Wipmadness Week Three

I hope everyone's writing is going great! I'm excited to announce that I'll going to be a part of the Cybil's YA Nonfiction panel! http://www.cybils.com/2013/09/2013-young-adult-nonfiction-judges.html

This week's theme seems obvious but in my case is hard something to actually do.

Once again I'm taking from A YEAR OF WRITING DANGEROUSLY by Barbara Abercrombie

362. Writing as Practice

...You don't perform yoga, you practice it-with patience, trying for some humility.



Very true. After ten years of not doing yoga, I decided to go back to my yoga studio. Husband had tons of excuses: no time; too many people; out of shape; and others. I decided to not wait but go and sure it's hard to get back into the swig of it but little by little I'm getting there!

The same can be said of writing. It just doesn't 'happen'. Even the best intentions won't work if you don't just:

DO IT!



You may wish to change your life, you may be in thearpy or religion, but your new vision remains merely talk until it enters the practice of your day...John O'Donohue

So my question for this week is how do you get writing in your schedule even when you don't want to?

Now winner of last week's Wipmadness:

Charlie Holmberg!!!!

Email me at ixtumea@gmail.com for your pick of these books:









I'll mail it off Tuesday after I drop son off at student center!


This week's book picks include an amazing multicultural dystopia:



And an amazing upcoming YA romance:


Comments

Unknown said…
Wow, is it already week 3 of Sept? How time flies. I'm dealing with this particular issue at the moment. I'm so busy with life, I seem to be procrastinating my writing time. For some reason I keep pushing it to the last thing I do in my day instead of it being one of my top priorities. One of the reasons is because I'm at a crossroad. I've got one project sitting to the side, which should be my #1 goal, but I'm so worn out with trying to fix it, I'm ignoring it instead. There are two other projects I have, but can't decide which to work on. I think about all 3 every moment in my day, but still I sit, contemplating. It's getting me nowhere.

I know the best remedy is to sit down and simply write, but why am I being so stubborn? Frustration over this has definitely set in. I could use a swift kick for sure.

I hope everyone else out there is having an easier time than me! Wishing y'all a great week and successful writing / revising. :)
Motivational penguin FTW!

After weeks of making myself sit in a chair and write a little on my WIP every day, I'm finally to a point where I'm dashing to the chair b/c ideas are spilling out. Love that feeling!

Have a great week, everyone!
I love the motivational penguin!

We all have those things that we love when we finally get in the middle of them, but sometime have a hard time convincing ourselves to get up and go there. For my daughter, it's karate. Once she's there, she loves it!

So, basically, I force myself to open my WIP in Scrivener and read a few lines. Usually, that's all it takes to get my thinking and eventually writing. But I have to open that door...

Rock on, Wiptsers!
Carol Garvin said…
I thought summer was speeding past me, but discovering this is September's #wipmadness week 3 is a terrible shock! LOL! I haven't checked in for weeks!

Congratulations to Charlie! Lucky gal!!

I'd rather be writing anytime! I never have to force myself to write. It's more that I have to drag myself away when other tasks beckon. I'm preoccupied with the writing conference that's coming next month. Have managed to submit a couple contest entries but now want to dive into a revise-and-polish regime to be ready for the conference itself.

I hope everyone else is enthused about autumn's arrival next weekend. It's coming whether we want it to or not, right? :D Have a great writing week!
Shari Green said…
Love the motivational penguin! :)

I find setting deadlines for myself helps me make the time to write -- I'm very strict (more like stubborn) when it comes to deadlines, lol. If I'm revising, though, I get totally obsessed, so I don't need anything to convince myself to write. First drafts are a whole different story, though -- that's where my deadline-making is essential!
Shari Green said…
Candilynn, sorry the writing's so frustrating right now. I find that when a project just isn't coming together or I'm just sick of it, it's good to set it aside for a while and come back fresh and re-energized about it later. (I guess that wouldn't work if I were on deadline, though!) So, ignoring it is okay, lol.

Here's your swift kick: pick one of your other two projects TODAY, and make a start TODAY. *sends hugs and tea to make up for the kick* *but is still serious about the kick!*
Unknown said…
I am happy to say that I am back in the swing, revising a novel that I hope to send to my publisher within a month. Yay! Hope you're all swinging high, too. ^_^
Kim Baccellia said…
Wow, Candilynn, I so can relate with this! I also have a couple projects going on and sometimes I just end up grabbing another book and reading.

Sending some writing dust your way! Here's to a great week!
Kim Baccellia said…
Jennifer,

I couldn't resist the penguin!

Yay, on having ideas come to you! Love when that happens with my own writing!

Thanks for dropping by!
Kim Baccellia said…
Mary Ann,

My son's that way too with a few things like his PE class. He moans about it but once there? It's hard to get him to leave!

I need to open my revision up again. I think I did find the 'perfect' CD for my playlist. It always seems to help if I have some music to motivate too.

