If you're scratching your head right now wondering what March Madness is, it's not too late to find out and set a goal for the month. Why would you do this? Because you may need some motivation or accountability or whatever. Prizes? Yep. So if you haven't already, please venture over to Denise Jaden's post here and leave a comment stating your goals. It's not too late to join the madness! Tomorrow we'll be hanging out over at Mary Ann Scott's .
For those of you already on board, has your March Madness been so crazy it just might work? Mine has. In the past six days I've plowed through all my edits in the midst of the worst head cold ever. ATCHHHOOOOO!!! Excuse me. Could someone please pass me another box of tissue? Thanks for caring. Now I'm going to go take a nap.
What adversities have you overcome to meet your goals so far this month?
Hope you feel better soon!
ReplyDelete*knock on wood* I haven't hit any speed bumps this month other than the usual, "don't wanna write, I'm cranky today."
Thanks, Jennifer. I hope your road will continue to be smooth. We all write when we're cranky, right?
DeleteTotally hear that one, Jennifer! Go for a walk, get yourself a wee lil chocolaty treat, and tell the rest of the world to take a flying leap. It helps! =)
DeleteYou rock, Angelina! I'm working it, but I'm kind of all over the place. Still waiting for ward on the sub-readiness of my last ms, working on my new WIP, and preparing application for the SCBWI WIP grant! Not to mention, entering two photos in the local art festival. Yes, I'm a glutton for rejection.
ReplyDeleteBut the little epiphanies keep coming, so I'll keep putting it out there. Write on, Wipsters!
Working, working, working you are. ^_^ Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you with that grant application.
DeleteOoh, good luck on the SCBWI WIP grant! At least you're sending things out there. I've been procrastinating and I think that's one reason why this revision is taking FOREVER to finish.
DeleteOh, thank you, Angelina and Kim! Maybe I could float a rough draft of the evil synopsis by you when I get it finished... ;-)
DeleteI hope that cold leaves you! I went to bed last night at 8 p.m. Unfortunately, I woke up at 11:30 p.m. and couldn't fall back to sleep. I ended up reading until 3:00 a.m. I'm alternating between fiction novels and the book We Wanted to Be Writers: Life, Love, and Literature at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. It's a good read, but for some reason it's taking me forever to finish it. I am determined to tuck the fourth fiction book of the month under my arm by this evening. My goal is to read at least 8 books this month. It dawned on me that while struggling with the writing for the last seven years, I could have at least found some solace in reading like a madwoman. Then again, I suppose life unfolds as it should, when it should. Glad I found this challenge. Considering the acute insomnia I experienced last night, it's a miracle that I met my writing quota for the day as well. I feel like I'm starting to let go of the writer's anxiety, but this of course happens only after I've written. We'll see if I'm paralyzed with fear when I return to my desk tomorrow morning.
ReplyDeleteReading like a madwoman is my modus operandi. I couldn't function without reading books. Great job with the goals and I hope your are loose as happy goose when you sit down at that desk!
DeleteDitto here with reading. Publishers have been spoiling me by sending ARCs but seriously I love to read. I remember running into some writers at RWA Nationals last year who told me they refuse to read anything while writing. I'm like, "Serious? That's like asking me to not breathe the air as I might get sick or something." I seriously think reading and writing go hand in hand.
DeleteSo proud of you, Angelina! Like Denise, you are an inspiration. :-)
ReplyDeleteI just finished up a huge project for my contract day job, which is finally ending! It's been fun but a lot of work, so I'm excited to have some more writing and playing time back for the near future at least.
I'm determined to finish my revisions before I go to Spain on 3/17 and right now I'm on track as long as I don't get sideswiped by something else. Speaking of, I meant to ask if you might be interested in betaing because I'm hoping to have it ready for betas soon!
Hope you feel better! Sending tissues and tea your way. :-)
Thanks and way to go, Kip. And yes, I'd be more than happy to beta for you. ^_^
DeleteFor me, I'm on a deadline. I'm going to a writer's conference at the end of April, and I promised myself I'd finish my 2nd novel before then. But I'm not gonna lie, sometimes it's a lot more fun to browse all of these fun MM blogs instead.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of writing time between now and the end of April. ^_^ Happy to know you're enjoying the MM blogs! Good to meet you.
DeleteJust got some beta notes on Popsicle, so I have work to do again. That and beta a new-to-me writer's MG ms that I'm so excited about and waiting, waiting, waiting on the Sing To The Wind edit letter.
