Is it sad that I'm looking forward to the time off I have between Christmas and New Year's even more than I'm looking forward to Christmas? :P
My husband has to work, I have no family nearby and all my friends will be spending the holiday with their families. So that leaves me with no excuses:
I WILL finish my revisions of The Lost Days of Evangeline Cowen (the novel formerly known as Evangeline)
I WILL add at least another 10K words to my WIP.
I'm even making plans to utilize my time better, like spending my weekdays drafting, and then revising during the weekends.
But a part of me knows that the lure of books and television and internet will also be strong when I'm home by myself. So I'm swearing to keep the TV and WIFI off, and will likely have to make my husband hide my nook. ;)
I really want to achieve my goals, but after spending so long on these projects, the motivation's just not there. I'm going to have to ratchet up the incentive.
One way to do this is by plotting out some "candy bar" scenes for my WIP. Scenes I've plotted in my head, but haven't quite reached yet in the draft. Usually this works to push me forward, to keep writing.
Then there are candy bars of a more literal type. :) Chocolaty goodness (mmm... special dark...) works okay to bribe me into finishing a scene, but an hour break at the nearby sushi bar for lunch works even better. Though I prefer to do my typing in isolation, an hour with my notebook in a busier atmosphere sometimes helps me plot better.
With so much writing to do and sushi to eat, there won't be much time for blogging, I'm afraid, so this will be my last post of 2011. :(
But I'll be back refreshed and ready to go in 2012, with my revisions finished and my WIP that much closer to a complete first draft. Until then, here's a question I'd like to leave you with:
If you had the time and money for a writing retreat, what would it be like?
For me, I'd like to board a train and travel out west, to Utah, maybe where my WIP is set, and spend most of the trip writing. Trains are important to my novel, so it would be a research trip, as well. I could think of worse ways to spend the holidays, actually.
How 'bout you?
And Happy Holidays, y'all!
4 comments:
I'll miss you! But I support unplugged time, I get it so rarely that I horde it when I do :). I stay home, close the shutters, curl up on the sofa and (try to) write.
I often think about my writer's retreat dream. I think it would depend on the story I was writing. I love trains, but I would get too distracted by the scenery. For my current story, I think a dark and stormy treehouse somewhere. Yes, I'm that weird.
I will miss you as well, but yes to unplugged time! Get those things done and rest up too! :) *rah rah*
I think the train idea is awesome. Unfortunately for me, I can't do the writing/reading thing on moving vehicles. I get motion sick. :P Though reading on a train might be okay. Maybe. It's iffy. Haha.
I'd like a balcony or porch somewhere in mild weather, overlooking something nice. But really just quiet and caffeine and no one bothering me is an ideal situation.
And then you'd head up to Idaho, right? To visit me? Obviously, that would be the real reason for the trip. ;)
A mobile writing retreat (like a long train ride) sounds awesome--as long as I would be alone. I'm thinking somewhere along the southern end of the east coast would be a good setting for Descent. I could totally make it into a research trip. I'm stealing your idea. :)
Oh, and if you could spare some of your motivation for me, that would be great. I'm running low.
Enjoy your time alone! Hope you get lots done!
Ahhh, so that's where you've been hiding....in the cave.
I hope you succeeded in your quest to finish.
Also, I love Special Dark bars and often fantasize writing getaways. (I even have boards on Pinterest devoted just to the topic) I need a cabin in the wilderness on a lake (or a deserted beach island) away from people, distractions... and without internet or TV. Just food, bed, couch, fireplace. Yes. Please.
Happy 2012, Tere! :)
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