Saturday, June 26, 2010

Motivational Moat

Watery Tart: Hello?

TAUNTING FRENCHMEN: 'Allo?

WT: You there, can I talk to the motivational master?

TF: No! Now go away!

WT: But I'm on a desperate quest for motivation! I need his help to find it!

TF: Well I'll ask 'im, but I don't think 'e'll be very keen. You see, he's already got some!


And there we have it... I can SEE the motivation from across the moat, but I can't GET there, and the motivational minions will do NOTHING but taunt me!

My OWN motivation seems to have petered off... Even the writing is hard right now, possibly because I can see I'm ready to just finish Kahlotus Disposal Site and it will be short of 50K words at this iteration, but STILL, just finish the darned thing, right? But for some reason I can't get going. I had one REALLY good day this week, but mostly it's been just a few hundred words here and there.

The eating is the same as it's been for months... mostly good, moments of bad, weight flat... better than gaining (especially in a birthday week, I suppose). A big thunderstorm interrupted one of my walks this week—couldn't bring myself to do the elliptical instead.

I am in the home stretch for June, so I think I can get back to it. It is also the last weekend of my husband's class, so from here one out, keeping my routine will get easier again. I guess it is just BACK TO IT... I have little enough left to write, that I'd REALLY like to get done this weekend, then THAT particular thing can be off my list.


July Anticipation

We also have a couple EXCITING things coming in July. The Burrow is starting a blog (Burrowers, Books, and Balderdash)—about once a week, I will be posting something THERE. On that day I'll be sure and post something HERE linking to where I am, but I'm really excited for you all to get to know a couple of my fellow Burrowers.

July I will also be seriously writing my Cozy Mystery first draft—the pace isn't as fast as the WriMo, necessarily, but it also needs to be a lot cleaner. My deadline isn't until the end of December, but I have rounds built in for feedback and the rewrite/edit thing. I think that's especially important for this first one. I will want them all fabulous, but the plotting of mystery is a lot tighter than what I normally write, and the line between too much and not enough information for readers to 'solve along with the sleuth' is a lot narrower-- to walk it, I will need that feedback and reworking time, so I am trying to have draft one done by mid August.

So here we go... Have a great first weekend of summer, everyone!

16 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Maybe writing for the new blog will motivate you!

Helena said...

Damn those taunting Frenchman! (I LOVED Spamalot!)
You'll do just fine. Don't forget that you have SO much going on and you're holding yourself to such a high standard. Hell, I'm a lazy-ass slacker compared to you, girl!

Hart Johnson said...

Alex-is that sarcasm I note? I love projects with my writer's group--It will require a little organization, but it's not like we don't talk to each other all the time anyway.

Helena-you are NO slacker! And I loved Spamalot too, though I would have liked to see it in the UK as I missed the British accents (the Detroit version didn't really have them)

Old Kitty said...

Good luck with the new blog!! Maybe you just need to rest - sometimes the writing brain just needs to chill every so often! I hope you find the motivation soon - of course you will! Good luck and take care. Have a great weekend too.
x

Dawn Ius said...

Sometimes the start of something new kicks the gears of motivation in motion. I hope so, for you.

Hart Johnson said...

Thanks OK and Dawn! I definitely hope the new stuff will kick it all into gear. I do better when I am fresh and excited about something. I think I am just under the 'this project needs a lot of cleaning' cloud'.

Helen Ginger said...

You are really loading up your summer! Don't pile on too much or you'll stress yourself out.

Write in time to relax and enjoy life, just a little breather each day.

Hart Johnson said...

I'll tell you what, Helen--I will send my HUSBAND to you as evidence I should be able to give up all my domestic responsibilities... teehee--I actually LOVE the other stuff! It is the laundry and stuff I'd drop in a heartbeat!

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

A new blog! Wow. I know, like everything the Burrow does, that it will be fabulous! And Alex is right...maybe that will serve as motivation. :)

Lisa K. said...

I hear you on that lack of motivation. I'm feeling the same thing lately, but I'm chalking it up to the heat and the fact that I'd much rather be in the pool swimming than doing just about anything else.

I'll be looking forward to the new Burrow blog. They're such a great group of people.

Patricia Stoltey said...

What is that slump writers get into right before they finish a draft? You'd think that's when super-motivation would hit, but it's often super-lethargy instead. Just have faith that the guilt and embarrassment will finally outweigh the procrastination and you'll sprint to the finish...and on to revisions. :)

Hart Johnson said...

Elizabeth--So glad you're looking forward to a Burrow Blog! We have a ton of fun, but are putting a little effort into our group identity--plus a few of us don't have our OWN blog, so the rest of us are nudging...

Lisa-I would LOVE it if it were so hot here all I could think was 'pool'--maybe if I didn't work, I would, but IMHO Michigan's summer hasn't nearly reached miserable, and it only ever DOES so briefly, that I can't blame the heat.

Patricia--YAY for guilt and embarrassment! *snort* who'd have thought they'd be my best friends, but I think you may have something there!

Cheeseboy said...

Certainly sounds like a busy week of writing... glad you had time for us bloggies. I'll take walking/running over elliptical any day. I can't blame you.

What is a burrow blog? Never heard of it.

Hart Johnson said...

The Burrow is my writing group--we are making a group effort of it... hopefully, when we are all famous, it will be like Naked Authors or something... not that we aren't already naked. *shifty*

Raquel Byrnes said...

I hear you about motivation. With my teacher husband off of work it seems like my days zip by with no writing to speak of.

Looking forward to posts from the Burrow. Keep at it...you're in the home stretch!

Margo Berendsen said...

Oh I love the taunting Frenchmen! Very clever the way you connected them to the motivational moat. Stuggling with that moat right now myself.