A Round Of Words, Indeed

So, I submitted my work for my classmates to critique. I drove myself crazy working on it and then even more crazy after I hit the submit button. Fear instantly made a home in my stomach.  I kept running my story through my mind thinking about things I should have changed, ways to make it better.

The feedback has been positive with solid suggestions for improvement. Until today. This morning I received a brutal critique!  I had to walk away from the computer for a while after reading it.  Hours later I was able to talk myself into understanding how necessary this process is and that I needed to think about each point this person made.  However, I believe there is a good way to critique someone's work and a bad way to do it.

As a writer, you're putting yourself out there, laying your heart down on the page.  As a fellow writer, you should understand how much that person cares about their work and even if the piece has problems or you don't like certain aspects, there is a proper way to relay it. Don't get me wrong, I respect the critiquing process and believe in being 100% honest! Receiving feedback plays a huge part in developing your story and I would never want to sell someone short. I also believe in constructive criticism.  I'm not saying to be all candy and roses, but don't be inconsiderate, either.

Am I being overly sensitive?  Maybe, maybe not. It's a learning experience.

Goals for this week are focusing on my classwork: lesson plan, homework assignment, feedbacks, and preparing my next story for submission.  I'm also planning to complete Part One of Story Engineering by Larry Brooks and Part One of Story by Robert McKee.  

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50/50 Challenge

Of all the movies I've watched this year, my favorite so far is Megamind. Adorable!

Last week my family came together to celebrate my father's 77th birthday. My awesome brother came bearing gifts for me, too. Aside from the cool LEGO minifigures to add to my collection,

he also brought four movies for me to watch for the 50/50 challenge.  

What's the best movie you've watched this year?

House of A Thousand Sneezes

OK, maybe not a thousand...

Everyone in my house has been sick, including me.  I've been playing catch-up the last few days on all my classwork, so I definitely didn't hit my goals this week.

My goals for this coming week are simple: finish catching up with last week's homework, complete this week's homework and complete my short story for submission.  Oh, and analyze and critique a bunch of short stories. Being sick isn't fun but it's the aftermath that's kicking my butt at the moment!

I'll cut this short and leave you with a quick video of two very cute and happy dogs. (Warning: apparently I stink at taking photos and shooting videos.)

Unexpected and Unstuck, an ROW80 Check-In

Why is it the exercise goals are always the ones to fall by the wayside? Sigh, maybe it's just me.

Excluding the epic exercise fail, I had a productive and eye-opening week. Course #1 forced me to write a compact story that actually had an ending. I have issues with endings: I never seem to write them.  It's like a phobia. I noticed with this assignment, as I got to the point where I had to write the ending, I got stuck.  I had half of it played out in my head but couldn't get it on paper.  I ended up going back to the beginning and re-writing it before I even wrote the ending. Because I had a deadline for this story, there wasn't an option of moving on to something else or starting something new. There's only so much laundry and cleaning a person can do and the size of my guilt at reading a book or watching TV knowing I hadn't finished this story was too much to ignore.  I'm happy to say that I finished the assignment and actually smiled when I was done.  At 5 in the morning.

Another realization came through course #2: I had to analyze someone else's writing. Wow, did I struggle with this. After reading the darn thing three times and finally handing in my positives and negatives, I read my classmates responses and was like, "Oh yeah, how'd I miss that, and that, and that?"  Conclusion? I need to start reading with more of an analytical eye.  This will take practice.

I hit all of my goals for the week except for getting on the blasted treadmill.

Goals for Week 3:
1) Keep up with my homework assignments, both reading and writing.
2) Get a solid portion of my short story done.
3) Juice veggies 3x.
4) Get butt on treadmill 2x!
5) Continue with my daily journal entries.

Go forth and conquer my fellow ROW80ers!

Sifting For Goals

We're halfway through week 2 of ROW80 and some serious goal shifting is in progress.  My courses started this week and the workload has me rethinking the next two months.  One of my courses requires I write two short stories. The first one is due on January 30th, less than three weeks from now.  This has left me unsure if I should continue focusing on my MS, finish it, and then start on my short story or start the short story first.  I considered revising and finishing a short story I've already started but decided against it.  I want to start a fresh story for my class.  I really want to get the most out of these courses.  I'm hoping to get some solid writing done in the next few months and have a piece that is ready for submission.  So, I am going to put my MS on hold for now and focus on my reading and writing assignments.

I think I'll add "consumption of large quantities of java and black tea" to my goal list.

"Another word for creativity is courage." ~ George Prince.

Play Dates, Puppy or Human, Are Good For The Soul & ROW80 Check-In

It is the end of Week One of ROW80 and between writing, family, and puppy play dates, my brain is a little fried up with salt, kinda like my friend Melanie's stories.

