For those who are doing NaNoWriMo this year (and for those who aren't)

If you are doing NaNoWriMo this year, good luck! Though chances are good you don't have the time to read this blog post. 

If you attempted NaNoWriMo and gave up partway through, or avoided doing it at all because you knew you wouldn't have the time, don't abandon all hope! Consider doing a more flexible and forgiving challenge, if you are looking for daily motivation. 

Even 100 words a day is better than none! Check out my Daily Writing challenge for those looking for more flexibility in writing and revision.

My morning writing routine in 2020

Finding it a challenge to carve out time for your writing because of other work or life commitments? I encourage you to join me in my Daily Writing Challenge. Even 100 words a day adds up! I also have an Inkygirl Daily Writing Challenge Facebook Page.

One of my goals in 2020 is to not only be more diligent about writing something FIRST THING in the day, but also not to be so picky about what I write (social media posts don't count, though :-)).

Reason: Last year, I was always trying to work on my middle grade novel first thing in the morning. While my goal of morning writing worked sometimes, there were many mornings when I just had too much going on. I'd be distracted because I'd be on the road, or have morning appointments, be stressed about book illustration deadlines.

Click to read more ...

Already given up on doing NaNoWriMo but look for an achievable daily writing challenge?

Every year, I think about doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I've participated in the challenge a few years in the past and completed a first draft of a middle grade novel. Doing NaNoWriMo is always fun and I did end up submitting the novel after many revisions. I got some encouraging rejection letters but in the end, I had to shelve the mss. 

One of my challenges in recent years has been that November has always been a very busy time for me in terms of travel and/or work. This year, I have three out-of-town trips during the month.

So....no NaNoWriMo.

But I'm going to be doing daily writing anyway. I've also added badges if you want to use pockets of time for revising instead of writing. You can find the details on this web page and feel free to browse my Inkygirl Daily Writing Challenge on Facebook for inspiration as well.

I hope you'll join me!

Comic: NaNoWriMo Emergency (and a writing challenge for those who don't have the time for #NaNoWriMo)

Don't have enough writing time for NaNoWriMo & looking for an achievable daily goal challenge? Try my Daily Words Challenge.

Looking for a writing/revising challenge but short on time? Try this.

To writers out there who never have trouble finding time to write or revise: pls ignore the rest of this post.

To those who are always putting their own projects on the back burner because of bill-paying work taking priority, family obligations, favors for other people, insecurity or fear, procrastination or a zillion other reasons, feel free to check out the Inkygirl Daily Writing Challenge. 

More info on this webpage, plus there's an Inkygirl Daily Writing Challenge FB Page where I sometimes post tips and comics.

I've also added a bunch of time goal badges for those who think that way instead of wordcount.

Writing Challenges Should Inspire Motivation, Not Guilt

 

Did you attempt NaNoWriMo this year and have to bow out because you simply didn't have enough time? Are you looking for a year-round writing challenge with some flexibility? 

Try my 250, 500 or 1000 words a day challenge.

Short on writing time or falling behind in NaNoWriMo? Try this more flexible challenge.

Too often, I find that writers start motivational challenges like NaNoWrimo with enthusiasm and good intentions, but give up when they start missing their daily targets for more than a few days in a row...undermining their confidence and defeating the purpose of the original challenge.

If you need a motivational writing challenge with some flexibility, try checking out my 250, 500 or 1000 words/day challenge. I'm doing NaNoWriMo right now as a way of helping kickstart my middle grade novel....but I'm already falling a wee bit behind the "1666 wds/day" goal.

If I do end up having to bail out of NaNo, I'm vowing NOT going to get discouraged but am going to keep going, but try a lower wordcount instead.

To those of you with lots of writing time and don't need these challenges: I envy you! :-) These days for me, paying work has taken priority and my non-contracted projects keep being pushed to the back burner. I find that wordcount challenges can help motivate me to get into the habit of putting in at least a little bit of time EVERY DAY on my novel-writing. 

Some of you may snicker at my measley wordcount goals but for me, even 250 words a day is better than nothing at all. 

Insecurity, distractions and FINDING FOCUS again while writing

Title: "Looking For Thyme"

Having trouble finding the time to write during the day because of interruptions or other distractions? Or fighting the urge to go look stuff up on Google during your writing sessions?

(hand waving weakly here)

This year I'm going back to writing first thing in the morning to learn how to focus again. I have no problem focusing when I'm illustrating, or doing nonfiction or blog writing. When I'm doing fiction writing, however, I find myself constantly distracted.

