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Monday, February 21, 2011A Change In The Schedule
Today is President's Day. We had planned to change our schedule - go see friends, have some great BBQ and maybe shop a little. One of the joys of being self-employed is that we can make these decisions on the spur of the moment. Of course Mother Nature doesn't always work with us.
This morning we awoke to an ice storm, icy roads. Our change in the schedule is off. That got me thinking about how I've changed my writing schedule over the past three weeks.
I started taking a workshop with Candace Havens this year...I'm really trying to increase my writing output and I'm also trying to push myself to the next level - Contracted Writer Level. In the workshop we began a Fast Draft two weeks ago with the goal of writing and finishing a book in 2 weeks. Yes, I am a glutton for punishment.
You know what I realized? This actually does work for me. It sounds impossible, but writing that first draft in a quick manner has helped me get the ideas on the page without stopping and mulling and tweaking constantly. I've had to write fast or fall behind, and I really wanted to stay on target. This draft is so far from perfect I won't get go into it. But the story bones are there. I can fix the problems though - add in more emotion, deepen the conflicts, edit, edit, edit. The point is that the story is written so what I have left is more manageable.
You know what else I realized? I still need to tweak this plan to fit my style, my way of doing things. I was about half-way through the book when I realized I had a major problem with the first three chapters. That problem would not leave me alone so I retreated, took off 2 days of new writing and fixed that problem. I ripped apart the first three chapters - which are still not perfect by any stretch of the imagination - and it made pushing forward on the last half of the book so much simpler to write.
Now, of course, revisions begin and I may learn that I hate this fast-drafted book with a passion, but right now I am basking in the fact that I wrote an entire book in two weeks just because I changed my schedule a little bit.
Do you ever change your schedule? How? And do you find those changes increase your decrease your productivity?
Posted By: Kristina Knight @ 2:36:00 PM