Hello, hello, hello again, and welcome back.

It’s time to get some WRITING done!

Next month is NANOWRIMO, which, if you don’t know, is

NATIONAL

NOVEL

WRITING

MONTH

The challenge is simple but grueling:

Write 50 THOUSAND words….any words at all…in 30 DAYS.

That’s it in a nutshell.

Write any words you want from November 1 to 30th and try to hit 50k, the equivalent of 1,667 words a day.

Because NOVEMBER is such a busy month, PLANNERS and even some PANTSERS like to begin planning their novels in the month of OCTOBER.

Hence, PREPTOBER.

I personally consider myself a PLANTSER. Not only because it’s fun to say, but also because I am a blend of a PLANNER and a PANTSER.
PLANNERS do just that: plan, outline, and world build before they ever start the real work of writing.
PANTSERS just fly by the seat of their pants and write whatever comes to mind.

PLANTSERS do some version of both. I make very detailed outlines of my novels and do all sorts of prep, but when I sit down to write I can’t control the flow of words. I don’t even try anymore. I’ve always said I’m a better editor than a writer, and that’s because I have to edit so much of my own work.

So here’s what I’ve done for PREPTOBER so far:

*Decided my genre, story idea, and point of view (POV)

*Planned my writing time and routine and prepped my writing space

I still have some hard stuff to do:

*Outline

*Character Questionnaires

*Research

All so I will be ready to write at the stroke of midnight on Nov. 1st.

Am I crazy? Probably. Have I done it before? You betcha.

I’m still trying to figure out this writing life, but I know participating in NANOWRIMO has and will continue to help me put my words out there, and I invite you to join me. Believe me, you can.

XXXlinsey

RAFFLE: In other news, I’ve just begun designing some notebooks and workbooks that are for sale on amazon. COMMENT ON THIS POST to be considered for the drawing for one PREPTOBER workbook and one NANOWRIMO workbook sometime in the next few weeks. I’d love to hear from you.

I’m back.

My confidence has taken a hit the last few months and you, my dears, have suffered as well. 

Instead of following my pledge to document my struggle, I’ve suffered in silence, licking my wounds in hibernation.

NO MORE.

If I cannot honest and open here, then I cannot hope to maintain honesty and openness elsewhere, so let me start with the truth.

I’ve not been ok. 

In the interest of privacy, I won’t go into detail, but I have been in physical, mental, and emotional pain for months. I believe we’re all suffering collective trauma from the pandemic, and perhaps that’s all this is, after all. I’ve been balancing the correct medication for my condition and the fallout of the side effects.

None of it is pretty.

We’re headed into the winter, traditionally a rough time for me, but I’ve had a rough summer and I’m feeling pretty good at the moment. 

Things are looking up for the first time in a while.  

I hope it will last, but I’m also looking ahead to Daylight Savings Time, another rough patch, and prepping for the change in season best I can. 

The point I want to make is not what’s been wrong, but how to make it right. 

I want to be ok. 

But if I’m not…

I want to be helpful

If you’re having a hard time or expecting a hard time this coming season, I invite you to join me in some cold weather fun on YouTube and Instagram. 

If you need someone to reach out to, then I’m only a CONTACT button away.

I’ll be demonstrating and documenting some of my writing processes in  OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER on Youtube and bringing some art into the world in OCTOBER AND DECEMBER on Instagram. 

If you’d like to follow my writing journey, please subscribe on YOUTUBE

If you’re interested in following my art journey,  you can find me on INSTAGRAM

I’m about to embark upon a challenge…

…I don’t know if I can do it.

Either way…it’s Motivation

something I’ve been short on these days.

we’re going to do things a little differently this week.

In the spirit of showing up and keeping myself accountable

I’m going to blog the challenge as I go.

I guess that makes 2 challenges.

It’s that time of year again..

Will I or won’t I make it to the end of this month’s challenge?

How many words can I write?

So far…not quite 2k

…my goal

50k

I could say I’ve done nothing this week… I could say I’ve rested.

What do you think I should choose and why?

My mom is perfect.

Not like, My Mom is Better than Your Mom (though she is). Like, My mom is PERFECT.

You have to know her very, very well to see her flaws. 

So when I say she both didn’t do a very good job of teaching me how to be an adult and she also taught me everything I need to know about being an adult, you’ll know I’m not biased.

