Are You Writing? Week of 10.2.17
Posted by David Duhr in 
“Are You Writing?” is a new weekly space that will allow you to post your writing, editing, and reading goals for the week — in public! for accountability! — and to let us know how you did the week before.
Anyone remember AccountabiliBuddy!? It’s like that, but with many more partners.
If y’all like this and find it useful, we’ll do it every week.
My goal:
I aim to write 2,500 words of my book. I’ll also transcribe at least two of the interviews that are sitting in my voice memos. Last week I wrote only a few hundred words; this week I will revise and edit those words. I also want to read at least 50 pages of Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir.
Your turn:
What are your literary goals for this week?
October – my home stretch month. My plan is to edit at least 60 pages per week. Certainly more pages on weekends. I try to edit one, two, or three pages before I go to work. Before the end of the month I plan on reconnecting with WBN for the final polish of my Novel. This has been a heck of a journey over these few years. What I have been doing, month by month is type out my schedule – how many pages do I feel i can edit per day. I’ve revised that schedule a couple of times.… Read more »
So the goal for the week is to revise at least sixty pages of the novel. I can get behind that. Good luck, John!
Finishing new writing of chapter six (~1000 words) and begin rewrites of 5 and 6.
Good luck, Jen! Let us know how it goes.
Rewriting takes me much more time than writing.Sometimes to find the right word takes hours..And when found, it impacts whole chapters. So, I am setting goals in terms of hours per day, regularly. Revision is the hardest part of writing because I got to be careful about the general coherence, in addition to grammar and vocabulary. And while doing all these things, doubts start surging like “does this story have any sens’ and to overcome them one has only one way : sticking to the schedule.
Hi Alia. Revision, for so many writers, is the hardest part of the process. And for so many good reasons. That’s why we call revision a re-envisioning of your project… which can sometimes turn into a total overhaul. It’s much more intense than any line edit could ever be.
I think your idea of setting time rather than word goals is perfect. Good luck!
For good or ill some times I can blast through my rewrite of my page in 4-5 minutes and sometimes I spend 45 minutes on one paragraph.
No doubt. As Alia says above, sometimes finding just the right word can take forever.
Repurpose a 25-pp chapter into a 15-pp submission for a consequential workshop; produce 3 pp of new writing for coaching session.
Sounds good, Lisa! For me it’s proving helpful to have more than one goal, too. If you’re struggling with the writing, you can work on the workshop piece; if the revision is driving you mad, you can work on the pages. I love it. Knock ’em dead.
This morning I wrote 1,650 words; only 850 to go!
How are you all doing? Making progress heading into the weekend?
I have 37 pages this week and expect to at least hit my 60 page goal. I’ve been at this for many months and will admit I am starting to run out of gas. Creating a novel of about 700 pages has been more enjoyable, compared to what I am doing now…reading and re-reading over and over – changing word usage, taking what is confusing and clarifying. When I started this project more than three years ago, I never imagined this would take so loooong! In so many ways learning how to find my voice has been a journey unto… Read more »
This week’s post is live. Go share your goals! And share last week’s progress.
https://www.writebynight.net/are-you-writing/writing-week-10-9-17/