Chotto...

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For those of you who don't know (um, probably for most of you then, other than... Melanie, Robert, Peter... Ron?  Sharon?), the title of this post is Japanese. Literally it just means "little," but in this sort of context it translates to, "That's a little bit..." and is a very understated (Japanese, remember) way to say "no," or "That's the craziest idea I've heard in years," or other things along those lines. It's been a favorite word of mine ever since I learned it from my Pimsleur language lesson CDs, because it cracks me up. And it's so very useful...

By the guidelines I set out in my last post, I should have written three more posts before this one. That's what I'm saying "chotto..." about this time. "I was going to do all this writing, in Sometimes Blind and here, it was going to be awesome, but I'm a little bit..." Like that. Chotto.

On April 16th I would have written that I didn't meet my goal, that I hadn't written anything since that update at the end of the April 11th post. The last post. On April 17th I would have set out a new goal for the new week, one that incorporated the previous goals I hadn't met yet and maybe just a bit of the goal I'd originally had for that particular week, but toned down some. On April 23rd... well, hopefully posting my goals on April 17th would have made a difference. That's supposed to be the point of this whole exercise, right?

So today I tell you, I have not written since April 11th. Sad face. But I will now!  Yes. Cue happy face. Mmm.

What will I write?  My goal for the week... is to write a LOT. To make up for some lost time. I mean, most of the time, when I don't meet my goals, I know it's not the brightest of all possible ideas to subsequently set bigger goals, to try to meet my unmet goals and then some. But... well, I haven't met them because I haven't been writing at all. I know I can do better than that. How much better?  Not quite sure. But pretty significantly I think, if I put my mind to it. Some of the goals were already pretty modest, I might have been able to meet them with just one or two writing sessions. And I know, going from zero writing sessions to a lot is still a big task--but it's doable, I think. If I want to badly enough.

Oh, and I can always under-write. Maybe that journey home will be much more... concise than it otherwise would have been. For now. As Chris Baty put it in No Plot? No Problem!, speaking of under-writing to finish your novel during NaNoWriMo instead of after, "It can be disheartening to realize that you aren't going to be able to write every scene in your novel before the month ends, but I can tell you from experience that it is much easier to fill in connecting scenes and interludes during rewriting than it is to have to conceive and write the final five chapters of a story after the month has ended."

Better to meet my coupon-redeeming deadline at the end of June with a skimpy novel rather than a chopped-short novel, right?  I think so.

Okay, so for a more concrete goal than just writing "a LOT," this week I plan to write that dreaded Healer scene (from Beth's perspective, this time), her journey home, and at least the beginning of the scenes at home.

For tonight, I'll begin again on the Healer scene. I don't have to finish it. Just start. This will be victory enough. I may even use pen and paper, with my Kindle for reference for my notes and the rest of my draft, and type it up later. Maybe.

Oh, and one other goal for this week: To decide on how much of the next portion of The Miller's Granddaughter I'm going to share with Neo-Inklings on May 4th, and begin editing again, explicitly with that time in mind. At the last meeting I shared everything up to the first section break. But there are more frequent section breaks after that first one. And the first chapter is long. Will I be able to share the rest of it?  Not sure yet, I need to take a look. How much work will it need?  Not sure of that, either. Just taking a look for now. Bulk of fixing later. Maybe.

If these goal posts don't work and I need more incentive, I may start sharing the rough pieces of Sometimes Blind with a few of you, as I write them. With the idea that you would push me to keep going. Not sure about that yet, either, though. Rough drafts are bad enough to share as it is, I'd rather see what the whole thing looks like before sending it out there. But if it helps, it helps. We'll see.

An Experiment in Writing Accountability

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Despite the poor spelling and the Photoshopping, I like this one.

I've decided that very concrete goals may be more helpful for my personality and writing productivity than abstract goals, even very specific abstract goals. Like trying to finish certain scenes, rather than meeting certain word counts. Like now, rather than during NaNoWriMo. Well, NaNoWriMo works well, but there's built-in accountability and general excitement and so on during NaNo that word count goals at other times of the year don't have. And word counts aren't as helpful when you know you want to finish a novel (er, the rough draft of a novel) by the end of June but you're not sure how much you have left.

Um, this is relevant because Melanie gave me a coupon for Christmas, good for the free printing of my novel into nice bookish form. (Very bookish. Being, well, a book. Um.) It expires at the end of June. I'd use it for The Miller's Granddaughter, but I already have a nice copy of the Miller's rough draft (courtesy of another Christmas), and Miller's won't be in its final, beautiful form by July. And why some random middle draft?  So I decided to use the coupon on Sometimes Blind. Which gives me motivation to finish the darn thing. Erm, the lovely thing. Yeah.

So, I've decided to break down what I know of what remains of Sometimes Blind into equal portions. How equal these portions will actually end up being is anyone's guess, but as I learn more (as I write!) I'll revise the goals. Also, having no idea whether or not I've assigned way too much work to the back end of the project will motivate me to work ahead, and make sure to meet the early goals. Maybe.

I mean, I haven't met any yet, but I'm feeling quite angsty about the fact. More than usual, perhaps. That's a kind of progress. Ooh, and I'm so going to write this afternoon. There you go.

I've created goals for April, for May, and for June. Further, I've created goals for each week in April.

I did not meet last week's goal. Maybe I'll meet it today. We shall see.

I'm thinking of posting my goal (or a vague version of it, in case anyone minds spoilers for My Very Own Rough Draft) every Sunday, and whether or not I met my goal every Saturday. Granted, I could post them together on Sunday, but I like the twice-a-week idea better, for some reason.

So. Last week: To write the scene with the Healer. (One scene?  How difficult can that be?  Heh. Given that she's blind in this scene and doesn't speak the same language as half the people in the room, it has its own trickinesses. On the other hand, no one said I have to write it well.)

This week: To write her journey back home. Darn it, I wish I knew how to make that more vague. Oh, well. Now, those of you who want to read it someday, or have read some of it already, you will know: She goes back home!  At some point!  Before the end of the book!  Possibly (if I'm writing these scenes in order) after some scene with a Healer!  Um. Yes. Self-mockery aside, I really do wish I could be more vague. I should just say, "her next journey." Yes. Um. Too late. I've already said the one, and there's no possible way of changing that. None at all. Doom, doom, doom and destruction.

Update later in the day: I have now written that scene with the Healer. Mostly. Just... not from her perspective. And it's going to have to be from her perspective. I'm pretty sure. Stuff and botheration. I mean, I knew what I was doing when I started writing it from a different character's viewpoint. I just... didn't expect to write two thousand words that way. I guess. Though that counts some words that were cut and replaced. Bleh.

Don't get me wrong. It's fun to write. Really it is. It's just simultaneously frustrating. And at this point, I'd rather enjoy the writing of a different scene. Meh.