She was and is a great example.  I was a senior in high school before I realized what my mom did every day. She went back to work that year and most of what she had been doing either didn’t get done or was done by me.

My mom taught me everything from how to fix a running toilet to how to run a load of whites. What I know about cooking, cleaning, and housework, I largely learned from her. She made me do it, early and often, and I appreciate the lesson.

One thing she didn’t teach me was HOW. How she kept a perfect household when she was there. How she maintained a nearly-perfect household when she wasn’t there. How she got up every day and did the things. 

I was in my thirties before I realized the truth. When she finally told me the secret:

She had to learn how to do it. 

The answer to HOW was both super simple and completely complicated.

You learn.

I guess that’s what’s going on here. Learning. It’s a struggle, and it’s painful, but if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s learning.

What are you learning to do this summer? How are your struggles interwoven with your successes?

WordPress just wished me a happy 4 year anniversary.

This makes me both happy and ashamed.

I’m pleased I have been on this journey for that long and pleased I am still fighting the good fight.

I’m ashamed this blog doesn’t have 4 years worth of content, but that will only change if I change it.

So here goes:

I think this will be the third time I work on LUKE for a NaNoWriMo event. This time I hope to finish it.

It’s not exactly “not done,” it’s just not readable at this point.

The good news is when I am putting it together, the words are good and there and seem to want to be told.

I’m still struggling for ALIGNMENT (to what?), but I have been reminded over and over again that MY WORDS MATTER.

It matters that I put them out there. It matters that they’re there to read. It matters that I’m here.

LUKE hasn’t really been the struggle. It’s been everything from getting up to sitting down to work. There are several culprits, but none of them wants to take full responsibility at the moment.

I am moving on and moving through. I can do this. I know because I have done it before.

I’ve started over at the MORNING PAGES, just as I suggest you do. They have been very illuminating.

Living my life one day at a time has its drawbacks. Not many, but a few.

My past accomplishments seem to disappear in my efforts to get through one more day.

However.

If I can think it, it’s possible, and if I can find a way to make it happen, I will.

Here’s to another week of writing. May it continue.

Where are you feeling blocked, stuck or stressed? Let me know in the comments.

This week we add another task to our daily list. It would have been apropos a couple of weeks ago, but it fits here too. It is this: ACCEPT IMPERFECTION. This is not a perfect system and you are not a perfect person. We will, from time to time, get off track and have to start again. Whether you begin at the beginning or jump back in where you left off is your choice. The point is to keep going.

Again, the list of things we should be doing every day or every writing day:

MORNING PAGES
TRACK PROGRESS
PREP FOR YOUR NEXT WRITING SESSION
ACCEPT IMPERFECTION

This week we’re going to do a lot of writing. It’s getting more intense. See what you can make of this:

1. WRITE 25 MINUTES
2. WRITE 25 MINUTES
3. REST
4. RESEARCH
5. WRITE 30 MINUTES
6. WRITE 30 MINUTES
7. WRITE 25 MINUTES

Next week is the final week in our writing routine. I’d love to hear how it’s going for everyone.

Happy writing!

xxxlinsey

Welcome back.

By this week, we should be doing three things on a daily basis:

Morning Pages
Tracking
Prepping for next week

This last one is going to depend largely on how much writing time you have. Do you need to prep a week in advance? Or only a day? The point is you never sit down to write without knowing what you’re writing, whether that’s MORNING PAGES, your current work in progress (WIP), or a job you’ve been hired to do.

This week we’re going to do a lot of writing, so I would start by prepping your sessions for this current week.

Here’s the schedule:

DAY 1: WRITE 20 min.

DAY 2: WRITE 20 min.

DAY 3: REST

DAY 4: RESEARCH

DAY 5: WRITE 20 min.

DAY 6: WRITE 25 min

DAY 7: WRITE 25 min.

As you can see, we’re upping our writing days and our writing times. Even if you’re resetting like me, I encourage you to follow this schedule. It’s easier to jump right back in than start over, but don’t let that stop you from starting over if you need to.

In other words, if your space has become a mess or your tracking system is off, feel free to take a step back and reassess those areas first. Still doing MORNING PAGES? That’s another place to start over.

This week I want to focus on diving back into where we left off. If you didn’t do MORNING PAGES today, do them now. Write your 20 minutes now. Do whatever it is you need to do in the time you have now. After all, it’s all we’re guaranteed.

See you next week.

xxxlinsey