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Monday, February 25, 2013

Endings and Beginnings (WIPmadness Check-In, Week 4)


... Well, I tried to be productive this weekend. Charlie had other ideas.

Before I continue, an important announcement: With the end of February comes an event that I now look forward to every year. It's the reason behind why we at #WIPmadness do the weekly check-ins. And if you haven't tried it yet, for whatever reason, I can't recommend it enough: March Madness for Writers! The month-long challenge is about setting big goals and trying to reach them. Be sure to stop by Denise Jaden's blog later this week for info on signup, and to get started on a month of daily check-ins, wonderful camaraderie, and tons of prizes to be won. I'm offering a copy of Morgan Keyes' DARKBEAST and a first chapter critique. Hope to see you there!

So, here we are at the last #WIPmadness check-in for February. Did you meet your goals? Nearly there? Decent progress, at least? Or was it more of a "hahahahanotsomuch"? All are valid answers. Whatever your circumstances were, I'm sure you did what you could, and like we talked about last week, it's more important to take care of yourself.

On that note, I'm definitely glad I had last week's little epiphany. I pretty much axed my social calendar last week, and I feel better for taking the quiet time. Of course, no sooner that I did than I caught the latest cold that's been going around, but at least I've been resting and taking care of myself. Thank you Blogspot for allowing posts to be scheduled, so I could write this Sunday evening then conk out after the Oscars. (Edit to add: I liked the show, but I was disappointed by a few of the results. Argh.) Thank you dayjob for sick days, because despite the absurd amount of rest I got over the weekend, I definitely need more. I may be a bit late in responding today, sleep being my priority, but you'll hear from me eventually. Progress-wise I was able to give my critique partner beta-feedback on her really cool urban fantasy. I got more work done on the final fine-tuning/revisions for my own piece. I also read some more and, prior to this cold, was able to focus on my fitness. 

How did your week, and your month, go? Are you looking forward to the writers' March Madness as much as I am?

11 comments:

  1. My cat also likes to contribute to my writing, although he takes the more direct approach of standing on my keyboard.

    I had a good month of writing (almost) every day and I've already decided that I'm going to try and finish a first draft of my WIP for March Madness.

    Hope you feel better soon!!!

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  2. Rest well, L.S.! I have been reading lots and lots. Finished a beta read this morning and am planning to finish the historical I'm reading this morning. This month has been full of transitions and emotional drama and I'm working hard to achieve some kind of equilibrium. I've got another round of edits coming soon which will start March off with a clear writing goal. Looking forward to the March Madness!

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  3. Hugs. I hope you feel better soon. I came down with a nasty head cold last week, two days after getting back edit notes from my agent. Still, I've busted my hump and am moving forward. Take that, damn cold.

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  4. I'm still plugging away at my February goals. Hoping to get on top of things by Friday. Thanks for the shootout about March Madness, Laura!

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  5. I hope you are feeling better. It was an interesting week. Wouldn't it just figure that the moment I that real breakthrough with the new wip, my agent gives me a powerful note on the last MS. Of course my brain does a 180ยบ and starts rebuilding that ms instead of going with the flow of epiphany.

    However, I think it might work out. I am busy experimenting with changing the POV from 3rd person to 1st. I'm going to work on a few chapters and send it of to my uber-awesome agent and see if it works. Balancing authenticity and accessibility in a historical novel for teens is always a tough job. But I'm working on it...

    Can't wait for March Madness! I'm hosting on Thursdays :-)

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  6. Love the cat on the computer! With me, it's Jenny, our cockatiel, who loves to sit on my arm while I'm at the computer!

    Last week started off great. Then we found out we had a cracked drainage pipe. Not fun. $2700 later we had a section of pipe replaced and all the drainage pipes cleaned. But we still need to replace a couple more sections. $$$ Need to get estimates. Such a pain though one inspector told us it could have been much worse and been the sewage pipes that burst. Oh, joy.

    Can't wait for March Madness! I'm hosting on Saturdays and I have some great YAs to give away!

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  7. Hope you get to feeling better soon! I didn't get squat done last week with writing. I'm kinda in a slump at the moment. I really need to get my thinking cap on for March, as I hope to continue drafting my new MG wip. I've had to go back to the drawing board and redo my outline.

    Hope everyone has a great week!!

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  8. Feel better soon! I hope Charlie is helping with your recovery as much as he helps with your writing!

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  9. I haven't checked in all month, have I (I'm blaming this on the fact that it's the first year I'm doing WIPmadness)?

    Well, I didn't reach my (unrealistic) goal of finishing the big-picture editing on my WIP, but I've gotten close. The other day I spent a good two hours on one short scene, but the changes *make* that scene so I'm happy with it. Next month will be more productive.

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  10. I hope you feel better soon! I've been in a strange holding pattern, doing a patchwork of other things - outlining some short stories, doing research for my next project, painting murals for school. All the while I've been waiting to hear back from my beta readers so I can get into revising. WELL. Today I got my first batch of comments and it was like a shot in the arm - I feel so ready to hit March hard. I'll be retreating into the revision cave, sending out for pizza and concentrating on shining FIND ME up. In other words, I'm pumped for MARCH MADNESS! Hope everyone else's projects are coming along nicely.

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  11. Writing was bumped down the priority list this past week -- my dad had a scary health crisis, so family time was the most important thing. (He's back home and doing well now!) I did manage to do some mulling and note-taking, which is my version of plotting, lol, and I'm really excited about March Madness! I feel like I haven't quite changed gears yet, though... hoping to get in the right frame of mind in the next (*checks clock*) five hours. :)

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