Sunday, January 8, 2017

ROW80: Checking in from on-the-road

What to take? What to leave behind? What is essential and what is really not?

These questions are why I really love going on the road. DH rattles the suitcase, and I say, "Yes!" 

We left yesterday from Spokane for an open-ended three month trip to someplace warmer. After about an hour on the road, the snow began. Just now we're holed up in a Super8 in Kennewick for an extra day. The snow has come down all day, travel advisories and closed roads mean we'll make our way south slowly.

But my computer travels beautifully.

Here's my update for ROW80:

  • Writing = 1,000 words/week. By this afternoon, 959 words, but I'm hoping for another session later today.
  • Other writing = None.
  • Blogging = Posted Insecure Writer's Support Group ("Writing is Like Quilting is like . . .") on time. Posted to Travel blog, "On the Road Again 2017" (this will be an ongoing project), and now ROW80 (still once a week for now). Read posts by other bloggers x5.
  • Marketing = Goals set but no progress.
One of the reasons I like to read what other writers are posting is simply I keep learning new strategies (and have renewed appreciation for what kinds of work writers do to reach their goals).

Shannon Lawrence, on her blog, "The Warrior Muse," not only talks about the question-of-the-month (writing rules) for Insecure Writer's Support Group, but she 'gives back' to her readers by listing possible markets (primarily science fiction) and by listing her own progress in submitting her work for publication. 

View outside our Super8
This is pretty inspirational to someone who is knee deep in revision, because I haven't even been thinking about or subbing flash/short fiction. Why not? 

Writing a little science fiction (Granny Vampire?) sounds like a welcome break from slogging through spring flooding near Winnipeg in the 1840s.

What do you think? Have you written outside your primary genre?

If you are not yet a part of ROW80 or Insecure Writers Support Group, why  not join in? Both are also Facebook-based. May your writing go well in 2017.






3 comments:

  1. Well, Beth, that's one good thing about being a writer, as long as we have our computer (and internet helps), we can remain productive.

    Safe travels when you are on the road again. I'm anxious to hear where you end up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope you have a good and safe trip. And looks like a decent week so far.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Years ago, when my Accomplice and I were still childless and lived in a small travel trailer while working in national parks, I dreamed of an "office" that could fit in a small box. Now I have a Lenovo Yoga, a smartphone, and a Kindle Fire. The only thing too large to fit in that box is my all-in-one printer, mostly because it's a few years old now, and I bought it on clearance for a song. My next one, whenever that happens, will be compact enough for ease of travel.

    Technology can be amazing! Add my small, barrel-shaped Bluetooth speaker, and we have a complete entertainment system courtesy of Netflix and Amazon!

    I keep meaning to join the IWSG, and getting pulled away by other things at the beginning of the month. I have a plan to do something about that, but I haven't quite gotten there yet....

    I found the thought of revising all these drafts I've collected over the last several years overwhelming, until I found class that seems to provide just the kind of learning I need. It's going to take a few months to complete it, and I'm a bit impatient, but the payoff, I think, is going to be more than worth the investment of time and money. I'll know the basic theories, and that will definitely help me to move to the next phase of building this writing career...

    As for writing outside my genre - I really don't have a single one to begin with. I write fan fiction (sci-fi romance); epic fantasy, near future fantasy, short stories, flash fiction, poetry, and I've recently started playing with an alternate history wherein Alexander Hamilton's son and Aaron Burr's daughter get together, because my daughter asked me to.

    My lines are fairly faint and blurry. I write what I love, and worry about genre later.

    ReplyDelete

Thank YOU for visiting and commenting!