ROW80 Update: Ooops! We're in Philadelphia.

I know change is constant, but still am unprepared. This week's update for ROW80, A Round of Words in 80 Days, that online writing community that recognizes we all have a life and yet persevere as writers . . .  this week's update is a bit of a challenge.

We're not in Arizona. My DH's mother is dying. We're now in Philadelphia for the next few weeks. Thanks to the kindness of dear friends, we have a temporary and quiet apartment. Unfurnished except for bed, card table, and chair. But that's OK. Last night I slept by my MIL, listening to her breathe and hoping she will not suffer.

So to report on the writing when all else is fragmented is difficult. Even though my laptop is balanced on that card table with an early morning lovely park view, I'm not writing just now. With the month soon ending, I can only report that:

1. Section 03 is now complete for Rivers of Stone. I need to outline it before moving on to Section 04 revisions. Does anyone else outline AFTER writing? I've tried to 'scaffold' and that works, but a more complete outline for me just needs constant change as I revise drastically.
2. I'm doing a little better in reading what other ROW80 folks write, just not since we left Arizona.
3. Maybe this month I won't get to blog for IWSG.

My MIL always said, "When are you finishing that next book, Beth. I want to read it." 

At 97, she knows the value of tenacity. Some call it stubbornness, for mixed with her love of family, she was not always easy to live with. After decades, finally, I forgive her and will keep writing.

ROW80 Sunday update: By the numbers

We're on the road, moving from California into Arizona in the coming week. You can see a few pics on my travel blog.

Keeping a writing routine while on the road presents a few challenges. So far, I've learned I can only drive about 2 hours a day before collapsing at night. Writing before breakfast seems to work. 

Another surprise this week: Some revisions and new scenes crossed several chapters, so I'm working to tighten the structure of this section -- and to develop further Cat's emotional responses to what's happening around her. This was fun. 

Progress on January goals:

1. Write 5/7 days. Goal: 1,000 words/week. Finish Section 03 Rivers of Stone this month. Week 3 met goals: Wrote 6/7 days, 1,589 words. 4 chapters remain in Section 03. I just might make this goal. Sent Chapter 15 to writing group & got wonderful comments back. Critted their work as well.
2. Blog at least 2x/week. Week 3 met goals: Blogged 2x Travel blog and 1x ROW80 blog. Would like to blog on Writing blog.
3. Reading other ROW80 posts. No goal set. Read x4 this week. If I read a minimum of 1/day, that's 7 per week. Want to read IWSG posts as well.
4. Other writing. None. Decided Rivers of Stone is the primary focus. This means articles and Granny Vampire are set aside.
5. Marketing. None. Still tiptoeing around sending out that next 'quarterly' newsletter.

Goals for last week of January:

1. Write 5/7 days. Goal: 1,000 words/week. Finish Section 03 Rivers of Stone this month. 
2. Blog at least 2x/week.
3. Read at least 7 other ROW80/IWSG posts.
4. Participate with my F2F writing group by e-mail!

When the writing is going well, I feel pretty much isolated from all else that's going on, as if I'm in a bubble, back in the 19th Century, struggling with snow storms rather than political storms. As the new administration takes office, I'm hopeful for inclusive policies and willing to wait and see. 

Meanwhile, we write, revise, and work to reach our goals. May your week go well.

Joshua Trees in California (Cholla Chamber of Commerce)

ROW80: Sunday morning and no snow!

Yesterday we drove through the coastal range to the Oregon coast on an exceptionally sunny day. Yes, there were patches of snow here and there, and it was 28F outside, but by the time we negotiated the last curve and reached the ocean, temps had warmed to the 40's and the snow disappeared.

We've now been one week on the road, enough for a rhythm to set in. I wake early, write/edit, then we scrounge breakfast. By 11, we're back on the road, neither of us feeling very leisurely until perhaps today, with glorious views of the ocean ahead as we continue south.

Today's report for A Round of Words in 80 Days is simple. 

While my goal is very modest, just 1,000 words a week, I'm editing -- which means taking out as many words as I'm putting in. If I count hours, I'm on schedule. Words this week? 699 new words (before today's session), but yesterday I deleted nearly 1,000. 

