Lecture Lesson for the Week of April 22nd and 29th, 2019

[Sunny Irene Roth]

Hi all,

Here is your lesson for this week!

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Have a GREAT week!

Irene S. Roth

 

[D.L. Gioe]

1. Do you commit to the long-haul when completing your writing projects? Or are you impatient?

-Yes, to both. I LOVE the writing process. I love the discovery of it and sometimes I get impatient to find out what will happen next, or how I’m going to link one scene to another. But I finish my projects. To leave them hanging would leave me deeply frustrated.

2. Do you create unrealistic outcomes for completing your projects? If so, how?

-I don’t think so. The completion of the project isn’t the issue for me. It’s figuring out when the editing is done and waiting through the long slog of submissions that gets to me.

3. Which of the five tips to achieve a writing goal slowly can you incorporate into your writing life?

-Practicing mindfulness while writing is something I’ve done occasionally, but would like to make a more routine part of my practice.

4. Do you write authentically?

-I think so. That said, I’ve got ideas across a number of genres and so that sometimes makes me wonder if I haven’t found my best fit yet.

5. What are some obstacles to your writing authentically?

-When I encounter this challenge, it is almost always due to rushing. In my haste to get the words on the page, I don’t get them quite right. So while the authentic idea is in my heart, it is not always on the page. And sometimes I can’t even see that fact until I really slow down and read it several time.

6. Do you merely rely on motivation to complete projects?

-Once upon a time, I did. But over the last year, and definitely since starting this practice in January, I’ve become much better about showing up. Another author I know equated it to running. You almost never WANT to run. But you make the time. You do a little bit. You start slow. And before you know it, you’re off to the races.

 

[Mel Corbett]

1. Do you commit to the long-haul when completing your writing projects? Or are you impatient?

I have been impatient in the past, and skimped on the revisions and I am hoping to overcome that impatience with this current project. I know I need to wait and get it just right before I publish and I need to take my time to get everything together in one piece, ready to publish.



2. Do you create unrealistic outcomes for completing your projects? If so, how?

Yes.

I tend to overestimate what I can do in the limited time that I have. Over-large word count goals. This is going to be the project that sells kind of thing when I think I just need to start chunking away a little at a time. It's disheartening though to feel like I will take so long to have solid projects out and ready for production. sigh

3. Which of the five tips to achieve a writing goal slowly can you incorporate into your writing life?

I definitely need to get monotasking and mindfulness down. I do them really good for awhile and then for some reason, I just can't sit still and get the words on the page and get all squirmy. I guess it's the puppy mind from meditation coming to play in my writing space.

4. Do you write authentically?

I try to.

5. What are some obstacles to your writing authentically?

I get in my own way a lot of the time. Also, it is helpful that I'm planning on using a pen name on this next work, that way, haha, while it's my words an dwork and I'm planning on being totally open about it, it's also a bit distanced from (my family) who will want to read it and offer opinions or criticisms of characters that resemble certain family members, lol. That said, I try not to hold back on the emotional front and this new series that I'm working on is very much channeling my high school self and some of her issues.

6. Do you merely rely on motivation to complete projects?

This is a tough one for me, but motivation is a piece of it, but it's like waiting for inspiration. I'm trying to make things as simple as possible by making it not just willpower, but routine. Motivation and willpower are both finite, but routine is what gets you there and through the grind.

I just listened to Atomic Habits (I discovered the Libby app around new years and have been taking advantage of all the free audio books), and I think that I need to consider my routine and my triggers. So, routine is: as soon as Cillian goes to sleep, I will sit down and start a word war on my WIP. I need to figure out a cue for the transition to revising or else block weeks/months for drafting and revising. Hmm... maybe play with some other cues.