Writer’s Life: The Year of Insane, Rediculous, and Nonsensical Challenges
Photo by Derrick Tyson, Creative Commons
2010 was a pretty good year, but I have to be honest…I spent a good chunk of it staring off into space. Not outer space, mind you. That would actually be cool. I’ve been spending too much time in inner space, the realm between my ears, thinking about whatever aspiring writers think about. Word counts. Rejection slips. Blog posts. Chocolate.
In 2011, I want to do less thinking, because really what is it good for? Doing is better, right? So this coming year, I’m eager to take advantage of my awesome part-time work schedule and fill my days to the brim with ridiculous challenges. Ten of them sounds like a good number, so here they are in no particular order:
1. Write 1, Sub 1 (write and submit one story per week)
2. NaNoWriMo, because is there any other option?
3. Script Frenzy, because the rest of my writing group is doing it, and if they jumped off a bridge, I would too
4. Ride my bicycle every single day
5. Become fluent in Japanese, or at least be able to have a passable conversation
6. Story a Day in May, because sanity is overrated
7. Read 26 novels pulled off the shelves of Half Price Books at random (an author from each letter of the alphabet, different genres, $100 limit)
8. Learn to play an instrument, preferably a sitar if I can afford one (I am completely tone deaf, so this will be much harder than it sounds)
9. I’m pretty sure I’m going to regret this, but I’m going back to being a vegetarian (with exceptions made for turkey jerky, of course)
10. Learn to do a headstand, which probably means I’ll need to restart my yoga practice
And not counted in the above list, finishing three other novels that I’m working on in various stages of completion. I think it’s pretty doable. I mean, I can always practice my Japanese while doing a headstand, or play my sitar while reading, or figure out a way to rig a laptop to my handlebars so I can write while I ride. Multitasking will definitely be the key to a successful year.
Day 45 – Seriously, my W1S1 week 5 story will. not. end! Up to 6200 words. I’m feverishly trying to figure out how to wrap this up in 1300 words, because I really don’t want to go over 7500. I think I might workshop this story early on, since it’s length will cut down the markets to which I can submit it.
In other news, biking went well, but probably not well enough to offset the Valentine candies I intend to eat. I got my contributor’s copy of Space and Time Magazine, which I’ll post about in a couple of days. Still fighting with Japanese. Some serious concepts going on, so I’m trying to keep up.
I guess I’ll have to start another W1S1 story soon. I’ve still got to others that need to be polished. I didn’t get to them this weekend, but hopefully I will soon. Almost halfway through Random Book #1! Yay!
Also, I’m thinking of spiffying up my blog, and doing some sort of blog/website combo that’s easier to keep updated since I’ll be making tons of sales this year. 🙂
Day 46 – 7000 and closing in on the final stretch! This story will soon be finished. Rode today, nice out. Veggie Pizza. Trying to figure out what to do with the pineapple prompt for week 7’s story.
Day 47 – Blah. Rode. Tried to write. More blah.
Day 48 – Nice ride. Got that too long short story finished. Well, it ended anyway. The last scene still pretty much sucks, but I think I need to wait until I’m in a better mood to look at it critically. Working on a sucky story really puts a damper on my overall mood. I’m going to send it to my critique group though. Maybe they can help.
In other news, I heard that all 3 Borders are closing in Austin, which is kind of sad. I’m a mostly a BookPeople gal, but Borders is my backup when I’m not in central Austin, or when they’ve got good coupons. Plus I’ve got a gift card there I need to use.
Now I’m off to an art show. It’ll be good to give myself something to do besides writing. I think my brain is burnt out. I’ll try not to think about the week 7 story I still need to write, but I bet you it’ll be SHORT. No more 7000 word monsters, please!!!!
ETA: Also, I just realized that I have not had any short story rejections this week. That means I’ll have to sub something new tomorrow too. Weee!
Day 49 – Whoo-hoo! Got my week 7 story in right under the wire. I still need to submit something, but it’s still the 18th somewhere, so as long as I get it before I go to bed, I’ll be all right. Got a bike ride in. Bought my book club book. Everything is looking up!
ETA: Sent out the same story! Now that’s the way to get them out there!
Day 50 – Took a well-deserved day off. Well, not really. I biked and worked on the website project. Did a little editing on some short stories, and now I’m about to go read. I guess that’s a day off. I feel pretty rested anyway.
Tomorrow I plan to get back on my novel writing. I’m giving myself until April 10th to finish. That’s 50 days to write about 30,000 words. So that’s just 600 words a day! Easy, right?
