End of the month check in

Well, looking at my goals that were set I didn't do as well as I thought I would. I did complete the October platform challenge sponsored by writers digest and I did find that I wrote more than usual. I didn't come anywhere near my reading goals. This doesn't discourage me but tells me that I might be setting unrealistic goals for myself and I need to start smaller.  This month however I'm not going to set any goals outside of completing NaNoWriMo and completing my November task list. That doesn't mean I'm not going to read but I'm not going to set hefty goals for myself like I did last month, instead I'm just going to see were reading takes me and continue to journal as I read.

November Task List

As I've been participating in the Writer's Digest Platform Challenge it has been useful to have tasks assigned to every day.  Todays task wants us to make daily tasks for ourselves.  The specific task is to assign tasks for platform building, however; I'm going to address tasks all around and deadlines related to all my goals.  Note that every day I will also be doing my NaNoWriMo.

Date  Task
1 Focus on NaNoWriMo.
2 Write interview questions for interview blog post send to expert.
3 Pick books for the month to read at least 2. Begin one of them.
4 Blog post How did I do for my October goals?  Any changes to the goals? what worked what didn't.
5 Find an article related to my blog and read it.
6 write a response blog post to the article I found link to it on social media.
7 Blog post weekly update focus on progress on NaNoWriMo.
8 Find somewhere to submit an existing piece of writing to.
9 Focus on NaNoWriMo.
10 Free write.
11 make my facebook profile even more accessible and geared to both education and writing.
12 Work on house to create a good work space.
13 Ask around my circle for editors and copyeditors for when NaNoWriMo is complete.
14 Blog post weekly update.
15 free write.
16 Focus on NaNoWriMo.
17 Find writing notebooks with writing in them that are floating in my home.
18 Find an article pertaining to me and my blog, read it
19 Write and post a response blog post.
20 free write
21 Blog post weekly update
22 Compile writing from CNF class
23 Focus on NaNoWriMo
24 Connect with three new people.
25 Free write
26 Thanksgiving: focus on family and NaNoWriMo
27 Write december task list
28 Blog post weekly update
29 Focus on NaNoWriMo
30 Focus on NaNoWriMo

Of course one of my new goals will be to follow this task list.

Grammar is a weakness

As I work to improve my writing platform and prepare for National Novel Writing November I'm finding that having a weakness in spelling and grammar is a heavy weight to carry.  I'm motivated to keep at it both due to my desire to write for others and the growth I've already seen in myself.  I've been writing for a long time and the errors I see in my old work are errors I'm not making anymore. That being said as I continue to post on a blog my writing is likely to evolve not just in content but also in conventions and fluency.  I will be picking up more resources on grammar in December.  As you read this post and others I would appreciate your understanding that I'm working to grow.   If you have suggestions for resources feel free to put them in the comments. 

My reading folly

My house is completely full of books. There are books on shelves in almost every room of the house with the exception being the kitchen and one of the bathrooms.  There are stacks of books that I'm in the middle of a nightstand and on an armoire in my bedroom. My husband me that I buy more books that I can read it any given time but I disagree. Never knowing when I might need a specific type of inspiration or what type of book would best suit what I'm working on right now I find it better to have an arsenal of books in my home. Truthfully my biggest regret is that I have a storage unit that has boxes of books that haven't made it to our home yet. Now I recognize I can't buy every book and the public library is somewhere I spend a lot of time. Even there I check out more books that I could actually read in any given check out. But, I check out a variety of books from a variety of different genres. I've made an effort when buying books to make sure that I'm not just buying The books by author's I like and in the genres I'm familiar with but that I look for books in new Shabbos and buy new authors because they have something new to teach me.  Because of this love however the goals I set for myself to read proportionately to what I'm writing have been very difficult to achieve because as much as I love writing I love reading sometimes more.  That's not to say I don't want to write I want to write to give someone something to read that gives them the same joy that I got from reading someone else's work.  The bookcase posted below is one of eight floor-to-ceiling size bookcases complemented by nine bookcases that are 4 feet tall and stacks everywhere throughout the house.  I apologize for the mess on top of the bookcases currently is residual wedding things on top of the bookcases believe it or not more books. 

