A New Attitude

Oprah says, "I geeeeeeeeet it!!!!!!"

Your girl, Tuesday, here.

If you follow me over at Random Thoughts, you know that I decided NOT to make any New Year's resolutions this year. I think Kristen pretty much nailed it in her post yesterday (today?) about how we make them and always let them fall to the wayside long before the year is up. I couldn't agree more. Some people are good at setting and making their goals. I am not. Why play the game? lol

Anyway, that said, I'm taking things one day at a time, trying to get back into the groove with FAKING IT. And guess what? It's working. For the first time in a long time, I'm rolling right along with the revisions I had imagined I'd be making months--even years--ago. I don't know what's going on exactly, but trust me, I'm not taking too much time out to ponder it. I'm just going with it, and hoping it lasts.

The best part is that I'm so fired up to keep going. In the last three days, I've worked on one particular chunk that's been giving me problems for-ever. I just couldn't seem to make it work, no matter what I tried. Well, I'm getting there. I'm making progress. No way am I saying it's perfect, but it's a solid start. I've got one more bit to get through and this chunk will be finished until I go back through for final revisions. In the end, it should weigh in at about 8-9K -- probably about 7K of that new. CRAZY.

I don't want to get all Oprah here and declare, "I geeeeeeeeet it!!!!!!" (You know, how she thought she finally knew how to keep her weight in check??) Yeah. That's not what I'm doing. At all.

I simply feel REALLY good about where I'm going with this book, and I want to share the joy. :)

So...what measures am I taking to keep going?

1. I'm making a date to write each and every day. I schedule two hours. So far, I've done more each day. But if I get two solid hours in, I'll be happy. (Some of that time IS spent playing Mahjong. I'm a procrastinator, people. And I'm out of practice when it comes to writing on a regular basis. I swear, though, it DOES help me think. And I never play for long. Honest.)

2. I'm brainstorming what I'll write the following day. Nothing real concrete, but just a general idea of where I want to head. Right now, for instance, I know exactly WHAT I want to happen to finish off the scene I'm working on.. I'm just not sure HOW I'm going to accomplish it. Hopefully by having it in my head that I need to write it tomorrow, I'll be able to come up with something during the interim. Chances are I won't, and it will all happen during the writing process...but whatever. I think my brain is working on it on a subconscious level.

3. I'm not letting all the end game stuff into my head this time 'round. No thoughts (or at least I'm trying) about what happens when I finish. No thoughts about how much more I have to do in order to finish. No thoughts about 'what happens next' at all. I'm just taking things one day at a time. You. Would. Not. Believe. how much stress this has taken off of me. It's unbelievable. I know there will be times my thoughts will stray to the 'what if's' of the future, but honestly, there's nothing I can do about what happens tomorrow. I can't predict it. I can't control it. I hold no sway over it whatsoever. The only thing I have full control over is the book I write today. And I'm going to try to make it the best damn book I can.

4. I'm taking time to read each and every day. Even if it's just 15 minutes. I need to charge my brain with words.

And that's really about it. I haven't moved all of my files over to Scrivener yet. It was taking too much time, so I'll move them over as I go. I didn't want to be standing still during the time it would take me to do all of that work. Bugger it, I say. LOL. I'm putting my new scenes in, and will fill in the rest as I go.

Anyway -- that's where I'm at. And I'm loving it. :)

A small tidbit from the new stuff:

Gabe moved around his kitchen with an ease and familiarity that had me absolutely fascinated. At least, that’s the reason I gave myself for why I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away from him. The reality was that like the gravitational pull of the sun, his ass held me captive. No matter where I looked or what I tried to do to distract myself, that’s where my gaze always landed.

Happy writing, everyone!



Oprah says, "I don't think she gets it at all."