I love the idea of to-do lists. They seem so organizational and official. And the dopamine rush you get when you check something off? Amazing.
That being said, when I write out a to-do list, whether it’s for getting certain homework assignments done during the day or even an over-arcing one for breaks in between semesters, I never seem to get anything done. Take this blog post for instance. I was supposed to post this three weeks ago! It frustrates me to no end, and I wish there was a way to combat this sense of failure I feel when I look at the pad of paper sitting on my desk full of tasks yet to be done. No, not every day needs to be a productive one. Writing for me comes in times of intense inspiration, and there are always slumps that come along with that. It’s part of the process. And I did have fun today, spending time with my family, cooking, and exercising. I just wish I’d gotten at least one thing done that I’d set out to do. There’s still some time left, and I’m not going to waste it. I’m gonna go check off a couple of things before I go to bed tonight. Again, like this blog post. Even though it wasn’t even on the list for today, but whatever. If I don’t see you before, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and happy writing!
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If you haven't heard already, I'm back in quarantine for the second time this semester. Yay.
Honestly, it's not that bad. I'm doing all right, staying positive despite the fact I've missed all of my floor's big traditions because of both of my quarantines. My biggest problem right now is lack of motivation, since the semester's almost over and I'm stuck at home for another five or six days. For my peers at school, losing motivation this close to the end isn't uncommon. To help combat this, for myself and for others, I've comprised a short list of things that I do to help me get things done and rebuild my motivation. If you're in the same boat I am, hopefully some of these things I do can help you, too.
These are the big three things that help me get motivated and get things done. These might not work for everyone, so keep that in mind if you decide to try any of my tips out. Let me know how well they worked for you! What are some things that help you when you're lacking motivation? Write them in the comments below, and as always, happy writing! It's National Novel Writing Month, or NaNo WriMo, and I don't know about you, but I feel PUMPED! I've been looking forward to this all year and I'm ready to make progress on one of my WIP's!
That's what I would say if I actually knew what I wanted to work on for November. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited and I want to participate in NaNo as much as the next writer. I just don't know what to work on. Plus, I'm in the middle of the hardest stretch of the semester, and between papers coming due, trying to get my grades up in my classes, and who knows what else, I'm afraid I don't have time. Meaning if I want to get things done writing-wise, I need to be smart. Here's my diabolical plan to conquer NaNo and crush school at the same time.
Until next time, happy writing! As of October 21st, 2020, I've been a writer for five years.
This is a crazy accomplishment for me, and it doesn't feel like it's been that long since I started. It seems more like a fever dream than reality. I've grown so much over the last few years and have been given so many great opportunities, and I couldn't be happier with my career thus far. To celebrate, I want to use this week's post to talk about some of the best lesson I've learned about writing for each year of my journey. This is stuff anyone could find helpful, whether you've been writing forever or you're just starting out, so I hope you enjoy! Year 1: Just finish the story. When I was writing my first book, I started writing a couple more along side it. I was able to keep them straight in my head, but every time I divided my attention between all of my other WIPs and whatever new one I started, I felt another small strain on my creativity. I'm not saying starting a new story while working on another is bad. There's nothing wrong with doing that, especially if you're feeling burnt out with your current idea. I recommend doing it sparingly, and write the story you're passionate about. Year 2: Writing as an act of escapism isn't bad. Toward the end of my second year as a writer, I started writing the first Dynasty River Mystery. I thought I wanted to write it to remember my summer working at camp. Now that I'm older and a little wiser, I was writing it out of escapism, not because I hated my job, my bosses, or the people I worked with, but because of one person in particular. I thought it wasn't okay to cope with what I was feeling through writing for a long time. I was very wrong. If I didn't try to understand what I felt through the written word, I don't know where I would be today. It is healthy and therapeutic. Year 3: Kill your darlings. I'd written a Disney adventure book and handed it to a friend in my major to look it over. When she handed back what I'd finished so far of the second draft, she looked at me and said, "Yeah, you need to cut the first three or four chapters." That stung. I'd slaved over this book and put in hours of research and writing time, only to get it thrown back in my face. Now that I'm older, again, I know that it's the second draft. Of course, there are a ton of edits that have to be made. And, now that I'm thinking about it, I really want to work on that manuscript. I might do that when I have time later this semester. Year 4: Be bold. I went to my first writer's conference. At the time, I had six manuscripts under my belt and was shocked when people thought it was weird and impressive that I'd written so much in a short amount of time. Even the editor I'd talked to said it was impressive! What? And, in my boldness, I approached him and showed him the first Dynasty River Mystery (the first few pages of the third draft, to be exact.) And he offered to edit the first chapter of the manuscript! Even now, that still amazes me that he saw potential in my little mystery book. Year 5: Persistence. July 2020, I helped out with Taylor's Professional Writer's conference. It was so much fun, and I got to see some friends in the process. We also had enough open slots for one-on-ones, so I was able to talk to an agent who was there as a lecturer. She and I hit it off very quickly, and I loved talking to her. She wanted me to send her my proposal for Dynasty River Book one, and I did. She said it wasn't quite ready, but she's willing to look at it again. I still can't wrap my mind around it. She wants to see my work again. I'd been pushing this book for a while, and she's interested. Always keep trying, because it will pay off eventually. Looking back over this list, I still can't believe it's only been five years. I wouldn't have gotten to where I am without Taylor's Professional Writing program. If you're interested in learning more about it, click the link here. (It's a shameless plug. I love the department, faculty, and students here, and I want more people to hear about us.) I hope you enjoyed and found this helpful! Comment down below if anything helped you! Keep writing! I don't know about you, but I'm creatively drained.
