Week 5 was all about the organization. I pretty much stopped writing this week and got my stuff in order. But don’t worry, my very temporary detour of stopping on the sideline to attend to a few housekeeping items that hadn’t been appropriately addressed is not going to get me off track. Actually, week 5 was one of those productive weeks in the sense of creating a much needed structure and framework for writing going forward. Now, I know that I communicated to you that I wouldn’t be too much of a stickler about my writing schedule and would let flexibility underlie how I get after my writing goal each week. That perspective still rings true. Nevertheless, it didn’t prevent me from taking time out of week 5 to write out the ideal writing schedule to adopt, IF everything aligns perfectly enough to accommodate such a routine. I have this detailed schedule, which also includes writing for this blog as well as content for YouTube, written in my notebook and will probably type it up and post it in a visible area as motivation for yours truly. Seeing is believing.
Before I go any further, I have to introduce you to the inspiration for creating the ideal schedule in the first place, and here it is. I happened to be watching YouTube and stumbled across a YA and Fantasy author who discussed an event, known as NaNoWriMo, in several of her videos. Most people in the book writing community may be familiar with this event, but I, being very green at the whole writing process, had never heard of this odd title and was immediately intrigued with getting a little more info on the subject. I was intrigued, namely 1) because of the unique name, figuring it was something of an acronym and I was right, and 2) because I had looked at several of this particular author’s YouTube videos by this time and a lot of what she stated seemed to resonate with me. I figured it would be worthwhile to see what this NaNoWriMo, that she had participated in for the past three years, was all about. Her videos educated me on all things NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month, and is held every November. It’s a time where those serious about getting some major writing done (people from all over the world) commit to writing at least 50,000 words by the end of November. So, 50,000 words in 30 days. This tall order may not seem like much to someone who’s unfamiliar with what 50,000 words on paper looks like; but even I (writer-in-training) have picked up on how much of a challenging task this commitment really is.
Furthermore, I learned that the one thing that assists this 30-day writing challenge along its course is ORGANIZATION. The participating writer is supposed to take the month of October, known as Preptober, to do all the planning for the writing that will take place in November. In one of the videos, this particular author stated that Preptober is very much needed to lay down all the groundwork, such as “finishing up your book outline, drawing a map of your world, or completing your character profiles”. She emphasized that you definitely don’t want to be finalizing your prep items at the same time you’re trying to write during NaNoWriMo. Planning = October and Writing = November. I totally jive with this whole concept and therefore decided to adopt some of its tenets. Basically, I’m taking the underlying purpose of NaNoWriMo, to complete a rough draft in a specific amount of time, and applying it to my writing process. Here’s what this event has inspired me to do:
- I’m not writing a novel, but I am writing a self-improvement book that will focus on personal and professional development. With that in mind, I’ve determined what my particular word count for this book will be and it’s definitely not 50,000 words. It’s quite a bit less, but this is okay; because for the type of personalized book that I’m writing for my audience, the desired word count and page count will be just right (in my estimation anyway). Notice how I’m not giving you all the details? I’ve got to keep some suspense in the making.
- Based on the desired word count, page count, and even trim size for the book, I know approximately how many words I would have to write weekly to arrive at the desired outcome in 8 weeks. Yes, I’ve decided to have my rough draft written in 8 weeks total (not 30 days) with one of those weeks having been completed already. So, I’m actually down to 7 weeks at this point.
- Furthermore, my more structured weekly schedule now incorporates the number of daily words I need to write for a certain number of days in the week in order to hit my weekly writing goal. I can tell you this much: I plan on sticking to the three 2-hour writing days and three 30-minute “working on logistics” days each week. I will be equally dividing my weekly writing goal into my three writing days (as best I can). The main point is to get the weekly writing goal accomplished. Getting more writing done on one writing day than another doesn’t really matter; however, hitting my weekly word count does. So, you can see that there’s some flexibility still built within the schedule.
- To give you a slight clue to the daily writing requirement I’ve set for myself, I can say that it equates to my average word count for all blog posts combined in 2019. And, this goal is perfectly realistic and attainable. I actually carried out a 30-day challenge back in December 2018 through January 2019 (30-Day Challenge: Procrastination Station) where I wrote a blog post each day of the challenge (excluding Saturdays) for 30 straight days. Therefore, I firmly believe in my ability to write my book in 8 weeks.
Wow! Words fly by when you’re having fun! I didn’t intend to write so much about week 5 and there is definitely more to share, but I think I’ll hold it for next week. I’ll give you a combo report for the remainder of week 5 and week 6. I’m already anticipating some major progress stirring in the air.
degreesofmaternity.com 