Day 51 – Got my ride in, plus broke down some boxes in the garage and got a little bit more cleaned up in there. It’s starting to look like a real garage. I subbed my week 2 story yesterday and it already got rejected. I’ll send it out again tonight.
Ate some veggie hot dogs today. The jury is still out on that one. Looked like dead people fingers, and didn’t taste a whole lot better. Maybe some relish would help.
Day 52 – Today started my 600-word-a-day challenge on my novel. This meant no internet until I made my word count. I did that in about an hour, then proceeded to spend the rest of my day on the internet goofing off and putting together a fairly lengthy blog post that I actually had to put a little thought into. Don’t know if this is going to be a particularly good strategy, but hey, I didn’t make the rules. (Well, I guess I did, but it’s too late to change them now.)
Got my bike ride in too, and had a huge potato with broccoli and cheese from Jason’s Deli. Soooo good.
I really deserved some down time, and I’m glad I took it for myself. I also really love that my version of “down time” still involves writing and blogging. Maybe one day I’ll truly spend a day doing nothing.
ETA: Woohoo! I just read over my 7300-word story, and it’s not nearly as awful as I thought it was. Being in a good mood can make all the difference.
Day 53 – Stayed up into the wee hours of the night editing my 7300-word beast. Went to bed around 4, which meant I didn’t get up until 10:30, which didn’t give me much time to get in my 600 words, but I did it gosh durn it! Rode by bike too. I also figured that by the end of the year, if I keep up my riding schedule, I’ll have ridden over 1200 miles!
Pretended to do writing at the coffee shop as always and came up with my prompts for this week’s story: Ace-of-Base’s song “Love in December”, Hockey, Film Critics, She-Tragedy, and something else I don’t remember. Gonna let those percolate for a while. Had a good time. The barrista called us rowdy. 🙂 You know how us writerly types can be!
Day 54 – Had a crazy dream about vampiric desert birds that sucked people dry into dust. (Maybe inspired by the Hitchcock episode of That 70s Show?) But anyway, it’s going into my novel. I didn’t do my 600 words today but I’ll double down tomorrow morning.
I did dabble some in the domestic dark arts and made two quiches today. They turned out pretty yummy, maybe a little on the salty side for my taste, but a couple dabs of honey made it better. I did sauteed mushrooms and spinach, and combined three eggs, 3/4 cups milk, 3/4 cup Greek yogurt, plus feta and cheddar cheese.
Did my bike ride.
Another late night last night, and I’m working on 5 hours of sleep. Can’t think straight right now. I think that’s all I’ve got to say.
Day 55 – Well, I didn’t get double the words done on my novel, but I did do the 600 I was supposed to do. Also rode my bike, but two miles a day feels too easy. So I’ve decided to up my mileage to three miles a day next month, and keep upping a mile each month. So by December I’ll be doing 12 miles a day. I’m not worried so much about endurance as making time to do it. It’s easy to fit 20 minutes in anywhere in the day, but 12 miles might be a little more tricky. But I’ll worry about it when the time comes!
I’ve got less than a week and a half left before book club and haven’t even started the book yet. Maybe I ought to go do that now!
Oh, and I ordered a Buddha Bot shirt from teefury! I’m limiting myself to only one shirt a month. Good thing February is almost over!
Day 56 – Totally unproductive day today. All I did was go to work for 7 hours, then shopped around a bit afterward, which meant it was dark when I got home. So I ended up doing the garage ride, despite it being a marvelous pretty day. Maybe I’ll get some writing done, but this day has already sucked me dry. I should at least try to do something.
ETA: I just checked back at some earlier posts, and it looks like I had at least 12 days since my last slack bike day, so that’s pretty good I guess. Shouldn’ t be too hard on myself.
Day 57 – Great day! Started on my week 9 story, which is pretty awesome so far. Did 2000 words today with about 800 or so to go. Rode bike, walked dog. We did have a little scare with the dog last night, maybe some kind of a reaction to her heartworm meds. It only lasted a couple minutes, but she’s getting a vet checkup next week anyway.
I’m breezing through my book club book. Gonna do more of that now, I guess!
Day 59 – Spent a gazillion hours working on revamping my new website. Sooooo tired. The good news is that I discovered there are not one but two cupcake stores a couple miles from my house. Yes, there was the glorious consumption of cupcakes today! And there shall be more!
I also rode my bike and took the dog for a walk.
Oh, and it looks like I forgot to post my comment for yesterday. Ooops.
Day 60 – Nothing much new to report. Rode three miles. Lagging on my book club book. Tomorrow I may try to work on a short story or something.