ReplyDeleteI hope that letter comes soon. ^_^ Have fun with the MG beta read.
DeleteAw, so sorry you're sick, Angelina! My family is under the weather too, but so far I'm doing okay. I'm EMBARRASSED to say that this is my first time checking in since Friday! I'll let everyone know why this Friday in my check-in post, but holy moly has this month ever been harder to stay on track than expected! I have been getting small amounts of revision in on my WIP, but I really have to step it up a notch to stay on track with my goals. Hoping to do that TODAY!
ReplyDeleteNo time better than the present. ^_^ Look forward to hearing your news on Friday.
DeleteEvery day can be a fresh start so hope Thursday is your day to move ahead. Your news sounds intriguing. Looking forward to hearing what it is. :)
DeleteGet better soon, all you sickies! Lots of tea and lemon and honey makes the writing easier :) This has been the longest stretch my household has gone without someone getting the plague in at least six months, so I'm bracing for it to strike.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest obstacle so far has been realizing that I don't do well with word/page-count based goals. I'm much better at setting aside a chunk of time and saying "no leaving the desk until the time is gone!" than I am at saying "No getting up until you've finished revising five pages!" It makes it harder to foresee when exactly I'll be done with my projects (right now a story) and able to move on to the next one (YA novel revision). That being said, I am rearranging my free time so that I have larger/more chunks of time available to me, and I'm definitely much more productive than I thought I'd be when I signed up for this. So far, so good :)
Hey, whatever works for you. Happy to hear it's going well!
DeleteI'm the same -- so this year I set time goals rather than word count goals. But I do have an over-all big goal for the month...just helping myself work toward it in a way that's right for me. ;) (That's key, don't you think? Finding what works for you. So, yay you for successfully rearranging your free time! Way to go!)
DeleteI so can relate, Angelina. I've been battling the plague--flu. Monday woke up with a killer headache and nausea. Not fun. What I did instead was read. Penguin Teen sent me this package of some of their upcoming books which really did help a little. Today feeling a little better so I hope I can at least attack one scene in my revision.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry, Kim. But I'm glad you're feeling better and have good books to read. ^_^ I should walk across the street to the library and pick up my holds, except that would mean getting dressed. . .
Delete{Hugs} I hope you feel better soon. I had a nasty cold when I started revisions and now I'm feel okay. My obstacle is pretty much pushing ahead, but not getting slack in the process. I need to be a perfectionist. Which I tend to forget since I spent the last few months banging out a rough draft of a different story.
ReplyDeleteBut, yay! I'm down to the last 40 pages. Hopefully, I'll have the ms ready to go back to my agent early next week.
I love the sound of that, Pat, "back to my agent". Yes, at this stage, perfectionism helps. But I know that feeling of just wanting the thing out of your hands. ^_^
DeleteOh Angelina - hope you feel better soon. I admire you plowing through - I would have probably 'called in sick' to writing ;) My March is...going. I'm doing the work, tackling the feedback from my beta readers, but I'm having trouble getting my head around some of the comments. Frankly, it's overwhelming. I have a self-imposed deadline to get my ms to my agent by April 1st but I'm getting the feeling that it won't be ready in 3 weeks. I"m going to try. But like you say, perfectionism helps at this stage. That's what I'm going for - over speed. We'll see!
ReplyDeleteYou do your best, but if you need a little more time, it's good to know the deadline is self-imposed. Mine wasn't. ^_^
DeleteSympathies over the cold--I have one too. We just finished moving, so March is off to a slow start, but I'm determined not to lose another day. Time to buckle down!
ReplyDeleteA cold AND moving? I feel much better. Best wishes with that buckle. ^_^
DeleteI don't envy you going through a move while coping with a cold. That's nasty! Hope you're feeling better now and your buckling produces results. ;)
DeleteSending love and virtual chicken soup out to all the sickies!
ReplyDeleteI've got two chunks of writing time today, so yay for that! Almost done with a new first chapter, and planning to revise a couple other chapters today.
Happy writing/reading/blogging/illustrating, everyone! Embrace the madness!
Two chunks? Hooray. Hope they were fruitful, sweet, juicy chunks.
Delete... and bad me! I was supposed to be working during those same two chunks of Shari's time, but missed the gong (i.e., the hammer that ought to have been hitting me on the head at 10 a.m.). But I'm planning to jump in right after I finish my lunch. Will check in here later and let everyone know if I managed to catch up. :)
DeleteHope you can kick that cold! But High Five for plowing through, you are stronger then I. I am just a big baby when it comes to being sick.
