical impulses, in that order ).
One should keep in mind the audience. Writing "for me" is fine, as I am my own audience, but that’s not really why I am so into this. I am a political person whether I realize it or not, and that’s where I need to get back to… newspaper clippings and all. I really need to remember Question #1 in this light, it has to be my Job #1 for me to succeed in this business.