My sister brought over her boston terrier puppy, Miss Pugsli, for a play date with Phoebe. They're both eight months old, only two weeks apart, but there's about a 40 pound weight difference. Can you guess which one was the scaredy cat?

ROW80 Check-in

Baby goals proved to be very effective this first week of 2012.  I missed one day of writing because I was exhausted but I hit and passed my goal for the total number of words I wanted to write for the week.

Total written words: 4,055
Here's the breakdown (mostly to help keep me motivated):
Monday - 522
Tuesday - 516
Wednesday - 421
Thursday - 1,144
Friday - 0
Saturday - 804
Sunday - 648

Not too shabby for the first week.

Goals for this week are going to be a lot different.  I've noticed people are including goals other than writing and thought I would give that a try.  Also, I am blessed to have the opportunity to take two online courses, one on writing fiction and one on reading fiction.  The assignment schedules for these two classes will play a major part in my goals for the week, and the next two months, but they don't actually start until Tuesday.

Here are my tentative goals for Week Two, I'll adjust as necessary in my midweek check-in.
1) Write 2,000 words on my romantic thriller MS (NaNo 2011.)
2) Make a daily journal entry, even if it's only one sentence. 
3) Watch one new movie toward my 50/50 challenge goal.
4) Juice veggies three times.
5) Get my butt on the treadmill at least twice.

Good luck to all my fellow ROW80ers!

ROW80 Round 1/Wk 1 Midweek Check-In

Just a quick ROW80 midweek check-in.  I'm on track with my writing goal of 200 words a day.  

Here's the breakdown:
Monday - 522 words
Tuesday - 516 words
Wednesday - 421 words

My plan is to keep with the goal of 200 words a day as my minimum.  I'm happy that I've already passed my goal for the week of 1,400.

On a side note, I have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning.  Why is this exciting or worth mentioning, you ask?  Because my dentist's office is a pet friendly office.

Source

And, I'll be showing off my beautiful Bella tomorrow.  Phoebe will not be joining us because I'm afraid of what she might eat before I could stop her.  She will put anything in her mouth!  Bella was like that at 8 months old, too.  

I wish more places were pet friendly. :)

ROW80 Round One - Week 1 & Kristen Lamb

Have you been reading Kristen Lamb's blog?  If not, get to it! Her blog is chock-full of shiny pearls of wisdom for writers.  I highly recommend checking it out.

You know how I decided to set baby goals this year rather than New Year's resolutions? Well, imagine how excited I was to read Kristen's post today about planning for success in 2012 in which she suggests, you guessed it, baby steps! :)

Baby goals commencing - ROW80 2012 starts today.

Here are the goals I tentatively set for the first round (listed in previous post):
1) Finish my 2011 NaNo novel. (I'm this close to the ending!)

2) Write a new poem.

3) Finish one of my short stories and get it ready to send out. (This is a biggie for me as I've not sent one piece of writing out for publishing, yet.)

4) Complete online writing course that begins on January 10th.

Now on to the the nitty-gritty weekly goal setting.  

Round One - Week 1

My goal for this first week is to write a minimum of 200 words a day or a total of 1,400 words for the week.  

I know that probably doesn't sound like much, but it's what I feel comfortable with right now.  I will be working on finishing up my 2011 NaNo novel. I need to write the last few chapters, where my heroine kicks the evil doer's butt. ;)  I don't believe it will take more than three chapters to accomplish this, maybe four.

To increase my geekiness level and help keep my motivation going, I've decided to name Jedi Master Yoda my mascot for Round One. :)

New Year, New Goals (Not Resolutions!)

Happy Holidays! I hope all of you had a rockin' time with lots of yummy food and loved ones surrounding you.  My niece and I made our 3rd annual gingerbread house, I made my very first Christmas tree out of books, and my girls showed their holiday spirit (after many bribes of cheese.) ;)

 

***

What a year! This is a time for reminiscing about all we've done and experienced over the last 12 months.  What's new, different, the same?  The next natural step is to look at the upcoming new year, with many people setting resolutions.  There doesn't seem to be a middle ground regarding resolutions: people either love or hate the idea. I've done quite a bit of thinking lately and although 2011 contained a great deal of loss for me, (I mean really, it sucked) I'm choosing to learn from it, make smarter decisions, smarter choices.  I've considered making resolutions but decided against it.  Resolutions have a tendency to fall by the wayside, and the next steps I take in my life are far too important.  So, no resolutions for me.  But, that doesn't mean no goal setting.  The difference in my approach this year is I'm not going to make big statements or plan out the entire year (okay, so one big statement: get a new job!)  I'm going to break my big goals up into baby goals and take each day, week, and month as they come.  To me, this is much more manageable and not as overwhelming. Are you a resolution setting person? 

