Wednesday 1 August 2012

IWSG - Baby Steps


We're allotted a certain amount of time on this space rock. When my time's up well, that's it. Elise Fallson, please take your bow and get off the stage.   




Finished. 
Fin. 
Game Over. 

You can believe whatever you choose to about the afterlife, but  one thing is certain, our bodies will ALL turn into space dust at some point. Sounds depressing, but I'm not trying to be, in fact I haven't felt better in quite some time. The reason for that is simple. I've decided to stop complaining and moaning about my life. And more importantly, I've stopped telling myself my writing is shit and my stories are shit. Because they're not. I may not be on the NY Best Seller list anytime soon, but I'm not on the Vomit Inducing list either.  I realize the whining phase can be quite destructive but for me it was necessary. It was my way of letting out frustrations, doubts and insecurities. But I'm done with the whining now. The clock is ticking and I've got a ton of ass kicking to do. Starting with my own. So, knowing I work better under pressure, I've decided to set a few short-term goals and slap them on a writers to do list of sorts. I'm keeping a progress log to help me stay on track and allow for adjustments if needed. 


Baby steps folks, it's all about baby steps...


EF Moving Forward List 

  1. Edit/rewrite at least 20 pages of ms / night.
  2. Start writing a query
  3. Visit blogs  6 days / week 
  4. Write a max of 3 posts / week
  5. RUN 45 minutes every other day. 
  6. Finish beta reading blogger friends wip by end of the month
  7. Increase number of books I read / month
  8. Finish book review
  9. Check e-mail a MAX of 3 times / day
  10. Check fb once / day
  11. Get to bed by 2am the LATEST
  12. Grow thicker skin



A lot has changed since my last IWSG post, and that's not to say it'll be double rainbows from here on out, but for the moment, I'm looking forward to moving forward. (:


39 comments:

  1. Great list but I can see a slight problem - where is your 'life' in all of this? Staying up late is great but are you able to stay in bed late as well? Only checking FB once a day? That is the same as only have one cup of tea a day!! Good luck!! Stay flexible!!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Good morning Sally. (:
      Unfortunately, having a life and novel writing don't cohabitate very well. But luckily for me, I didn't have much of a life to begin with! :P And my kids are on holiday right now which means, I don't have to get up so early. And writing at night is the only time I can get things done on my wip. As for fb, e-mail and twitter, they are such time sucks that I have to cut back. But when September rolls around I know I'll have to make some kind of adjustments. Plus, I don't want to make the same mistake I made 2 years ago when I first starting writing my wip. I wrote 4 months on barely any sleep, it was crazy and the exhaustion led me straight into a writers block that lasted almost 4 months.

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  2. That double rainbow video always cracks me up! Thank for that. I love it.

    This is a really inspiring post Elise. Change is very productive. I admire your willingness to tell us what you plan to do and take the bull by the horns. I wish you luck but I honestly think you have enough willpower to see this through without our well wishes. You will always have our support. Cheers.

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    1. The double rainbow video cracks me up too! "What does it mean!" :D
      And thanks for stopping by, it means a lot to have the support from awesome folks like yourself.

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  3. Your list is super-duper-uber-awesome! Good luck and I'll toast to moving forward! *raises glass* Some virtual wine? Tea? Coffee?

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    1. Thanks Michelle! (: *raises virtual wine glass*

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  4. Good for you. In the world of blogging and in writing in general, people usually take you at prose value -- if you de-value yourself, they accept the picture of yourself you give them: so give them the best! A great post. Thanks for visiting mine, Roland

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    1. Thanks Roland for stopping in, and I believe you're right. Positive projection for positive return, or something like that. (:

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  5. Great goals, Elise! I wish you tremendous success! In a definite "great-minds-think-alike" posting, I also decided to solidify some writing goals and put them on my blog today.

    Oh, that and award you a couple of blogging awards, too. ;^)

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  6. Great goals! You can do it, girl! I need to take a shot of your medicine--my writing is GREAT! And no more whining about the woes in my life. I'll see if I can keep that up. May be difficult right now. Grrr....

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    1. Life does make it tough to be positive sometimes, especially for a pessimist like myself. But it's all about baby steps...and you, young lady, you are an awesome writer!! (:

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  7. I agree. Get your writing out there for the world to consume. You aren't the best judge of your writing anyway. Leave that up to other people. "Fifty Shades of Grey" is a poorly written book by many standards and is making millions. Get your stuff out there. Find out if you are the new J.K. Rowling, Meyer, or E.L. James. You will know soon enough. But you'll never know if you never publish.

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  8. I love your list. I think I need to adopt your philosophy.

    Best of luck with it all!!

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  9. I'm so motivated now, thanks to your motivation!

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  10. "The clock is ticking and I've got a ton of ass kicking to do."

    Damn, girl - if I was handy with a needle, I'd cross-stitch that line on a sampler and mail that sucker to you!!! :-)

    Good on your goal-setting self! W00T, W00T, W0000000000T!
    Some Dark Romantic

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  11. I'm a huge fan of lists, and I love yours! It's good that you included things like exercise in there too, as taking care of oneself can so easily fall by the wayside.
    I only caution you to make adjustments as needed. Sometimes our ambitions are larger than our real life allows. (I really wanted an 'a' word there ... grrr ... baby steps. ;))

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Kirsten. Exercise is so important, I only wish more people cold integrate it into their lifestyle. I'm going to give this list one month and see how it goes, then I can make adjustments as needed...baby steps. (:

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  12. That is a crazy list girl! Good for you! And I agree, including exercise is so important.

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    1. It sure is! Which reminds me...today is my run day! (:

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  13. You have to have lists if you want to be successful. I have lists that tell me where my lists are. And I walk and do P90X. I mix it up and do different things to keep things fresh.

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    1. I love lists too, but sticking to them is where I sometimes falter. I didn't know what P90X was so I did a quick search and wow that looks intense! Great you've found an exercise system to incorporate into your schedule! (:

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  14. I love your attitude and your list. I'm not about to stop complaining and moaning anytime soon though. If I did, my husband wouldn't recognize me. :P

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    1. "If I did, my husband wouldn't recognize me." LOL!

      No problem Lexa, just make sure you sprinkle some positive vibes in there once in a while, keep husband on his toes. (:

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  15. do what works for you... seems you have your plan in place, and the determination to succeed :)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuRO-ZOq1Ac&feature=fvwrel

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  16. Go for it, girl!

    I laughed at the 'vomit inducing list' comment. (I think I was on that one back in the beginning - hahaha)

    Scheduling blog posts ahead of time helps. Right now, mine are scheduled all the way thru early September.

    Anyhow, good luck. I love your attitude! :)

    IWSG #179 (At least until Alex culls the list again. :P)

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    1. Thanks Melissa, and I seriously doubt you were ever on the VI list.
      But you are an inspiration, pre-scheduled posts til September! Awesome. I really need to get on that. :)

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  17. Way to go girl! Good for you. Now anytime you're feeling bad, read your kick ass blog post. ;)

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  18. Great list. I have a thick skin, really I do, now hand me another bowl of ice cream.

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  19. That's a pretty awesome list. Well thought out, and power strong! Good luck! I think you'll do great! Don't get down if ever a day gets in the way of your list, a new day is exactly that. I'll send positive energy your way!

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  20. Gene: Move over so I can sit next to you. (:

    D.V.: Thanks DV. I've already had a day that's been a total frustrating failure...life, always getting in the way of my to do list.....(:

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