I enjoy getting content out through my blog and I love working on my different works in progress, and it's not like I haven't written a lot recently. I was a guest blogger on the professional writing department's blog, along with writing for my own. I wrote a new devotion and worked on a couple book reviews, updated my website, not to mention I wrote a complete manuscript over the summer. That's a lot. So why am I having a creative block? If you're hitting the same wall, the first thing you need to do is figure out why you're not particularly motivated. Now, for me, I know it's a combination of a few things:
Now that we have a general idea of what's getting in the way, we can tackle the problem. For me, that's going to be difficult. Anxiety is a big part of my life, and while I know how to cope with it, it can still bog me down. That's where music playlists based off my different manuscripts come in handy, or just taking a break from the story I'm trying to work on for a few days. This might be the key for you, too. There's nothing wrong with a break from the craft. You're the one in control of your writing schedule. Use that to your advantage. I know this is a little different from the last few posts I've written. It's been a topic I've wanted to talk about for a while, and I'm glad I did. Now that I know why I'm having trouble with writing, I can fix it. Honestly, a few days away from writing might be good for me. I hope this is helpful to you, too, or the process I went through, at least. Creative block isn't fun for anyone, but remember you'll pull through eventually. Keep writing! One thing that's been beaten into me at Taylor is deadlines are everything. You meet the deadline, you become your publisher's best friend. You miss it, you mess up the publishing chain, which could result in you missing your print date. And no one wants to miss their print date.
Well, I wanted to send my proposal back to the agent I talked about last week by yesterday. I scheduled it out, every fine detail, so that I could get it back in a timely manner. Well, I didn't account for school. And the fact I'm currently in quarantine. Needless to say, I didn't make my deadline. Don't worry: it was a deadline I set for myself. I'm the only person screwed over for missing it. But it still stinks. I feel like I can't hold myself accountable to get things done in a timely fashion. If it's homework or if I'm doing something for someone else, 99% of the time, I get it done on time. (Even with minor procrastination.) But when it comes to me, I can't hold a deadline. Something I've started doing is scheduling out what writing or editing I need to get done by using something called a Gantt chart. While I was taking engineering courses during high school, we talked about Gantt charts, and how engineers use them to schedule out their projects so they don't fall behind. Everything they need to accomplish is on the chart, whether it's a big job or something as simple as creating that chart in the first place. They're helpful, and normally effective. So, I stole that concept and started applying it to my writing. Currently, I have three different charts going: my book proposal (which I extended the deadline to the thirteenth so I can finish editing), editing and re-writing the rest of the first book in the Dynasty River mystery series (finishing by 10/15), and finishing the second draft of book two (finishing by 10/14). Somewhere down the road, I'll be adding re-writing book three and editing book four. I'm not saying I'm going to follow the chart perfectly. I'm human, and also a full-time college student. But I'm training myself for the real world. I even gave myself buffer days in case I really get behind, or really need a break. Scheduling is something that's never going away, so I might as well get a head start on it now. If this is something you want to learn more about or want to see an example of, I'm willing to put together a YouTube video showing how to create a Gantt chart. I find them helpful, and I want to provide other writers with scheduling systems that work. Let me know if that's something that would interest you! Happy Writing! The hardest thing about trying to get my book proposal shaped up is finding time to work on it while getting my course work done.
