Heading to the Finish: ROW80 (plus #writemotivation)

Pardon my constant writing as a race analogy. Blame my half marathon training, but I see such a connection between the two. Today, I ran an 8K in DC. It was a gorgeous day, and I have been training. But no matter how much I train, there is some point during a race that I want to quit.

Ready to Run... St. Patrick's Day 8KToday I didn't. I ran the whole way, not allowing any excuse to sideline me. Uphill. You can't stop me. Pain in a part of my body I don't recognize. You can't stop me. It was a wonderful feeling. Now, I need to apply that mental focus to writing (and hope for all the stars to align as they did today).

Before the tempting world of social media and friendly writers was opened up to me, I faced down my writing pains. But now, there are so many good excuses to avoid it when it gets hard. I'm building my author platform, I tell myself. While an author platform is certainly important, it's meant to uplift your writing---not take the place of it.

Julie Glover wrote an excellent post this week: I Know I Should Follow Your Blog But . . . A brief excerpt: "I have learned so much in the past year from writer groups, conferences, craft books, and blogs. I've discovered excellent tools and software for plotting and writing. Thankfully, this book won't have 23 drafts to get it right. I know something about an author's platform. I have researched publishing options and agents. My knowledge base is better now. All good stuff. But I am writing far fewer hours than when it was lonely me and my laptop.

I agree. Now I just need to apply something else I've learned from running. If you don't run, and run often, you really won't get better. It won't matter how much research you do about running plans, you have to hit the pavement. Same is true for writing.

I've been better about putting writing first. It's a step in the right direction. I just have to continue my writer training and not give up, or let myself be sidelined by other activites.

Now for my A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) update...

Writing: Every single day. Not all of it was on my WIP, but I did work on it every day (except today - today was family day!) for more than an hour. I'm also keeping note cards on my other piece.

Blogging: Every day but Saturday. I like taking a weekend day off. I posted a flash fiction piece on Friday that I'm quite proud of, and I reviewed Jessican Therrien's Oppression on Mom in Love with Fiction.

Editing: In a wonderful groove, and reading some wonderful material. Few things make me as happy as seeing a writer get it right.

Social Media: If I was grading myself, I'd give it a C. I don't like Cs. But something had to give. I owe people some comments, and I have a lot of flash fiction reading to do. Please accept my apologies. I'll get around. Tomorrow is catch up day. (Let's hope the universe didn't just hear me say that!)

Diet & Exercise: Exercise. Check. Diet. Well, let's hope the exercise is making up for it somewhat.

I hope my ROW80 friends are heading into the finish strong! Only 11 more days to go in this round.

Now my #writemotivation update (which is also my "test mile" for ROW80):

1. Work on my WIP for an hour every day, except Sunday. --- DONE+
2. Do client editing work an hour a day, except Sunday. --- DONE + Sunday
3. Read and review a book every 10 days, minimum. --- DONE

I am also behind in checking out my fellow #writemotivation writers. I look forward to catching up!