Part of this, I'm suspecting, is insecurity. My theory: my subconscious is yelling "if you finish this new book, you're just going to get rejected again! I'm not going to let you finish!" 

To my subconscious: I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU TAKE CONTROL ANYMORE.

Julia Cameron suggests doing three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. I tried this some years back and while it worked for a bit, I just found the process of writing by hand too laborious; I'm so used to typing on the computer keyboard. I'm also aiming for a specific wordcount rather than number of pages. However, I love the basic idea so am adapting it for my own situation.

I'm trying to do some writing first thing in the morning, before anything else. I also gave this a shot early last year but got too easily distracted. Trying it again this year but instead of fighting the distractions and worries that crowd into my head as I'm writing, I'm EMBRACING IT. If I start getting the impulse to "just take a second" to go check something online, I put that into my stream-of-consciousness writing session instead ("Right now I'm fighting the urge to go look up xxxxx...").

Sounds silly, I know, but it seems to satisfy the part of my brain that needs to do something about the thought RIGHT THEN AND THERE, so I can keep on writing about other things.

I'm also counting this as part of my Daily Words goal, which is currently 500 words/day. This morning I wrote 433 words but later today I'm going to do another writing session specifically for my own writing projects. I also find Ommwriter and Coffitivity help me focus. I've tried apps like Freedom, which turn off Internet access on my desktop computer, but I find it's way too easy to hack them. :-\

Much better, I think, to try to change my habits rather than try to hide the shiny toy.

My hope: that the habit of writing first thing in the morning starts feeling more natural to me than my OoShinyToyMustGoogleIt and "just spend a few minutes checking social media" urges.

And if the morning stream-of-consciousness exercise feels like it's becoming a regular habit, I'll stop counting those words as being part of my Daily Words goal and just count my project writing. I'll keep doing my morning warm-up, though.

If any of you are having the same issues as I am, I encourage you to try stream-of-consciousness writing, first thing in the morning. Let yourself write ANYTHING: poetry, fiction snippets, personalstuff, whatever pops into your head....just keep writing and DON'T leave whatever app you're using to "just look something up" or check email.

Good luck!  I'll check in later in a month or two to let you know how I've been doing as well.

---

The Challenge: 250, 500 or 1000 words/day. Also see my 250, 500 or 1000 words/day Facebook page.

 

Short on writing time? Try the 250, 500 or 1000 Words A Day Challenge

Looking for a daily writing challenge with flexibility? Short on writing time for a particular project? Or are you motivated to write but have an unpredictable schedule? I started the 250, 500 or 1000 Words A Day Challenge for those who want to work on a particular writing project but are finding it hard to find the time because of (1) a day job, (2) parental duties, (3) bill-paying freelance work, or (insert YOUR reason here).

If you have no trouble writing thousands of words a day, then I encourage to skip the rest of this post. :-) To those people: if you must post a comment, I'd appreciate you posting encouragement or advice rather than "I don't need this challenge because *I* write 5,000+ words a day." Thanks. :-)

BASIC IDEA:

1. Pick a goal: 250, 500 or 1000 words a day.

2. Aim to write that many words a day. It's up to you whether or not to make your goal public or not. Feel free to use one of the badges I've provided. Also feel free to follow/comment on the Facebook page.

3. If life gets in the way, then put the Challenge on hold. Try not to do this more than a few times a year if at all possible. DON'T try to "catch up" when you get back.

To others like me, who have other work or activities that usually have to get first priority, I encourage you to check out how to participate in my 250, 500 or 1000 Words A Day Challenge. You can also follow my 250, 500 or 1000 Words A Day Facebook Page for motivating tips, advice and to exchange encouragement with fellow writers taking the challenge.

Good luck!

Writers: Didn't Have Time For #NaNoWriMo? Try 250, 500 or 1000 Words A Day (and why I need to do this)

If you're a writer who has no trouble banging out thousands of words a day on a regular basis, you can skip my 250, 500 or 1000 Words A Day Writing Challenge.

This post is for others who fit into one or more of the following situations:

- You started NaNoWriMo with good intentions but ended up falling further and further behind until it was way too late to try catching up.

- You've always wanted to try a writing challenge like NaNoWriMo but knew you'd never have the time to write 50,000 words in November.

- You have a day job and need some motivation to squeeze out extra time to do regular writing.

- You have kids, so life is often crazybusy with parenting duties and an unpredictable schedule. You need some motivation to carve out writing time here and there.

- You're an illustrator who is trying to flex your writing muscles. A writing challenge with achievable goals could help you get that picture book or other writing project finished.