I just finished my fourth day of my junior year at Taylor University, and I'm so happy to be back on campus and with my friends. One thing I could live without is the homework. I'm only in four classes this semester, which is great. I'm thriving in that respect. And, honestly, I've had busy beginnings to semesters before, and this ISN'T one of them. I just kinda wish I'd gotten edits done on my book proposal before starting school again. In case I haven't said, I've been working on updating and fixing the first book in my Dynasty River Mystery series. I currently have an agent who said it wasn't quite ready yet, but she's willing to look at it again if I make some necessary edits to both the proposal and the book. Great! Awesome! To get those edits done, I made myself a schedule and have given myself a deadline of August 31st to send it back to her. Last week, I did pretty well working on changes and sticking to my schedule. I should have finished editing chapter three and the synopsis and started making changes to the first chapter. Well, this is where I've gotten behind. One of the biggest things I'm trying to work on, whether it's this dreaded proposal or school, is to take every assignment or page of writing as a new opportunity. Instead of saying, "I HAVE to do this assignment," I'm saying, "I GET to work on this chapter and make it better" or "I GET to learn more about [insert subject here]." I'm not saying it's not hard. Are you kidding? Trying to change your way of perceiving something is next to impossible. But it's still possible. So, now that I've posted on my blog, I GET to continue editing chapter three of Dynasty River book one. And you know what, even if I send my proposal back and nothing comes of it, that's okay. Rejections are part of being a writer, and while it sucks, I still need to try. Wish me luck! Well, the last month or so has been one thing after another of cancellations, triumphs, and everything in between. So, to celebrate quarantine year 1,253, here's some of the stuff that's gone on behind the scenes for me.
1. As I said in my last post, Dynasty River Mysteries Book 1 is currently being used in one of my classes at school. I received the content edits and have been working on draft four with them. After 5 weeks of editing, I'm still not done, but I've added 6,000 words to the manuscript, added another chapter, and I feel a lot better about the shape the story is in in general. 2. I created a murder board that the majority of people assume is another conspiracy board. Which is fine. I did create it for a reason, though. The board is the first Dynasty River's murder scheme. I wanted to make sure I had enough evidence against the murderers and made sure the evidence I had matched up with my case notes I kept while I wrote the third draft of the book. I even added some things originally missing which helped bring the story together. It's a great exercise, and if you're a murder junkie like I am, it's a lot of fun to put together. (I was also jealous of my main character in my book who had one of her own, and I wanted to recreate it.) 3. Since I lost my job at the camp Dynasty River is based on, I decided there is no point in waiting to write the fourth book until the summer. The first draft of book four is in it's early stages, but I've found it hard to write. I think I'm still going to have to put it off until the summer to churn it out. It's not fair to the series to write it different from the others, but I'd rather wait for the end of next month and write it than cancel book four all together. The project's working title is called The Summer That Never Was, and as much as I want to dive into the writing process for it, I know in my heart it's not time. It's just giving me more time to clean up book 1 so I can send it to publishers this summer. These are the biggest things going on for me right now. Hope you enjoyed! Are you getting cabin fever, too? Let me know in the comments if you are and how your combating it! Until next time, my friends! Sorry for the radio silence, y'all! I was working on the third draft of Dynasty River Mysteries book one. I'm happy to announce I finished it! It's the first time I've gotten that far on a single manuscript. That series in general is a mile stone for me. It's the only series of mine that has a completed sequel, let alone two! (Soon to be three :) )
Currently, I'm trying to build stronger characters and more descriptive scenes in my writing, and that's been taking up a good chunk of my time. I am trying to work on more blog posts, devotions, and book reviews for you guys, so stay tuned. Thank you for your support so far! If you don't follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, don't hesitate to do that! I update those more often. Hope you're all having a good new year and are trying new things! I can't wait to see what this year has in store! After a long, never-ending semester finally drawing to a close, I've decided to reflect on the things I've learned at school so far this year. It's a pretty interesting list, so please join me for the ride.
What have you learned this semester? I REALLY want to know! Write it in the comments below! |
L.P. MetzgerJust a girl with a dream, but you already knew that. Archives
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