ReplyDeleteI feel fairly confident in my progress so far in the past 3 days I managed to add just over 5300 words to my first draft and write up a good handful of posts for my blog to avoid frantically attempting to write something up the night before a new post.
Although I haven't had to yet face any adversaries *goes to find some wood to knock on* my only problem is that I am letting myself believe that my productive streak is going to end soon. Gotta kick that negative internal voice in the butt and tell it to get lost!!
It is really inspirational to read and follow everyone's daily accomplishment though, I am totally enjoying this, and so glad I decided to join this year!
Oh boy... I haven't had to face any ADVERSITIES... just past noon and apparently I have still yet to wake up fully.
DeleteYou're on word fire! Happy you joined us, too. ^_^
DeleteWell... today I worked through a stomach bug to write 1100 words and read 11 chapters. Am exhausted, though, so I'm going to go sleep. :-)
ReplyDeleteFabulous! Not the flu, but the words. Rest well and feel better!
DeleteI don't know whether to sympathize or congratulate! So many people have been down with bugs lately. It's great that you were able to make use of your down time to read and write. I can't imagine how productive you can be when you're feeling 100%!
DeleteLiterally feeling your pain due to our household's unwilling participation in a nasty game of Viral Hot Potato. It's like Hotel California for the Common Cold over here. Poor babies, though. Their tiny tongues stick out when they cough. I feel helpless and want to cry sometimes. My niece is an energetic sixteen-month old but she's so congested that she can only sleep sitting up on our laps or if we carry her. She's getting better, though. It's just a slow process. The three year old nephew has his appetite back and is back to running, jumping, and climbing things. He loves Pixar and his favorite thing lately is to reenact every scene from Rio. I especially enjoy his dancing and trying to keep up with will.i.am's rapping. He's had some speech delays, so he's still learning to talk but watching him now is pretty awesome. (Thanks, Pixar!)
ReplyDeleteConsidering I'm a full-time Aunt who writes on the side--or not, if those two can help it--I suppose it's evident what adversities I face as a writer. Still, I managed to write a humor piece with my niece literally hanging on my leg trying to get my attention and to keysmash on the laptop Monday night and it was one of three pieces that made me officially published as of this weekend. I think it will make for good practice when I have my own kids. Not that I recommend dangling children for longer works of fiction. Even I have limits on my multitasking capabilities.
Other ways I've forged ahead are with my previously mentioned mirrored closet doors. When I'm not with the kids, I'm back at my apartment, locked in my sanctuary. That entire space helps with brainstorming. I also use voice recording apps to brainstorm and when I transcribe those notes, sometimes I come up with new ideas and take a simple idea in a new direction.
When I can't type--which has happened for many reasons--I've used Dragon Dictate. It can be difficult when the software doesn't pick up exact phrasing--or if your nephew tries to say 'To infinity and beyond.' before hopping off the sofa and you end up with a jumbled transcript of you trying to catch him before he falls on his sister, though he deftly jumps out of the way, then the headset snags, almost taking the laptop and you with it--I'm sorry. Where was I?
Let's just say that I've found ways of working around life to work on my art, and vice versa. It's made me a better writer, multi-tasker, questioned my sanity, and turned me into a masochist, but more or less, the goals are getting met. Other than the colds, it's been a good writing year, so far! ;-D
Cheers from outside I-wished-there-was-Suncouver, BC,
Tonette
LOL, oh my goodness, the whole "to infinity and beyond" paragraph cracked me up! Sure can be challenging writing with little munchkins around. That's so great how you make the best of things and find a way to get things done -- inspiring!
DeleteWe actually have some sun here on the island today. A real treat, that's for sure! I hope it makes an appearance where you are, too.
This entire comment cracked me up. Felt like I was there living it with you. Write on, warrior!
DeleteMeh. That big fat orb just mocks me from behind a veil of clouds and then disappears into the, well, day, I guess. I'd call him a chicken if he weren't a big ball of gas. We're not on speaking terms, me and him. On Saturday, I was drenched as I walked uphill to my apartment, balancing groceries and an umbrella. You know, those companies need to triple test those things in a wind tunnel. It rained sideways. HORIZONTAL RAINFALL. Aside from nearly getting Mary Poppin'd into traffic, the thing nearly folded in on itself twice. Wet jeans, not fun. I get home, leave the groceries to drip by the door, peel off the clothing, and jump into the shower to wash the ick away. I get out all Zestfully clean and what do I see coming through the curtains? All day, nothing but light grey, dark grey, a little bit of medium. Once I was dried off inside? A warm orangey glow infused the white drapery, turning it into a creamsicle. Mocking me. I said things things that I would not dare say in front of my little Buzz Lightyear impersonator or his sister.