I also ordered some organic fertilizer that’s supposed to work really well on lawns. I went to Home Depot Friday, intending to do the same, but looking at all the labels really freaked me out. “Wear long sleeves and pants, gloves” and then all but said to burn the clothes after you were done. Didn’t sound like something I wanted in the grass I step in, so hopefully the organic stuff will be better.
Had Chipotle for dinner since I didn’t feel like cooking. Got the veggie burrito. I usually skip on the bell peppers and onions, but this time they had orange and red peppers, which I like a bunch more, so I got those, and it made the burrito so much prettier inside. Good stuff! I also think I’m going to try to make lemon and pistachio polenta cake for my book club pot luck. One of the characters was eating it in the book, and it sounded awesome, so looks like I’ll get to practice some of the domestic dark arts after all.
Well, I guess I did have something to report after all.
Day 61 – Awesome bike ride this morning! I didn’t want it to end. Our work-study student had a birthday, and we’ll just say more cupcakes were involved.
Day 62 – Got my 7400-word short story critiqued and submitted. Made some good changes, I think. Nothing drastic, though. Had to split my bike ride in two to fit around my dog walk, but that wasn’t so bad. I attempted to take my bike through the house instead of going through the garage, thinking it would be less of a hassle than dealing with the garage door, but turns out it takes even more time trying not to scrape up the walls.
About to go have pancakes and eggs for dinner, then work some on getting my week 8 story finished. I’ve got a super duper plan for it. We’ll see what happens!
Day 63 – Biked! No words. Some thinking. Veggie pizza.
Day 64 – Biked 5 miles with my mom. Had fun riding by my old elementary school, middle school, and high school. (All next door to one another.) went to the most awesomest baby shower ever…coed, more like a party that just happened to have baby shower decorations. Great Indian food. Caught up with old friends. Sooooo stuffed right now! And so tired. Good day.
Day 65 – Another 5 mile bike with my mom. I could have sworn we went further than yesterday, but gmap-pedometer says otherwise. Our route was straighter this time, so that could be why. No writing today, but I did create a clay sculpture of a wizard. Maybe I’ll soon make a post about the importance of other creative outlets…
I also had the pleasure of meeting another friends baby for the first time, so sweet, and oh the lungs on her! Now I’m about to attempt to make lemon pistachio polenta cake for my book club tomorrow. Sounds delicious, but we’ll see how it holds up to my domestic dark arts.
ETA: THE CAKE IS AWESOME! Now I must try to modify the recipe so that it doesn’t call for two sticks of butter. 😛
Day 66 – The cake went over well with my book club. So far I’m two for two with yummy foods. I used this recipe: http://anncardus.blogspot.com/2010/12/gluten-free-polenta-lemon-and-pistachio.html but I think I might try to tweak the recipe so that it doesn’t have a ridiculous amount of butter in it. This recipe is vegan, and I might give it a try: http://teafortilly.blogspot.com/2010/05/lemon-pistachio-polenta-cake.html
Also, I’ll be hosting out next book club, and I get the responsibility of introducing them to Science Fiction. No pressure there, right? So now I’m looking for something enjoyable and digestible. I promised them robots or aliens. 🙂
Rode 3 miles. Had an excellent 3-day vacation from writing, a taste of life back in the real world. But I’ve got to get cracking!
Day 67 – Sooooo tired. Cut my bike ride short this evening, just a mile since the dark was trying to catch me. I guess I need to invest in a bike light.
Got a few rejections this week. Need to turn those around, plus get around to writing this week’s W1S1. Man, playing around in the real world really puts me behind on my writing.
Days 68 and 69 – Ooo, it’s been a little crazy up in here. Got my biking in both days. Yesterday I went to go see Endhiran, which was so funny it actually brought me to tears. Book club went well, I came within 30 pages of finishing! A record for me. I also get to pick the next book, which will be some people’s introduction to Science Fiction, I’m leaning towards The Sparrow since it’s been recommended to me so many times. I fertilized the front yard, so we’ll see if it makes a difference. I might do half the back for an experiment to see if I can tell the difference between non-fertilized and fertilized. Work’s been busy too, and I really need to get this web project finished. This weekend should be relatively quiet, thank goodness!
Day 70 – Crazy few days at work. Actually had to do work, and it took a lot out of me. Got my bike in. Walked dog. Looking forward to getting back to normal this weekend. Not excited about the time change. Grrr.
Day 71 – Bah, I’m having a hard time keeping up with these daily updates during my insane week of insaneness! We had a old friend from college crash with us last night. Good thing I cleaned the house a few days ago! But it’s been fun. Still biking, still trying to be a vegetarian, still trying to get some short fiction cranked out. I really need to focus on my novel though. I want to get it done before April 10th, and I’ve got about 30k to go. I think I’ll feel better once I’ve got my pending stories finished. Then I can shift focus I think.