***

On the writing front:

In keeping with my baby goals idea, I've decided to participate in A Round of Words in 80 Days, also known as, ROW 80.  This is truly a great writing party challenge!

Here's the skinny:  There are 4 rounds a year, each lasting 80 days.  You create your own writing goals to fit your schedule.  You post your goals and progress twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays.  The idea is that life is crazy and busy but it is essential to make writing a priority.  The goals you set should push you but also be reachable and if you miss a day or two of writing because of life stuff, you can double your word count the next day or two or just move onward.  

I've participated before and found the community of writers encouraging! The accountability factor is high, which is good.  I often shy away from such challenges because if I don't meet the weekly goals I feel like such a lump; but I read a post on the ROW80 website a while back (which I can't find for the life of me now) that touched on this topic and helped me see that even if I don't meet a goal one week, that I can post about that and not beat myself up.  That's what this community is all about: supporting each other during the good and bad weeks.  I know it sounds obvious but sometimes obvious needs to be shoved into my face like a some sort of custard pie with lots of whipped cream.

Rough draft of my ROW80 Round One Goals (starts January 2nd):

1) Finish my 2011 NaNo novel. (I'm this close to the ending!)

2) Write a new poem.

3) Finish one of my short stories and get it ready to send out. (This is a biggie for me as I've not sent one piece of writing out for publishing, yet.)

4) Complete online writing course that begins on January 10th.

Good luck to my fellow ROW80'ers!

***

Expanding, learning, growing, and stepping outside the box.

I came across a fun book and movie challenge for the new year called The 50/50 Challenge.  You have to read 50 new books and watch 50 new movies by the end of the year.  I like the idea that you can't re-watch or re-read something and have it count toward your goal.  Reading a new book will be easy for me, but the new movie part will be a big challenge.  I love to re-watch the same movies over and over again.  I haven't seen a lot of new movies lately.  I'm excited to have some fun with this but I also want to use this challenge to expand my interests. I'm going to read books and watch movies that I would normally pass up or think I wouldn't be interested in. Any and all recommendations are welcome!

  

If you're still reading, I wish each one of you much success, health and happiness for the new year!  May 2012 be the best year of your life, thus far.

Happy New Year!  Cheers!

A Million Little Pieces (OK, just 1,254)

Writing and reading can be listed as things that help when you are stressed, especially for me. But, sometimes stressors can only be helped with something mechanical.  During the evenings of my last few days of work, I was experiencing a myriad of emotions and a bit overwhelmed.  I happened upon a small project that did wonders to help keep my mind and hands occupied and distracted.

Of course, during my first day home, I sat on my Kindle and broke it.  Sigh. Thankfully, it is still under warranty and they promptly sent me a knew one after reassuring me that I wouldn't lose any of my precious books.

Such a klutz! 

The project I'm talking about is Lego's Millennium Falcon! Yes, I'm a geek and proud of it.  I love Lego, especially their adorable minifigures, as witnessed below. (Thanks for the decorating tip, KC!)  The only thing I've actually bought for myself on this shelf (aside from the books) is Hagrid. The rest were gifts. ;)  Guess my geekiness isn't much of a secret.

Here's the box, front and back:

"Oh, this will be easy," I say. "Won't take but a couple of hours."  Not so much.

Play by play in photos:

Bags upon bags! Shakespeare, my Betta, was a tremendous help. :)

R2-D2 and Ewok Paploo not included in the set.

I admit, I'm not the best photographer.  Still pretty cool, huh?

May the force be with you!  ;)

Movin' On Up

As mentioned in my last post, December 14th was my last day at my job due to downsizing.  It doesn't quite seem real at the moment.  It feels like any Sunday would.  I did all my laundry, cleaned my apartment and am ready for the week. Except this week won't require me getting up and driving an hour to work everyday.  I guess I didn't have to do all my chores today, I could've spread them out; but it's Sunday and that's what I always do on Sundays...  

It is very real when you hand in your laptop and badge: symbols of employment, comfort, stability, security, and pride.  When I arrive at the security desk on Wednesday, the counter is covered with black laptop bags and brown confidentiality envelopes.  I freeze in mid-step and stand looking at them; so many of us are leaving this day.

The whole day I force myself to be present; I want to remember all the "lasts". The last time I use my badge to get into the parking lot and building.  The last time I dial into a teleconference.  The last time I'll be next to and around the corner from my friends.   I hug my friends.  I cry a lot, there's no way round it. The tears flow as I say goodbye to the security guard and sit at the red light.   The light turns green and I turn left, this chapter of my life reaching its conclusion.

I am excited to see what will be the title of my next chapter.  I hope it’s a doozy. 

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all." Emily Dickinson