Pump Up the Am: ROW80 Update

It's time to Pump up the "I Am" in my life.

Okay, it's a bit corny. But music with a good rhythm really helps me, and I am nothing if not a product of the 80s. Dork that I am, I now hear in my mind...

Yes, a cassette tape. Remember?Get the writing going on the Word doc
Seek ROW80 that's where the party's at
And you'll find out if you're behind

Pump up the Am pump it up
A pump it up yo pump it

I don't want the words to stray
Get your fingers on the keyboard
Make my day

Now that I've shared my totally uncool ways to motivate myself, it's time to focus on the "I Am" statements.

I am going to write.

I haven't been making this the priority I should. I've overwhelmed with commitments, so I try to knock out the easiest ones first. Plus, my brain is so junked up and scattered, I'm finding it hard to focus enough to write. My priority is to write first thing in the day, before my brain can be distracted. Kids on bus, mom to write.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle

Or, even more straight to the point: there will not be word progress without writing.

I am going to embrace structure.

Schedules and organization are normally my friend, but I lost my way this summer. Yesterday, I sat down and wrote out six pages of to-dos. Yes, six pages. I have been dreading writing them all down and realizing just how behind I am. But now I know. Knowledge is power, right? Beside each item I put a deadline date and assigned hours in the day to accomplish the task. I should have done this weeks ago.

"Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on." Les Brown

I am going to stop making excuses.

My life is full. Don't get me wrong, I'm blessed. Truly. But my days are helter skelter and overloaded as so many of ours are. It's an easy excuse, but excuses won't get my next book done. I am bad about the word No, as I clearly demonstrated in my BlogHer featured post: The Art of Saying No (To More than Just My Kids).

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." Walt Disney

Or, as we southern ladies like to say, "get to gettin'".

What inspires you to shake a bad week or shake your excuses and just move forward with your goals?

*****
My A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) Update

Writing: I spent a lot of my hour each day staring at a blank page, thanks to my overcrowded brain. I did manage to pump out a scene or two. Not sure how good they are, but I need to get the story moving again.

Editing: I need to write a post on flashbacks and pacing and ask my writer and reader friends for input. I'm having a tough time with a current editing job on these two issues. It's such a good story, but the flashbacks are affecting the pacing, and I'm finding it slowing me down as a reader. Not I'm struggling with how to fix it.

Reading: Too many books, too little time... especially for ones that are disappointing. Although I didn't really love Anne Lamott's Blue Shoe, it wasn't enough of a mess to have me give up on her. Please keep checking Mom in Love with Fiction for my "reader" thoughts.

Social Media: This has become my albatross, the thing I just can't get out from under. I owe you all comments and support, and for that I'm sorry.

Blogging: When will I ever learn? Blogging daily is just not what I need to be doing right now. In October, I'm going back to Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. It's enough. Why not now, you ask? It's a quirk in my character. Once I say Yes, I'm no quitter.

Hope everyone is Pumping Up the Am!