- You already make a living as a writer or are a published writer, but have always wanted to try another genre...but your paid/contracted work has always come first. Even with limited time, you want to get that personal writing project of yours off the back burner and make some steady progress.

In my case: I am a children's book illustrator who has just started writing picture books. I love my work and I love making picture books, but I also have not forgotten my roots: I have been writing books for young people for as long as I can remember. None of them have been published, though I have been steadily working on my craft; judging from the gradual improvement in quality of editorial rejection letters, my writing has been getting better. I've gotten close (tantalizingly, frustratingly close) for my latest novel, but "close" is not the same as a book contract. I also had my YA novel-in-progress nominated for the SCBWI Sue Alexander "Most Promising For Publication" Award.

Then a rejection ended up (in a roundabout way) getting me a book illustration contract with Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, and my novel-writing got put on hold. It's ironic but a part of the business: I've since had more than one editor express interest in seeing my novels, but I haven't had as much time to work on my writing because of my contracted illustration work.

With what I've learned since then, I'm realizing why my already-written novels didn't sell and why they SHOULDN'T have sold, and have shelved them. I've started working on a new project which I'm pretty excited about, but don't spend nearly enough time on. It's been a crazy year for me: I illustrated three Judy Blume chapter books, 10 Judy Blume covers, finished the illustrations for my first solo picture book (WHERE ARE MY BOOKS? with Simon & Schuster), illustrated RUBY ROSE ON HER TOES (picture book by Rob Sanders, with HarperCollins), did sketches for MITZI TULANE: PRESCHOOL DETECTIVE (picture book by Lauren McLaughlin, with Random House), some sketches for SEA MONKEY AND BOB (picture book by Aaron Reynolds, with Simon & Schuster), did my first book tour, talks and workshops at conferences, then had family health issues.

But something else I've learned: life is ALWAYS going to be crazybusy, one way or another. I will NEVER have the luxury of time that I had in my pre-published days, and that's not a bad thing. If I want to achieve my goal of getting my novels for young people published, I have to adjust and squeeze out writing time however I can.

Hoping some of you join me in the Challenge! Here's more info about how to participate. Feel free to post below or in my Writing Challenge: 250, 500 or 1000 Words Facebook page. Or you can just participate without letting anyone know...it's entirely up to you.

Limited time to write but seeking a motivational challenge?

Too often, writing challenges end up in frustration and guilt rather than motivation. If you're looking for a writing challenge but have limited or unpredictable time to write, try my 250, 500 and 1000 words/day challenge.

And if you're on Facebook, you can encourage and commiserate with other writers on the 250/500/1000 Words A Day FB page.

Here are the rules.

Writing Challenges: Remember WHY you do them

I'm working very hard on trying to finish my outline for a middle grade novel, and hope to use NaNoWriMo as extra motivation to get the first rough draft finished. BUT I don't want to start writing the novel before I'm ready so if I fall behind, then I'm not going to sweat it.

Whether or not I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year, however, I'm still collaborating with my friend Errol Elumir (who is also co-authoring a NaNoMusical) on comics about the event: do bookmark NaNoToons.net and Like our NaNoToons Facebook Page. :-)

If you'd like a more forgiving writing challenge than NaNoWriMo and would also like to keep it up during the entire year rather than just November, feel free to participate in my 250, 500 and 1000 wds/day Challenge.

Ongoing writing challenge with more flexibility than NaNoWriMo: 250, 500 or 1000 Words A Day

Augh, I admit I've been lax on my daily wordcount goals because of more pressing deadlines.

BUT NO MORE! I've been thinking about signing up for NaNoWriMo but I think I need to be more realistic in my writing goals, especially since I'm away for part of next month (NaNoWriMo month).

SO....I'm going to start up the Daily Words challenge again. For those of you who aren't familiar with this challenge, please read these guidelines. It's a challenge for those who may sometimes have to put their writing on hold when life gets in the way, and who tend to get discouraged during NaNoWriMo month when they start falling behind. It's also a challenge for those who tend to write more slowly.

If you already pump out thousands of words on a regular basis with no problem, then you don't need this challenge. :-)

Feel free to adjust the wordcount challenge to fit your own output level: 50 words a day? 2000 words a day?

So...who's with me? Or if you've been taking the challenge all along and have been successful, do you have any tips to share?

For more details and for badges/icons, see:

http://inkygirl.com/inkygirl-wordcount-challenge/

or use this shortcut:

http://bit.ly/dailywords

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailywrite

Time Management and Social Media: Progress Update #1

A little while ago, I posted about needing to rethink my social media habits. I am still rethinking. :-) I was off-line for much of August because of the SCBWI conference in Los Angeles as well as a 10 day anniversary trip with my husband.