Thanks for dropping by!
Kim Baccellia said…
Carol,

I know, huh? It just seemed like school was out and now we're starting up again.

I'm finding that I can get into a writing groove at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf coffee house twice a week. I just need to find another place to write especially next month when husband starts working from home.

Thanks for stopping by!
Kim Baccellia said…
Shari,

Can you give me a kick too? I seriously need one!

My deadlines usually work but lately I've been letting even that slide. The coffee house is helping though.

Thanks for dropping by!
Kim Baccellia said…
Angelina,

Are you sending another project to MuseItUp? Yay, you!!!!!

**Love to hear good news!
Denise Jaden said…
Wow, I'm here on a Monday to check in! I think it's Monday. Is it Monday?

When I don't feel like doing the work, I make deals with myself. I'm very good at that. I promise myself a couple of pages of reading time or something yummy to eat if I at least get started on the work. (And once I get started, I will finish. I am a finisher.)

Almost through with these edits, and then there is hope that my life will return to something resembling normal...
L.S. Taylor said…
I've been a baaaad girl. For the past few weeks (okay, four or five), I've forgotten to check in. Ooops. Sorry!

I've been querying. And working on my blue pencil submission for SIWC. Which means breathing new life (read: completely vivisecting) an older work. It feels awesome. :D
This comment has been removed by the author.
Such a good question.

Let's see.

I'm currently dealing with seasonal allergies that fluctuate with the change in temperature. My eyes get puffy, impeding my vision. Not fun.

Solution?

Dictation software.

I have a fractured thumb to deal with. It's on the mend already but the pain is pretty substantial and it likes to creep up on me at various times of the day. I don't want to take painkillers, if I can help it.

Solution?

Dictation software might work for drafting but not for revising, at least in my current experience. There are just too many variables that don't get picked up by the software.


For the most part, when I've got a really bad case of the UGHs, I try and do something else to get me back in the groove. It's usually creative like learning new languages or something art and/or music related. Once I get the juices flowing, it gets me thinking about my WIP. After that, it's easier for me to get back to writing.

It's not always easy and sometimes you just have to give yourself a break.

But here's to writing! We must forge ahead despite all odds. That's the only way to publication. :)


Cheers,

Tonette
Kim Baccellia said…
Denise,

I need to do that more with my own writing. I need to have mini goals and 'rewards' once I achieve them. I've been slacking off on that lately.

Yay with almost finishing edits!
Kim Baccellia said…
L.S. Taylor-

Yay for querying!!! I hope to be at that point later this year.

What's SIWC?

Thanks for stopping by!!!
Kim Baccellia said…
Tonette-

Thanks so much for reminding me this:
...We must forge ahead despite all odds. That's the only way to publication. :)

So very true. I've also had a huge case of the UGHS with homeschooling starting up again(my 12 year old has 'discovered' the whole 'I don't care' thing which has been driving me NUTS!)
Also it's hard when I see other author friends getting more deals and I'm still here stuck with this revision.

Sigh.

But you nailed it. You have to work at it in order to get to publication!

Thanks for dropping by!
Woohoo! Thanks so much! Will email shortly. :)

Also, yoga and I do not get along. But more power to you. And your penguin. ;)
Unknown said…
Thank you for the encouraging words, Shari and Kim! Also, Angelina for the Twitter kick yesterday. I'm happy to report that I took Shari's advice and simply opened one of the other two stories. I wrote for 3 hours. Didn't get a ton drafted, however, I spent time with a scene and worked on character. Hugs!

Yay to all the querying and writing folks out there!
Shari Green said…
Yay! Way to go, Candilynn! Keep at it!

Kim, SIWC is the Surrey International Writers' Conference, in Surrey, BC, Canada (right by Vancouver). It is an AMAZING conference -- so many amazing speakers, authors, agents, & editors, and of course, a ton of other writers to spend the weekend with! www.siwc.ca :)
Unknown said…
Mini rewards are super important! Good reminder. I'm revising oh-so-slowly... and am apparently late checking in. But here I am. This week, I'd love to get through a scene in which my MC bribes the third spoke of the love triangle. I don't know how realistic that is, but that's what I'm shooting for.

Mini reward.... I'll have to think of something! It will probably involve nutella :)

Hi all! Good luck!
Kim Baccellia said…
Lora,

OMG, nutella. I swear I lived on that stuff while attending BYU. Son's allergic to tree nuts so I haven't had it for a while.
Kim Baccellia said…
Shari-

Ooh, I've heard of that conference before. Surrey International Writers' Conference is supposed to be amazing!

Thanks!
Kim Baccellia said…
Charlie,

Just mailed your book off! Enjoy!
Kim Baccellia said…
Candilynn,

Today at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf I wrote 800 words! Yay!!!!! **Now if that writing streak will stay with me.
Woot woot!!! Go, Kim, Go!

I took a mental health day from work...and wrote 684 words and attended a webchat with Kevin Henkes :-)

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