Perhaps this draft I'm working on is rather like the road we're traveling. Parts ahead are unknown and sometimes bumpy, but behind me, the way is smooth and known. But if I focus on word count alone, I do get discouraged. So I'm adding chapters (4 completed this week).

Writing goal for the coming week: Write/edit/add 1,000 words and/or 4 more chapters for this section (25 chapters) of Rivers of Stone. Post an update to ROW80 on Sunday. Blog at least once on the travel blog.

Staying active in ROW80 keeps me focused, thanks to seeing what others accomplish. So, persevere. I'm sitting in an anonymous hotel room, my computer balanced on a chair, nearly ready to go to work -- and sending wishes for a good week to all!

Coos Bay, Oregon (from coosbay.org)

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.

Thinking of 2017

Just a few days left in 2016, but today, in my small writer's group, we set goals for 2017. Here are mine for the coming year:

1. Finish writing/editing and publish Rivers of Stone.
2. Edit Mothers Don't Die to final copy.
3. Make progress on memoir.

I looked back to last January to find no goals reported online at all, just happy progress with editing, a little poetry writing, and all the rest that makes for a busy life. So perhaps this year, setting goals will sharpen my focus. Two added suggestions from VR Barkowski: Make a plan and build in accountability. 

Hmmm. Sounds just like A Round of Words in 80 Days (now a FaceBook group). So here we go!

Time out! I doublechecked my Daily Work file for January 2016 to find quite a bit of work on goal-setting. A postscript: Each day I write up progress, questions, and track words by the month. So here are my 2016 Goals reported last January. 

What did I learn from looking again at 2016 goals? That Priority 2 goals fell by the wayside. That the audio book for Standing Stones really did get finished (masterfully narrated by Darryl Kurylo) and is available on Amazon. I did add just over 30,000 words this year to Rivers of Stone, and the story finally has a cohesive structure -- with characters that seem very real to me. I want to finish telling their story and have enjoyed 'living' the fur trade history through their exploits.

Are my new goals so very different from those set in 2016? Nope! And I'm making progress. So here is my continuing mantra, summarized from an article by Kristen Schuder on Wikihow, "How to Set Goals and Achieve Them."

Questions to help me achieve my goals for 2017:

CONTROLLING QUESTIONS: Am I setting aside enough time for writing? 

SMART = Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. 

Are my goals visible? Can I see them? Do I need a ‘vision’ board? 

Have I broken that gigantic goal into smaller steps? 

Prioritize. Consider breaking into first, second, and third priority. 

Are my goals well matched to what I can achieve? 

What rewards? (intrinsic/extrinsic motivation) 

What obstacles? 

Do I talk about my goals? 

GET STARTED ON THOSE BABY STEPS. Review progress daily. 

Keep in mind the journey!

ROW80 folks: May you achieve your own goals.
Make 2017 a good year.

PS: Just found a post about free writing meters to track writing progress, 

including the one that Fallon Brown uses. 

Check it out at Tracy Lucas' blog.

Writing just one word at a time . . .

Yippee! I'm checking into ROW80 relatively on time, so here's this week's progress report, keeping in mind my goals were very simple.

1. Write every day and track words completed, despite the fact that I'm deleting as much as I'm writing. PROGRESS: Wrote 5 out of 8 days.
2. Complete editing 15 chapters by January 15. PROGRESS: Maybe OK. I'm re-sequencing chapters, so I'm somewhere between Chapters 5-9.

My favorite way to track progress each week is by word count. But, alas. I'm at that point in editing when it's more important to take words out, to check words haven't been doubled, and to tighten the logical structure. Micro and macro. Word count doesn't build up very fast just now. Last week, only 838 words were added. Many more were taken out.

What was most fun? Editing to clarify the oarsmen were traveling against the current when they went through the rapids. My writing group (which meets twice a month) is fabulous!

1. Done: Post an update here on my ROW80 blog once a week and report in to FB.
2. Check out what 3 others are doing each week. OK, read 2 others. Will do better next week.