I had originally planned to stay offline the entire time. Because we needed to coordinate with friends in California and because Jeff was relying on Google maps and other online navigation information during the trip, I found it impossible to resist the lure.

Yes, I am weak.

I did manage to stay off line for as much as 48 hours at a time, however. This may not seem like a lot to some of you. For me, though, it was an achievement. :-)What I found: I did not miss being online if I had other distractions to keep me occupied.

When I got home, I started experimenting with longer work sessions during which I stayed completely offline. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought, especially when I realized how much more productive I could be. A surprising challenge: training everyone else to learn that I wasn't as glued to my e-mail as usual. I can't blame them, really. People are so used to me being able to respond to an e-mail within a few minutes.

As I mentioned before, I have no interest in pulling back completely from social media. I use social media for so much more than just business networking, and it's part of who I am. I have always been a fan of online communities.The people and posts I follow on various social networks inspire me, inform and educate.

As a creative freelancer, I'm used to working for long periods in isolation. When I'm working on something that requires a lot of creative concentration, I need to be alone. However, sometimes it's great to take a break and socialize a bit online.

The key, of course, is moderation.

Here are some steps I've been taking in my attempts to get more control over how much time I spend online and my productivity:

1. Learn to say no. Sometimes a fun project or a project for a good cause will come up, or a potential promotional opportunity that's hard to turn down. I'm keeping closer track of how many of these I take on at any one time, and learning how to say no or to postpone the rest.

2. Learn how to focus for longer periods of time. I've grown so used to an interrupt-driven workday. What I have learned, which I'm sure is already obvious to most of you: being able to work for longer periods without interruption makes me more productive. I try to ignore the phone when it rings, and let people leave messages. I tried to check e-mail fewer times during the day, and am also gradually training people I know to not expect immediate responses.

3. When I go online, I try to stick to my original purpose. I find it way too easy to start following links and looking things up online, clicking and clicking until I realize I've totally forgotten the original reason I went online. Now I use Instapaper and Pinboard to record links I want to check out later and tell myself (who gets the following nerdy Star Wars quote ref?) to STAY ON TARGET.

How are the rest of you doing? Have you learned any new tips to share?

Getting Sucked Into The Time Sink of the Internet...and What I'm Going To Do About It (What About YOU?)

To the left: my comic for Writer Unboxed this past weekend. You can see a bigger version by clicking on the comic and going to Writer Unboxed (a GREAT site for writers, by the way, if you haven't already visited).

I have found this pattern to be increasingly the norm for me up to now.

There are just so MANY great blogs to read, e-mail messages to catch up on, posts to write, collab blogs to participate in, comics to draw, writer & illustrator communities to check out, author and illustrators pals to help promote, etc.

While all of these activities are fun AND related to my various work projects and career goals, I realize that I still need to find the right balance between online networking/collab and working on my own projects. My "to do" list is always waaaaaaaaaay long, and my own creative work has been coming last.

Talking to author/poet/publisher Lawrence Schimel in NYC last week has really inspired me.

My goals:

I WANT TO PUBLISH MORE BOOKS.

I have so many book ideas and also so many only partly-finished or partly-outlined projects: some writing (fiction & nonfiction) and some writing & illustrating (picture books, illustrated middle grade novels). I need to get more of these finished and OUT there.

Yes, I have a brilliant agent (Ginger Knowlton at Curtis Brown) but she needs finished projects or project proposals in hand before she can send them out.

I WANT TO IMPROVE MY CRAFT.

Related to publishing more books: I want to work on improving my craft in both writing and illustrating, and that takes time. I don't want to just publish books. I want to keep getting better at what I do, to always be pushing myself to learn more, try new things, and most of all -- to practice practice PRACTICE.

I WANT TO *READ* MORE BOOKS.

I started doing an office purge this past weekend, culling my print book collection and setting aside nearly 200 books to give to non-profits. Many were books that I had always meant to read but have to face the fact that I would never read (books that caught my eye at used bookstores, for example). Some were books I read and enjoyed but will likely never read again. I plan to replace my favourites with e-books, which take up less space, making it more feasible for me to buy new print books. :-)

But as I did my purge, I began to realize that I don't read nearly as many books as I did years ago. What gives? The answer: I'm spending much more time online than I did years ago.

What I'm Going To Do About It:

Ideally, I'd like to say I'm going to stay offline in the mornings until I get some creative work done. I have a daily publishing industry news column for Writersmarket.com to research and write each weekday morning, however, and that inevitably gets me on a slippery slope as I come across all kinds of interesting links and info and blogs as I comb the Web for publishing news.

