11 November 2009

Er, Bye, October!

So, in all the fun and excitement of time-travelling last week, I realise now that I can do an October farewell! Huzzah!

...

What, you're not excited? Pah. Tough. :P

Sooo. In the glorious month of October, in which one relative had a heart attack, another surgery for a brain tumour which turned out to be cancer, another went missing and was found drowned, another whole circus were shouting death threats at each other, university was finished FOREVER, five interviews were undertaken and two jobs successfully attained (woot), a long weekend camp caused my feet to be cold and wet for three days straight and ingrained in me the desire to purchase some gumboots when they come back in season..... With all of that, what did I get up to writing-wise?

(Yes, I kid you not: all of that happened in October. o.O)

Apparently, writing is therapeutic: even with all of that rubbish going on, I managed to write a hair short of 16,000 words. Go me!

Here's the breakdown:

* 1825 on the Jesscapades rewrite, which is still mostly on hold because I know I don't have the skill I need to make this book what I want it to be yet;
* 1539 on Sanctuary, the YA fantasy; I've finally nailed the voice on this one, which is fantastic;
* 6704 on what is fondly known as 'the tiger novelette';
* Short stories from scratch now out on submission: The Cinnamon Shark (now called Calm) and Dear Santa;
* Short story from scratch, needs editing: Dragon Tuesday
* Plus various words here and there on the following shorts: Afterwards, "the velociraptor one", Rays of Time and Space, "the other Powers one".

What did I learn this month?

Mostly, that writing keeps me sane, that I write faster than I used to, that I don't need to beat myself up if I skip a day or two of writing because it'll balance out in the end. I only wrote 19 out of the 31 days in October, and I still pulled off an above average wordcount; this whole learning-to-lighten-up-on-myself thing is working really well :)

But here's the big thing I learned: I can, actually, be patient.

See, when you start writing you're filled with this obsessive drive to write-write-write, push-push-push, must-get-published, quick-quick-quick. Time matters, because even if it takes most people five to ten years to start earning 'real' money from their writing (ie, not the $5 you make from the occasional short story), so what? You're better than that, and you can do it faster!

Guess what?

Faster doesn't actually matter.

Yup, I wanna write. Yup, I am writing, and I'm writing and planning for publication and a career in writing. But I'm happy to take my time with it, and not rush it, and let my writing blossom as it needs to rather than forcing it into premature bloom that will fade rather than endure. I don't want to make the mistake that so many impatient new writers do, and send my work off before it's ready. I'll know when it's ready, when I'm ready, and I'm not yet, and I'm cool with that.

Phew. It's kinda nice not to be constantly beating up on myself for not pushing hard enough, you know? *grin* And I think my last two months' stats have shown that this shiny new relaxed attitude is actually better for my productivity than stressing over more-more-more.

I'll learn what I learn when I learn it. More than that is out of my control.

...This is all coming out ineloquently, and doesn't quite hit on what I mean precisely, but think of it like this: Act One has come to an end. Everybody, wave hello to Act Two in my writing life ;) :D

Do share: Anyone else have exciting (or boring, either way) revelations about their own writing this month? What did you all get up to? Speak to me!

And yes, I will go back and respond to all the comments I haven't responded to yet *blush* Sorry about that. O:)

9 comments:

Rie said...

That sounds like a horrible month! Glad you made it through with some sanity.

And got some writing done!

Beth Overmyer said...

Good for you, Inky. I'm sorry for all your losses/tensions, and glad for your gains and growths... that didn't sound right...

No revelations for me lately.

*hugs* I'm really enjoying HNOT. Just wanted to tell you that, prolly for the gazillionth time

;-)

Bystar's Fan-girl,

Bethy

Natalie said...

What a CRAZY month. I'm impressed that you accomplished anything! Way to go and keep up the good work!

Michelle D. Argyle said...

I'm so sorry all that happened, Inky. I had a rough October, too, but not that bad.

I'm learning to be patient, too. Very patient. I've shut down Innocent Flower and decided to focus on my family more. And if I have time for writing, I'll write. More like edit, I guess. I'm moving slowly through the book. One day I'll get that revised partial ready.

Keep up the good work! 16k is a great great accomplishment for all that going on. Even NOT with all that going on, it's a great amount.

Snazel said...

And you were cheerfully twittering about newts and things! I am amazed! *wide eyes* *thumbs up*

I'm glad that writing keeps you sane. It does the same for me. It's like managing the voices in ones head! Let them play in a regulated environment!

Merc said...

Very nice WC, though I'm sorry RL was so rough. *hugs and cookies*

I, too, and learning to be patient... and learning I need to take care of my brain--not forcing myself to squeeze out words on bad days I'm too tired to write, making time to read more to recharge, and taking the time to edit/revise things until I'm happy with them before sending them out. Hard lessons sometime, but worth it in the end.

~Merc

P.S. It occurs to me... oy, it IS November and I should do a reacap...

Gina said...

Oh my goodnes...I thought I had a bad month! **tips hat to you** I love the take on life perspective you have going, I think everyone could learn something by taking a step back and looking at their life in a new way...grant it I can't say I've done that, but I'm sure it woudl work! Hopefulyl November is going better for you. =0) (Congrat's on the writing though! I always found when I was younger, I would write more poetry when I was having an emotional high or low, as opposed to a regular day....go figure.)

Nayuleska said...

Patience is the key. I've learnt to write in a new way. It takes forever, but the quality is ten times better. Plus hopefully I'll need less revisions which is good in the long run.

Amy Laurens said...

Rie - *checks* Yup, sanity still (mostly) intact! O:)

Beth - Thanks for fan-girling Bystar B-) You have no idea how much that keeps me going :)

Natalie - crazy is the word, all right! But yay, I survived :)

Glam - *hugs* I hope you can get everything sorted, sweet. Nothing worse than feeling lost and at sea about what you're supposed to be doing. *more hugs*

Snaz - absolutely! If I don't let them out for walkies they go nuts :D hehe.

Merc - *munches cookies* Yes, forcing brains will only cause breakage in the end, I've found. To everything, there is a balance. *cookies in return*

GMR - I've just finished my teacher training, and reflecting on past performance and the reasons therefore have been well and truly drummed into my head :\ :D

Yuna - Quality over quantity :) The speed will return, with practice. You'll see :) *hugs*

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