Day 72 – Still haven’t gotten back into a writing mood. Need to change that soon! I did finish up my submission for Paradise Lost, and got a bike ride in. Thought I was going to get rained on, but it just sprinkled a bit. Have some critiquing to do.
Day 73 – Man, I feel like I’ve lost my mojo. No writing. Only biked two miles. What’s up with that? Maybe it’s all of the pollen in the air messing with my brain. That has to be it.
Day 74 – Feeling drained again, but I did get my 3 miles in, plus made quiche. Myndi, my awesome coworker, brought me vegan chili cheese macaroni for lunch and it was yuuuummy! I look forward to making it on my own soon–mac and cheese, pinto beans, fake meat crumbles and some chili powder. Sounds super easy. No writing yet, but I had crazy dreams last night, which usually means inspiration will soon strike or else. Maybe I’ll go read some of my book club book.
Day 75 – Ug, another garage ride yesterday. Maybe I’ll try to make up for it and do five miles today. These allergens are really whipping me this year. I’ve been so tired, I’m actually going to bed before midnight. Had a weird dream that will serve as a bit of inspiration for this week’s short story, plus wikipedia gave me some interesting prompts: Townships, Evil Empire, LGBT Rights, Sea Snails, and Benz Coup. Percolating on that now, but I think I’ve got something pretty good. I still need to finish some previous stories.
I’m going to a friend’s book signing tonight, which I’ll post about soon, plus since I had to work on Monday, I’ve got a four day weekend ahead of me, during with I hope to get some serious writing done. No facebook until I’ve got 10,000 words of fiction written. That’s going to be tough, but I need to crank it up a notch!
Day 76 – Well, I got three miles in, but I did do a different route. It was windy out, and somehow it seemed I had a headwind no matter which direction I was going in. Got my Sunspots story polished. Now I just need to send it out. Hopefully tonight!
The book signing was awesome! Best one I’ve been to yet. (So I’ve only been to two others, but still.) There were cupcakes involved. And cheese. And reading too, of course. Yummy book signings are the best!
Day 77 – Well, I’ve got 55 minutes left to start this week’s story. It’s been percolating, and I did a little character backstory, but I have yet to write any words. Biked three miles, got to hang out with my awesome old roommie, which involved shopping and great deals on badly needed jeans. (By the way, I have learned not to bike in jeans. It wears them out crazy fast.)
And, I put google friend connect on the site! We’ll see how it works. So far I have two friends including myself. Hopefully that number will grow. That’s all there is now. Yikes! 50 minutes left!
Day 78 – So you know when you’ve got so much stuff going on that you end up not getting anything done? We’ll that’s been my weekend so far. Got a couple of second round rejections. Man, I know that means I’m getting closer, but ouch they hurt! On the positive side, I’ve got 20 submissions out there right now, which is a record for me. Still hoping for my first W1S1 sale. I’ve been a little jealous of all of the participants that have sold so far. This business is full of ups and downs, but such is life.
Ahhh! I ate tuna fish today. Sooo good. I also have decided to give up learning Japanese again. I made it to March at least!
Day 79 – Napped and took a break from worrying about writing. I think I deserved it. Got my bike in. I was a little worried about doing 4 miles a day, but I think if I do my 3-mile lap, then a 1-mile lap it will be a little less of a mental jump for me. Have some yardwork planned for tomorrow. Grass is looking greener bit by bit.
Day 80 – Well, I only got 1 mile biked today, but I did spend an hour raking leaves, which only covered the front yard, and not even all of it. No writing, but I did finally figure out what I want to do with my week 8 story, and the good news it will be shorter than I’d intended. Yesterday and today were much saner for me and I actually got some rest and relaxation in. And there were cupcakes involved.
Day 81 – Felt like I was just getting warmed up after my 3 miles today, so I decided to bike three more! I don’t feel so nervous about stepping it up to 4 miles. Plus it gave me the chance to work out some frustrations and work off some chips and guac from my most hated tex-mex restaurant. Man, that place is crappy. I’m not going to name names, but it rhymes with Smell Arroyo. Bad food, bad service, bad prices. Still no writing. I think I am officially in a funk.
Day 82 – Got a good ride in despite the deluge of oak pollen. I felt really strong riding, which was nice. This bike is definitely the best $50 I’ve ever spent! Walked the dog and also took a little walk at work, so I think I got my workout’s worth today. I’m bragging about all of this so hopefully you won’t ask me what my word count has been like this week.
Day 83 – Garage ride today. But good news is that I’ve got a new ereader. I’ll posg about it soon!
