I forgot to blog last week. And I felt awful about it. Actually, I still do. I’ve been overwhelmed this week with the feeling that there’s too much going on, and I’m losing grip on it. Handfuls of sand, folks–some of it’s going to leak out from even the tightest fisted fingers.

It’s funny though, because my emotional reaction to this comes and goes in waves. One minute, I’m thoroughly in charge, ready to take on anything, feeling good. Confident. The next…it’s like I downed four hazelnut lattes. With sugar. I’m shaky, jittery, terrified. Unable to concentrate on one thing, because my mind is preoccupied with what I’ve forgotten, what I’ve missed.

The worst part of it, I think, is that it’s all writing-related, but Not Writing. Through the month of November I managed to add 2500 words to a story (a revise-and-resubmit request. I finished in three days!) And I’ve managed just under 8000 on a new story. 10500 words altogether in four weeks. Yuck.

So, I’m trying to get organized. Prewriting blogposts, setting aside mornings for one ‘job’, afternoons for editting, evenings for writing. (although that last has been wiped out by The Child Who Will Not Sleep!) I am acknowledging here and now (as I write this post two days early that I need help.

If you have a method that works, let me know what it is. Do you set a timer on every task you do? Word limits you have to reach every day?
And…um…how do you Not Cheat? (not that I’d ever–yeah, who’m I kidding? I’m all about public accountability!)

3 Responses to “I forgot”

1. Sara Dennis Says:
   December 1st, 2006 at 6:11 pm

   I have a word count I have to reach every day on my main project. Sometimes I manage in a couple of hours. Sometimes it takes me all day. But I *must* make that count.

   If I don’t, I roll what’s left into the next day. So, f’rex, if I only write 500 today, I must do 1500 tomorrow.

   I also keep a second project going, for the days when I have more words percolating. That keeps my ideas fresh and I don’t burn out working on one thing.

2. Loribelle Hunt Says:
   December 1st, 2006 at 10:06 pm

   I’m struggling with this myself lately. So I made up a daily schedule and a daily word count goal. Am I sticking to these? Noooo. But I am doing better. Hopefully, I’ll be back in the habit soon.

3. Lyric Says:
   December 2nd, 2006 at 6:43 pm

   Yeah, I’m struggling too. I have a word count that I like to make everyday. Sometimes I hit it…sometimes, I don’t. But as long as I write something, I’m making progress and I try not to stress myself out about it too much.