This week I'm celebrating:
1) After six months, I finally managed to hit 55k on my WIP!
2) Yesterday, I outlined the climax to the end. I thought it would be about 10 chapters, and it came out to 11, so that's on target.
3) I'm determined to get these 11 chapters -- probably 25k -- done by the end of the month. However, I reached the 55k mark in June by:
Giving up all TV,
Halving my time on social media,
Letting the house go to wreck & ruin,
Aaaaaaand instead of visiting every single blog hop member, I cut it to half. Last week I only visited the first half of the linky-list, this week, I'll only do the 2nd half, and so on until the end of the month. I hope you understand. (I'll still return-visit all blog comments.)
What things have you had to give up to find time for a WIP or other project?
My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog
Celebrate The Small Things Linky:
Grab the Linky html-code here:
Foxy's Friday Freebies!
Foxy has been nosing around the net.
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
- Free short stories, novellas, and novels
- Giveaways for books and swag
- Free services for authors
Here are Foxy's suggestions for July 3, 2015:
Free $30 Gift Card to Amazon, B&N, or Kobo - To celebrate the release of Neighbors with Benefits (Adult Romance) by Marissa Clarke, she's giving away a $30 gift card to your choice of book vendor via rafflecopter on My Book Addiction blog. (ends July 9)
Free $25 Amazon Gift Card - To celebrate the release of Pixelated (YA Contemp) by L.S. Murphy, she's giving away a $25 Amazon card via rafflecopter on Mythical Book blog. (ends July 30)
Free $20 Amazon Gift Card - To celebrate the release of Sarina, Sweetheart (New Adult Sci-Fi) by Megan Carney, she's giving away a $20 Amazon card via rafflecopter on Mythical Book blog. (ends July 9)
Free $10 Amazon Gift Card - To celebrate the release of State of Vengeance (New Adult Dystopian) by Summer Lane, she's giving away a $10 Amazon card via rafflecopter on My Book Addiction blog. (ends July 9)
For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.
If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here! Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com
48 comments:
Huge congrats... you've done so well. You'll get those chapters written in no time:)
Congrats on the WIP and good luck with the other chapters!
I've too have given up all tv, just the occasional Netflix show when on a break. I have also had to half the list for this challenge, reading half one week, half the other. Sometimes we just have to make small sacrifices to get work done :)
Have a great weekend!
Lori @ The Rattling Bones
Congrats on your awesome word count!
When I'm burning up the words, I don't produce much blog material or visit many blogs. That's just the way it is. When I'm finding my way, each excruciatingly slow step at a time, THAT'S when I blog.
So when you see me around, it's going slowly ...
Woot woot on the word count!
I totally think modifying the bloggy rules is a-okay. We only have so many hours in a day. I've been trying to juggle time with kids and digging out from under my own wrecked house this summer!
Congrats on getting stuff done. With as many people are on this hop now, I wouldn't advise trying to visit all of them in one day.
Well done! Mostly I give up sleep, actually. I only do scial media such as Twitter fir a few minutes at a time anyway, and the TV is mostly for noise while I work - DVDs, actually, I don't do much live TV, anyway - and the music is to put me in the mood. But when there's a deadline I'm up till all hours finishing it.
Good work! I can't wait to read the finished product! I don't really watch TV when I'm writing. And I don't go out with friends often. I become this really boring person who just works and writes. And I sometimes get a bit behind in doing crits for my crit group…. But I promise I'll get to your chapters over the weekend.
Congrats on your progress for your WIP. Something's gotta give and you're wise to prioritise! Have a great weekend. :-)
Congrats on getting so much done! It sounds like you're really committed to it :)
This is how Things Get Done. Keep it up, and have a great weekend.
Sounds like a plan to me. Good Luck!
You can do it! And sometimes you just have to back off some things. I like to think that the three hundred IWSG members understand why I can't visit everyone.
Congrats on hitting 55k! And it's very exciting to be outlining the final chapters of the story...hopefully those last chapters will be easy writing!
Glad you're meeting your writing goals. Sometimes you have to cut back on other things to get there. Summer is a great time to cut back on blogging because everyone seems to be doing so.
Congratulations to those words! And no, they don't come without sacrifice. My household suffers and my garden suffers. And my internet life suffers. Lol! Let's fade it, my entire social life suffers.
I've been doing the same! It's amazing what we accomplish when there are no distractions. :) I deleted FB and twitter from my phone...this has helped me SO much. And I've gotten a ton more done as a result. So there's definitely a correlation lol
Congrats on getting so much writing done! I'm in the same boat as far as the state of my house and, I'll add, my yard. I used to take time to watch DVD movies once in a while, and I hardly ever do that anymore. I rarely ever watch TV, and finding time for social media and blog visits continues to be a struggle for me, particularly now that it's summer and the kids are home. Family time has to come first. Best of luck with your writing goals!