Day 84 – Nice ride today. Got an idea for a new short story, so that’s something. Enjoying my eReader so far!
Day 85 & 86 – Garage ride yesterday, three miles today. Had to wear a jacket, what’s up with that? Got a couple paragraphs written. Made some awesome lasagna–carrots and spinach, plus used some of my herbs. I think I might use up my herbs faster than they grow if I’m not careful! Lots of reading done. Lots of ice cream eaten.
Day 87 & 88 — Ah! I’m falling behind on my entries! Still biking. Might switch to Light Ray for W1S1 in April because the month will be crazy enough as it is. Working on getting my short story ebooks out in a couple weeks. Then I will be rolling in my millions, and my plans for world domination will be complete. Mwa-haha! Just kidding.
I am very excited about sandwiches.
Day 89 – ZOMG! I just ate a turkey hotdog. It tasted soooo good. I had to eat it. I haven’t eaten enough in a couple days. Need to be more careful. Need a nap now.
Day 90 & 91 – Okay, back on track after a couple down days. Rode 4.3 miles today and yesterday, got a little done on my novel, and am scheming up my masterplan for my ebook release. I think I’m going to do two per quarter, one free and one at 99 cents, so there’s a little for everyone. I’ve got four books drafted, and have a few stories left over so I shouldn’t have a problem filling up the first six volumes. I’d better get some sales soon though, since I mostly want to release previously published work, with a freebie original work thrown in each volume. Still no rejections for the month yet. The clock is ticking.
Day 92 & 93 – rode 6 miles with my mom yesterday, but just took a swing around the block today. I am so swamped with reading material, but trying to be Zen about it.
Very exciting challenge. Good luck!
Day 94 – Rode just a mile today, but that’s all I had time for. Good news, sold a story. More on that soon. A little pick-me-up is just what the doctor ordered.
And thanks, Jet. It’s a lot easier written than done, but I think I’m hanging on as best as I can.
Day 95 – Rode my four miles today, nice out. Crappy day at work, but had fun doing a table read of a friend’s script. Full day. More to come tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. Sunday may offer some reprieve.
Day 96 – Got my ride in. Had fun at work, last day my old friend is working with us, which is kind of sad. Had dinner at Hyde Park Bar and Grill with some of the Paradise Lost peeps and some other Austin writers, fun time! Then had a giant cookie at Quacks. The weekend is off to a good start. I also published my ebooks, but I’ll post more about that as they filter through all of the distribution channels. Pretty simple process overall. Here’s hoping to a few sales!
Days 97 through 100 – Wah! It’s been a crazy few days. Rode four mile two days, garage ride Saturday and 3 miles today. Broke down and had turkey tacos, but how was I supposed to resist? Had a great time at the Paradise Lost retreat. Jay Lake was a great resident writer, and got to have lunch with Howard Waldrop. This probably deserves a post all of it’s own, but I’m pretty much exhausted and need a little time to decompress. Still no writing done. I think I just need some time off. I’m almost done with my book club book, and still need to start doing a novel critique. Thankfully it’s a pretty short novel. Lots of house cleaning to do for the Waffle Party this week. Stories to edit. Banks to harass and a broken pipe to locate. Should be a fun week.
Days 101 through 103 – I’m doing horrible at keeping up with these posts. I’ve been in sort of a blah mood anyway. Still riding my bike four miles a day. Adjusting to four miles has been easier than it was adjusting to three. I guess that’s because it’s only a 33% increase instead of a 50% one. So in theory the longer I go, the less effort it will be to adjust. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.
Tried to edit some of my novel yesterday, but I ended up falling asleep. I think I’ve lost the passion for that book, but I still need to finish it. I don’t think it’s bad, just a tad unfocused. Maybe if I print it out it’ll be easier. I might bring some to my critique group soon. Maybe they can invigorate me.
Ate a turkey burger last night. I think that means I’m officially not a vegetarian anymore. Don’t really care. It was delicious!
Days 104 and 105 – I’m beginning to wonder if my day count is going to end up at 365 by the end of the year. A great couple of days. Spent much time cleaning and prepping for the chicken and waffle party. The party itself was great, maybe the best ever. This year I actually got to play some video games, and we didn’t do a second dinner set of waffles to follow lunch, so I got off pretty easy. They were delish. Had an energetic crowd, feel so fortunate to have such a great family and friends.
Bike riding has been pretty sketchy the last few days, two garage rides and a one mile ride this morning. Going riding with my mom tomorrow, so hopefully we will make up some of that. (Not to mention working off some of these calories.)
Started a new short story today that I feel pretty positive about. My try to put some more words down tomorrow. I really need a writing “win” soon.