October 14 update

I am going to again participate in national novel writing November. Honestly, I had poor success last year. I am hoping that participating in the October platform challenge will help me have better success this year. The challenge has been making me think through my writing process differently.   Today's challenge was to set forth and create some kind of schedule or a time management plan. Not knowing what my future holds us I'm not sure that I can schedule X time every day at this point.  What I can do is monitor the amount of time I spent writing versus the time I spend reading and notetaking. Truthfully up until this point I would spend 80% of my time reading 10% of my time taking notes on what I've read 5% of my time outlining and then the last 5% on writing.  I'm not sure what the right balances but if I only have an hour that I can dedicate to creative pursuits the amount of time actually spent writing is minimal. I would like to work toward Half of the time being dedicated to reading and taking notes and then take the last half of the time and divided by 10% outlining and 40% writing.   If I try and work under these parameters instead of set schedules since my current schedule doesn't allow for that whether I have an hour or three hours if I follow this I ought to be able to guarantee more chunks of actual writing time.  That would mean for an hour I would have 24 minutes to write.  That would be a significant step up from where I am now. Honestly at this immediate moment even if I have three hours I might break it up that way were the first part of the hour is reading and then work my way through and only work in 24 minute increments until I build up my stamina enough writing that if I had a long block I could write for 96 minutes if I had four hours.    But I haven't figured out is whether that time should be solely dedicated to creating a draft or whether that time is the appropriate time to do things such as revision and editing.  

Truthfully as far as my goals go this week hasn't been productive.  I binge wrote 1100 words and haven't written since.  My reading has been nonexistent. Instead I've been binge watching Netflix.  With my life in disarray I've spent a lot of time thinking about why I want to write and who inspired me to write.  Why do you write and who inspired you.  Feel free to comment.

Sunday October 4th, 2015

I spent my day hiding from the inevitable that was to come the following day.  I had grand plans of working toward my goals but instead binge watched Girl Meets World and American Dad.  I did read some of Willa Cather's Sapphira and the Slave Girl, but only a whopping 19 pages.  I also spent some time cleaning up my computer and finding my writing and putting it into a folder.  My television time wasn't fruitless however.  As my most prominent writing idea at the moment is a middle grade fiction story binge watching a show aimed at that age proved to have some interest to me.  I also found myself pondering how a show designed for tweens could make me so emotional.  The answer lies in the parents, characters from my past, and how they were intertwined in the stories.  It's interesting how a show designed to interest youth could captivate an adult. A book could do the same.  more readers will be reached if there is something in the book for adults too, and not in the questionable content meaning.  As I related to Cory and Topanga both in age and in prior knowledge i related to characters from the old Degrassi when i watched the new Degrassi.  While a new writer can't create nostalgic characters concepts could be relatable to parents without being hidden jokes making something interesting to both parents and the intended audience.

Introduction.

Hello,

My name is Chelsea.  I have always had a love of stories.  I loved to tell stories before I loved to read them.  That passion took much longer to evolve.  Things have stopped me from pursuing writing in the past and they will still be a struggle but I can't give up.  I have always struggled with grammar and spelling, making editing brutal.    As I go on this journey I will document my writing, my reading, and my lifelong learning.

Some of my goals for the month of october are: complete the Writer's Digest Platform Challenge, Write an average of 100 words a day not including this blog, and read 6 books; a picture book, a juvenile fiction book, a middle grade book, a young adult book, an adult novel, and a nonfiction book at any level.  My stretch goal would be to also read something like a novelette, short stories, a magazine, a scholarly journal or poetry.

To put things in perspective last month I probably wrote on average 25 words a day with binge writing.  I read a picture book, a juvenile fiction book, a middle grade book and a non-fiction book.