Tough choices, but something has to give. I'm always happy to go easy on the domestic chores.
Congratulations, you've been really hard at it!
Let the housework build up for a while, it's always the best way ;)
Have a perfect weekend ♥
Congrats to you on your wonderful writing adventure! It's something that I've been only doing in journal format these days so I'm instantly jealous of everyone who's actually committing to building their fictional worlds. Your commitment to cutting out the distractions is admirable and makes me realize that I could do with a bit less tv myself.
Thanks for that, and for running this awesome hop!
Congratulations! That's great progress - best of luck finishing your draft! *waves pom poms*
I tend to let magazines and newsletters pile up while I'm writing. Now I'm going through and throwing most of them away. Some important articles I can find on the internet, at least after some time passes, so this has turned out to be efficient--kind of.
Well done on all your hard work, great progress. Sorry I haven't managed a celebration post this week but will hopefully be back next week.
You are doing so well and have accomplished so much. I would go into TV withdrawal-sad isn't it? I think people will understand and this is important and you are so focused so more power to you!
Good for you - giving up everything for the WIP - including reducing social media time. When I'm immersed in a WIP, the housework and the crossword puzzle are the first things to go. I don't really watch a lot of TV to begin with, so i don't have to give that up. But I often have to give up pleasure reading and just stick to reading related to info I need for the WIP.
55k is a huge accomplishment! Keep up the awesome work!
You've got to get your book done.
So glad to hear the words are flowing. Writing is a joy when this happens. Happy 4th to you and your family.
It must be wonderful when you get in the groove!
Sometimes i have to give up visiting blogs to get other things done, and i hate it. Some of the people i know IRL and i don't want to miss what they have to say!
Other than blogging I have no other social media links and I don't have TV service just Netflix. I still get little done because I procrastinate and daydream. You, however, seem quite disciplined to me.
Amazing word count. You'll be done in no time. I don't watch TV shows, but I do like movies, and I slow down on social media when I'm super busy.
Congratulations on writing 55K words on you WIP. That's a huge accomplishment!
Congrats on the word count. And yes, if I'm in the writing zone, all else becomes secondary: housework, blogging, tv, sleep...
Yay for making wip goals!! I need to figure out how to get back into the writing saddle. Glad you've found the way to get your writing stride. :)
Always a blast to come here Lexa. I have to give up mindless game playing to get any writing work done :)
Way to go! And lots of good giveaways this week.
It's amazing how much writing you can get done by not procrastinating on social media. Congrats, Lexa!!
That's really great that you carved out the time to get some real writing done. I find if rearrange my schedule and plug away, writing a bit everyday, the words tally up and it gets done. Congrats on that! It's an achievement worth the sacrifice. :)
Great job on the progress. I always give up housework first and then any semblance of a social life second, third and fourth. ;)
Well done on the word count. Giving up everything is the only way I can get my goals met - although social media is the last the go (I think I might be addicted!)
Congratulations on your WIP words!!!
What have I given up to get words?
Cut blogging to once a month. I do still visit all commenters and a few others on my regulars list.
Most housekeeping.
Dinners that take more than an hour to prepare.
Longer response times on emails because I only go there a couple times a day.
Quarterly interaction only with my goals group.
Increased Facebook time because I can reach more friends and readers in less time than by blogging.
Regular contact with blogging buddies.
Random shopping trips.
It's hard but worth the effort.
Yup, it feels like cutting of your nose in spite of your face (whatever the saying is). But you HAVE to cut the proverbial umbilical cord to all those time-sucking social media sites (those crutches we use to procrastinate) in order to make sure our own WIPs get done.
Be assured, Lexa, your friends will still follow you and rejoice in the continued growth of your next novel. I know for sure, this one does.
So, Keep Writing!
(Oh heavens, I was just asked to select a bunch of hamburgers to prove I am not a robot--Ugghr. I am a vegetarian (only because any meat I mangle comes out tasting like shoe leather).
There are two things I won't sacrifice for my art or my craft or whatever you want to call it. One is personal hygiene. Two is a trip to anywhere. Besides I get a lot of ideas in the shower and on "location."
Keep that WIP on its way!
Heh, I don't have much else to give up except work and family. :) Or sleep. But then I don't write well when I give up sleep. So I take vacation and give up work. That usually gets me some progress.
I need to learn to ignore the internet more. Congrats on hitting 55k! I seem to focus more when I have deadlines.
Congratulations! That's huge!
Way to go with your WIP!
And, I totally understand cutting back. :)
Congratulations on the word count-- and wishing you all the best with your goals, Lexa! You got this!
Post a Comment