If Only All Days Could Be Like This One!

1467 words today. I love days like this, when the writing goes really well. It makes you feel productive, like you have really accomplished something. It more than makes up for the days where you have to struggle so much just to write a single sentence. If only all days could be so easy.

My story is coming along well. I'm beginning to really like how my characters are starting to interact with one another. I just hope I can finish writing this book soon, so that I can start to edit it and try for publication before the year is out.

Well, one thing at a time, right?

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On a Good Writing Streak

928 words today, 516 words before that, and 1000 words before that.

I may not be entirely consistent with sitting down to write every single day, but when I do write, lately, I have been rather productive. Of course, the nagging crew that I signed up for at the NaNoPubYe forums helps. The more people and places I have to be accountable to, the better. I get more work done that way.

So I am happy.

Mostly...

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In Loving Memory

I have only written 1000 words or so in the last few days. Unfortunately, it's all the product of one lucky day when my daughter was cooperating to sleep long enough for that to happen. *sigh* But, it's something. Much better than the nothing I've been producing for a while. But that's not entirely because of laziness or my daughter. My mom passed away recently. I got a phone call one night that my mom didn't have more than a week, if that, left to live, so I flew down, and I got a few days to spend with her before she passed away. She had been battling breast cancer for three and half years.

I just returned recently, and I'm trying to get back into writing while also battling a nasty, lingering infection. Writing is very healing for me, so I think if I concentrate on my writing a little bit each day, it will help. It'll give me something else to focus on and think about until it isn't all so fresh for me.

I also want to write so I can finish Anemone's Song and get it published for my mom. It's to my everlasting regret that she never got to read anything of mine before she died. My own fault. Always too insecure and shy to share it with her. Don't make the same mistake I did, people. You don't always have the time you think you will to share things with people, even your writing.

Rest in peace, mommy. I love you. And I will finish my book and get it published. For you.

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Okay, I Admit, I've Been Lazy...

Last night I wrote for the first time since I made my writing resolutions. I've been putting off writing. And it isn't that I don't want to write. I DO want to write. But I want to work on a project other than the one I'm determined to finish and try to get published this year. *sigh* Darn characters. Why do you have to get all active now? Grr! Oh well. I suppose they've really been very good for quite some time. I haven't had migraines from Val in forever...

...Great. Now I'm getting a lecture. Whatever. I'll see if I can find some time for you to give me a migraine this weekend, maybe.

Anyhow. I wrote about 500 words last night on Anemone's Song. I say "about," because I really didn't get a chance to finish checking the word count before my daughter woke up and demanded food. So it's just a guesstimate. But, it's something.

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2009 Resolutions...Writerly and Otherwise

Seeing that I began this blog last January, in 2008, with a post about my writing resolutions and some general life resolutions, I find it fitting to continue on in that tradition. As such, I will begin an outline of some of the goals that I've been mulling over for the past few days, in the hopes that I can attain some of the ones that I failed to last year, as well as some of the new ones I'm adding.

First, let's begin with the writing goals (since this is a writing blog):

2009 Writing Resolutions

Small Goals:

-Writing at least 500 words a day, whether it's on one project or many. I may not have managed to do it every day this past year, what with having a baby and all that, but this goal did help me to accomplish more writing than I would have without it. So, I'm putting it down again.
-Write more short stories, so I can improve my ability to write something more compact than a novel length project. I've done it once, now let's see if lightning can strike twice...or several times, rather.
-Explore some new genres or areas of writing that I've never tried before, like Horror or Mystery. Barring my month long foray into science fiction for Nanowrimo 2008, I didn't do much with this goal last year, and I'd like to write more in different genres this year, just for a change of pace. So, up it goes again.
-Write more poetry. It's my weakest area of writing, hands down. Hopefully I can write more of it this year than I did last year. Maybe in improving my poetry, I can improve my writing overall.

Large goals:
-To finish the book I began for NaNoWriMo. Still haven't finished it, although I did add 10,000 or so more words to it during NaNoFiMo 2008, which I failed.
-To get a book published. See the above book. *sigh* To that end, I have joined NaNoPubYe and convinced some of my writerly friends to join me in that venture. Support is always a plus when you're trying to get published. Trust me, I know, seeing as how I've attempted in the past, before I had to take a hiatus from it because of my college work load.
-Keep up with this blog! Well, I was on and off again with it in 2008, but at least I was able to come back now and again to update. Life happens, especially with a baby to chase after. So while my updates won't be very regular sometimes, I'm confident that I will be able to continue posting every so often.


Non-Writing Goals:
-To get a regular job again! This has to be the number one thing on my list, other than maybe getting a book published. Of course, it PROBABLY should be number one, even over that, but, well...I'm a writer, and I'm biased, thank you very much! So of course I'd rather have a book published, but...well...the family needs to eat, too. *sigh*
-To help my daughter to sleep better again. Ever since she cut her first teeth, her sleeping's been a little screwed up, and she no longer sleeps a few hours at a time, like she used to. So, instead of her sleeping for only an hour or two before she wakes, I'm hoping to retrain her into sleeping for longer periods in her crib.
-To lose about 30 lbs (but I'll settle for 20). Still haven't lost the pregnancy weight. It's hard to find time to exercise on a regular basis, with a baby. And even if I have the time, I'm usually tired. But I will try to exercise for 10 minutes every day this year.

So, let's see how the year shapes up, shall we? Let's hope it brings success for all of us writers out there!

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