Other goals this week?

1. Exercise? Nada. Snow and ice a good excuse.
2. Blogging? Yes! Finally! A post about my current research reading on the writing blog. Did not include a snippet. Maybe next time.
3. Quilting? Finished a comfort quilt top from donated blocks. Played around with design. Had a hard time figuring out a good color for the border. Would love to finish another one before January 10.
4. Reading? More books in than books read. Still distracted enough by 'real life' to read lots of genre fiction late at night. Currently enjoying Footsteps in the Snow: The Red River Diary of Isobel Scott, Rupert's Land, 1815 by Carol Matas.

As the end of the year winds closer, may your writing go well. See you next week!

December Musings and a Snippet

Since the inspirational and quite structured online A Round of Words in 80 Days went over to Facebook, I've been missing. The election results hit me with a mighty thump, and I stopped writing. When I began writing again, that was all I could do.

The purpose of this blog and ROW80 is to connect with other writers and to set weekly and monthly goals for 80 days, with 4 rounds of 80 days throughout the year. I used ROW80 to motivate myself by being accountable for how much I'm able to complete in the last week -- and how much I wish to stretch in the coming week.

I missed the familiarity of reporting in to ROW80 twice a week, each Wednesday and Sunday. I missed hearing what other writers were doing as I struggled with my own unwieldy draft.

But I'm back. I can't promise I'll report in twice a week -- yet. My goals for participating in ROW80 as this last round of 2016 ends December 22 are to:

1. Post an update here on my ROW80 blog once a week and report in to FB.
2. Check out what 3 others are doing each week.

My writing goals are also simple. I'm tracking progress daily in a sort of chart. My clunky 4th draft of Rivers of Stone is at the 'divide and conquer' stage. So I will continue reading and editing Section 03 (37 chapters and 27K words), adding those missing scenes and transitions, hoping to tighten the story and let my characters breathe.

1. Write every day and track words completed, despite the fact that I'm deleting as much as I'm writing.
2. Complete editing 15 chapters by January 15.

Because it's Wednesday, here's a snippet from Rivers of Stone. Cat, still disguised as a boy, makes her way down the Hayes River late in the summer of 1843, hopeful of finding a way west to Fort Vancouver. She's an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, and they're traveling the famous fur trade route.
---
     The next morning began the same, with the brigade leaving before dawn. The sun was just coming up, a faint glow of white behind lowering white clouds, when Pierre directed the brigade to the banks. “Take a pipe,” he called out. “This is White Falls.”
     The men groaned.

     “Most of you know what’s ahead,” said Pierre as everyone gathered on the bank, boats and canoes pulled ashore. “We have to lighten up. Some of you will carry packs to the camp ahead.” He pointed to the path that edged the steep gorge. “Might as well begin unloading the boats. Helmsmen, follow me.”

     Cat followed Thurston to climb to the top of the rocky hill. They joined the group of voyageurs overlooking the narrow channel their boats would navigate. The fast-moving current pounded the rocks below them.

     Pierre pointed at a sucking whirlpool and raised his voice over the roar of the river. "We have to avoid that. You get pulled down in that whirlpool, your bones won't come up until spring."

     The voyageurs shrugged.

     Pierre scowled. "Each of you has to know this. Making it past White Falls is the last bad run before Norway House. But we'll hit white water maybe a hundred times before we reach Fort Vancouver. And we'll portage when we have to. You'll get wet, you'll shiver, and you'll go hungry, but when I tell you to row, by God, you better row. Let's get through this one."

     Sobered, the men clambered down from the overlook. They were truly in the middle of nowhere, desolate, unending forests, and the river before them roiling with white water, despite it being late summer. "Somebody say a prayer," said one of the men. Pierre hit the man’s arm. "We don't need a prayer. Just stay clear of that whirlpool."

-----

"The weather outside is frightful" [just now, a crusty 2 degrees F), but "inside it's so delightful" (hunched over my computer, happy to be connecting again to ROW80).

Happy holidays, happy end of the year, and happy writing to all.