I'm also aware that going cold turkey will likely end in me falling off the wagon, given that I've gotten used to being constantly online and connected for many years.

So here's my plan, posted here in public to help keep me accountable:

- When I work on my Writersmarket.com, I'm going to stay focused on the task and not let myself get tempted into wandering off the path. If I think of something important I need to do online that's not related to my column, I'll keep a list (I'm big on lists).

- I'll let myself check e-mail ONCE mid-morning (I usually get up around 6:30 or 7 a.m., so that would be about 9:30 or 10) to see if there's any URGENT e-mail. I will resist answering other e-mail or checking e-mail again until noon.

What about YOU?

At this point, some of you out there are rolling your eyes and thinking, "Geez, that doesn't sound like much." And while this may not be for you, it's a big step for me. I'm going to revisit my goals and progress and post here again in a month, to let you all know how I did. And if any of YOU want to post your own related goals in the comments section, feel free! Then you can update us all on your progress in a month when I do.

Some of you may also be thinking, "See? THIS is why I stay off all social media." Let me be clear: I am NOT giving up on social media! In my experience, the benefits of using social media far outweigh the negatives. I just need to be more disciplined in when and how I use it.

Any thoughts? Comments? Anyone else want to post their monthly Internet Anti-Distraction Goals?

Daily Word Count Challenge: 250, 500, 1000 wds/day

URL shortcut for this challenge: http://bit.ly/dailywords

Ok, remember when I said that my goal of writing 500 words a day was probably too easy and that I may upgrade? Glad I decided to wait, because these past few weeks have been craaaaaazy, Mainly due to prep for my trip to New York, but also because of my current illustration schedule.

So I'm going to stick with 500 wds/day. :-)

How about the rest of you? How have you been doing with your individual challenges? Feel free to post on the Facebook Group page instead.

250, 500, 1000 Words A Day Challenge now on Facebook

 

I'm tickled by the enthusiastic response to my 250, 500 and 1000 Words/Day Challenge for Writers! I've been getting a ton of "I'm in!" messages on Twitter, Facebook and here on Inkygirl. For those on Facebook, I've created a page specifically about the challenge:

Happy New Year's, all!

I've posted a new comic over on Writer Unboxed. Title: "New Year's Resolutions."

One of my New Year's Resolutions: To post in Inkygirl more often.

Another: to write a minimum of 500 words a day. As I mentioned before, I know that 500 words isn't a lot, but I've been doing a LOT more drawing lately and have been neglecting my own writing.

I'm secretly hoping that I'll find that once I get into the groove of regular writing again, I'll be able to aim for a higher wordcount goal.

What about the rest of you? Anyone else willing to join me in aiming for 250, 500 or 1000 words a day?

1000, 500, and 250 words a day: Personal Writer Challenge ... With Leeway

As some of you already know, I've been doing more illustration work lately. Right now, my main illustration project is Michael Ian Black's I'M BORED picture book for Simon & Schuster. I've also been doing a ton more sketching to improve my craft.

The writer side of me, however, has been languishing. I signed up for NaNoWriMo but had to give it up because of illness in mid-November -- that's when I started thinking about how much I need to get back to regular writing. And how I need to revisit my Daily Writing Goal challenge myself!

To be realistic, I'm going to start out next year by aiming for 250 Words A Day (and only count words written for my novel(s)). Hopefully I'll find 250 words way too easy and upgrade to a higher word count goal.

Making New Year's Resolutions involving a daily writing goal can be a dangerous thing, I know, but I need something like this. What about the rest of you? Anyone else up to a daily writing goal challenge for next year?

The goal of the Inkygirl Wordcount Challenge simple: to inspire writers to write.

Too often, I find that writers start motivational challenges like NaNoWrimo with enthusiasm and good intentions, but give up when they start missing their daily targets for more than a few days in a row...undermining their confidence and defeating the purpose of the original challenge. I wanted a challenge with build-in leeway, to take into account that sometimes Life Gets In The Way.

I also wanted a challenge that lasted the whole year rather than just a month.

You can find out more about the 250, 500 and 1000 Words A Day Challenge here.

So who's in with me? And wordcount goal are you setting?



Wordcount Challenge Check-in For Writers: 250, 500, 1000 Words/Day

Haven't heard of the Inkygirl Wordcount Challenge? The goal of this challenge is to help provide goal-oriented inspiration, with flexibility to avoid giving up in frustration. Please click on any of the buttons above for more info.

So how did you all do this past week? And what are your current writing goals?

Good luck with your writing, all!