DeleteSo, I sincerely hope you're feeling better. And enjoy that SOB floating up there, so awesome, so popular, like he's the biggest star around.
As for you... Darn you, Sun. You'd think the world revolved around you, or something!
P.S. Helps if I addressed people in-post. Durr. This is what I get for my sun rage. Is this the result of Vitamin D deficiency?
DeleteAngelina, on the betterness, Shari, on the sun. But not ON the sun. Well, you know...
Sorry everyone's sick! I've been miraculously well for the last week, after a terrible January and February.
ReplyDeleteI'm feeling great - yesterday I got a good plan written up for agent revisions and today I'm going to dive into the the actual revisions!
I hope everybody feels better soon!
"agent revisions"...how exciting!! Good look with them! :)
DeleteShe's got a plan and her hands poised to dive in. Go Joy, go!
DeleteOops, that would be good LUCK.
DeleteI've had some minor bumps in the road but nothing as serious as an illness. For me the issue has been time management, finding an (uninterrupted) hour or two to read one of my 10 books or post something on my blog twice a week. I'm on schedule with my blog (2 posts per week) and I feel confident that I can get 2 hours of writing done this weekend, but I really have to catch up on reading. There's a whole pile of unread books sitting on my endtable. Must remedy that ASAP!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your edits, and feel better soon!
No time to read? Sounds traumatic. I'm down to my last book and though the library is right across the street, I'm feeling too lousy to get dressed and get over there. Wishing you reading time without illness! Great job with the blogging and writing. ^_^
DeleteSorry to hear you're feeling crummy, Angelina, and I hope you start feeling better soon. My DH and I bought our first eReader last week -- a Kobo -- and have already downloaded a few books from our Public Library. I must say it makes library visits a whole lots easier when you aren't feeling like venturing out.
DeleteThe only adversity so far is just the stupid clock. How on earth does the morning disappear so fast? Otherwise, I'm happy to report the first three pages do not stink as much as I feared they might.
ReplyDeleteI know where two of those hours went. Well spent, in my opinion. ^_^
DeleteWell I didn't hit any of my goals today, too busy cleaning for a party on the weekend but on the bright side-- I'm not sick. Hope everyone else gets better soon.
ReplyDeleteWay to focus on the bright side. ^_^ Tomorrow is a new day.
DeleteToday was a bit of a letdown. One of my goals was to write 2k words per day and I did...but not a single word went towards my WIP. I had to write 6 articles for IGN and after I was done with all that, I had nothing left to give. But tomorrow's a new day, right? I've been dealing with an illness as well, Angelina, so I feel your pain. Here's to the rest of March being healthier and more productive!
ReplyDeleteAddendum: After writing this but before bed, I outlined 2 chapters so the day doesn't feel like a waste! Now up to Ch. 29. Yay!
DeleteYay! It is a new day and we will get healthy soon!
DeleteThe day (plus part of the night) has come and gone and no matter how long I wait to check in, the results aren't going to sound any better. I was trying to write a book review based on a synopsis, and it really doesn't work well that way. So I gave up and moved on to preparing some interview questions, and only got three of them done. It seems like I spent a lot of time staring at my computer today, but I sure didn't end up with much to show for it.
ReplyDeleteWednesdays are never one of my more productive days of the week. I direct a choir in the evening and throughout the day I'm usually filtering music and a session plan for our practice through my head while I'm doing anything else.
You all have put me to shame. I'm aiming to accomplish more tomorrow.
It's like Neil Gaiman says: "Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it's always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins." Tomorrow is another day!
DeleteProductivity isn't everything, Carol. ^_^ Some days are like that. . . Best wishes for a great Thursday!
DeleteHi-hi. I forgot to check in, but I did make progress yesterday. I holed myself up in my writing space, refused the television, and completely revised a fight scene to make it way more powerful and much more intense. I'm feeling awesome about this.
ReplyDeleteI'm feeling awesome about what you did, too. ^+^
DeleteI just joined, because better late than never. This sounds like a need project.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the madness! Happy to have you with us. ^_^
Delete