ROWd Awakening

You know how you’re cruising merrily along sometimes…then you plow into a wall you really should have seen coming?

Yep, that sums up the writing part of my week.

Fortunately, everything else is (mostly) going according to plan.

Here’s whats ROWing on:

You can see last week’s goals here.

Writing

Last Week

Three scenes and most of a fourth reworked.

The goal was eight. That probably would have been a big stretch even if I hadn’t hit that wall I mentioned earlier. A more reasonable goal would have been five.

And that wall? Yeah, about that…

I See Your ROW is as Big as Mine

About a week ago, in a ROW80* not so very far away, goals were set and met (for a pleasant change of pace).

Here’s how it’s going:

You can see last week’s goals here.

Writing

Last Week

 

2/2 scenes reworked. One scene essentially needed to be written from scratch, the other was short and needed little reworking. Still, it’s more than I’ve accomplished with writing in weeks. It felt very good.

This Week

I’m seriously questioning the likelihood I’ll get the rest of my manuscript reworked before the end of the year. 8 scenes a week? I must be nuts. Still, I’m going to give it a go this week. Actually, it should be 9-10 scenes, given that I worked on 2 last week. Yeah…I’m going to stick with 8.

On the ROWd Again

The ROW has come ’round at last, and a new round lies before us.

By “at last” I mean “almost two weeks ago.” The latest round began Oct 2, but it’s never too late to join. Actually, once the round is over, it’s too late to join. But there’s always the next round.

By ROW, I mean ROW80, the marvelous bloggy challenge that offers us a platform to create goals (writing and otherwise), a cheering section to keep us motivated (while you, in turn motivate your fellow ROWers) and accountability  (since goals are publicly announced).

Also, there may be a very small chance that, upon failure to meet your goals, you will be set upon by zombie hounds…okay, okay, so that last part isn’t true…but, if it keeps you motivated, go with it.

Anyway, you can read more about ROW80 here and see the latest check in post here.

On the to goal stuff:

End of the ROW

There’s a finish line here somewhere. I just know it.

We made it to the end of this round of ROW80*. Break out the champagne. Or something.

Officially, ROW80 was up on the 21st, but I wanted to finish out the week for my goals…mostly because I forgot about the last week of ROW80 being a half week when I was working up Sunday’s goal list.

Overall, this round was a mixed bag for me. I feel like I was much, much slower on my writing than I would have liked, but I was solid on all my other goals.

And there’s some insight on my personality right there. I can do well on most of my goals and still bemoan slow progress on one goal. Silly, really. I need to celebrate the wins, then figure out how to make those wins in my weaker areas (lately, writing).

So, not a mixed big. Overall, the ROW was successful. Go me.

Let’s take stock, shall we? You can see last week’s goals here.

That’s How it ROWs

I see you up there, goals. I will get you.

You know how, when your foot falls asleep and goes numb, then wakes up with that horrible pins and needles sensation? You know it’s going to pass, but it drives you nuts until it does. You just have to remind yourself, it will pass.

At the moment, that’s what I’ve got going on with my motivation and enthusiasm. They’re waking up, so that’s good. It’s just not the most comfortable experience.

Add a nice bit of jury duty (still ongoing, by the way) on top of all that, and it makes for an interesting week, goal-wise.

Anywho, let’s see how much go there’s been in my ROW* since last check in:

Every ROWse Has its Thorns

For the last few weeks, I’ve been struggling to keep my productivity up. It’s partly a (temporary) lull in motivation, partly some minor life upheaval, and partly creative fatigue. I’m thankful things are beginning to turn around. The effects of the minor life upheaval have dissipated, motivation is beginning to revive and the creative well is (slowly) refilling. I’m looking forward to regaining a happy momentum…the sooner the better.

This experience has reminded me that I need to plan for dips in motivation and creative fatigue. Both are normal parts of any goal-oriented journey. And I’ve realized that I can’t always rely on momentum alone to keep me going. Friction, my friends, is the enemy of perpetual motion machines and mental processes (different kinds of friction, I know…but, whatever).

Now, I just need to put a plan together. No problem, right?

Sure.

In the mean time, let’s see what’s been going on with my ROW* since last check in:

Wherefore Art Thou, My ROW?

O ROWmeo, ROWmeo…

It’s not really my ROW I’m searching for, it’s my motivation. It snuck out in the middle of the night. Probably to party. I expected it to come slinking home just before dawn, shamefaced at abandoning me and ready to get back to work. Alas, my motivation has stayed away.

I keep standing in motivation’s yard, calling up and getting no response.

Right now, I’m working (not very well) on fumes.

Despite the drag I’m feeling from lack of enthusiastic motivation, I keep on keeping on. I’m sure, pretty sure anyway, that I can coax motivation back if I just keep going.

A Steaming Cup of ROW

You ever have those days where there doesn’t seem to be enough coffee in the world to keep you on track?

Yeah, that’s pretty much been my week.

Need…more…coffee…soon…

Not that it’s been all bad. We’re getting back on track after our unfortunate car break in incident. I haven’t let too many things slip. But my motivation is severely dragging. Hopefully, I can pep up this week, but I’m keeping my plans light just in case.

Did I Hear That Right?

*ROW80 update at the bottom of the post

We have a running joke in our family. Whenever we think we misheard someone, we repeat back to that person what it sounded like s/he said. Sometimes, we’re reasonably close. Other times, we’re wildly, hilariously off.

We’re not alone. Lots of folks do this all this time, often without even knowing how off the mark they are.

You see this especially with song lyrics:

*May be a wee bit NSFW, due to language (but only two or three instances…and said in such a great accent…so there’s that).

***

And now for a ROW80* update.

This has been a challenging week for me. Over the weekend, our car was robbed.

Stand by Your ROW

Welcome to another…

Wait, what are we doing?

Oh yeah. Another ROW80* check in.

Here we go.

This week went much better than last. Strangely, I planned more optional days off and found myself more motivated to not take them. That’s both interesting and annoying.

You can see last week’s goals here.

And here’s how I stood by my goals: