Wednesday, May 7, 2014

IWSG: Doing It All



Thanks, Alex Cavanaugh, for hosting the Insecure Writer's Support Group, the best go-to spot in the blogoverse for writer support. The first Wednesday of every month, we post our insecurities and concerns related to our writing endeavors. You can sign up HERE.

And now to my most recent concern: Doing It All.

What about Doing It All? I can't. Not even close. I've tried writing, editing, marketing, blogging, all while working the day job. Something always suffers or gets neglected. I've done zero marketing this year. I've barely started writing again. And blogging is suffering big time.

I think it's safe to say I'm suffering from burnout. I've considered quitting and throwing in the towel. But when you're a writer, that's not an option, is it? Besides, what about my WIP? And what about the story ideas that are running around inside my head? If I don't write them down, who will? I'd hate for Hugh Howey or Neil Gaiman to write my story because I gave up, ya know?

However I look at it, something is going to suffer. That's just a fact that I'm learning to accept.

Now that I've gotten all that out of the way...

I HAVE started writing again. I actually set a schedule of sorts that I'm sticking to. Marketing and blogging are not part of the schedule, so I will do them when I can. I had to set priorities, and writing is NUMBER ONE!

I've never been a fan of word count in my writing, but I'm learning to really respect the idea. My goal is 500 words a day, five days per week, aka 2500 words per week. I've found that it's manageable, and once I start writing, I usually write more. The minimum word count works because I work from a numbered outline, and 500 words can encompass an item from the outline and a darn good scene. It's a great starting and stopping point every day. I'm on week three of this routine, and it's working!

BUT BEST OF ALL?

I'll publish the novella series I'm working on in October if I stick to my schedule. I'm already thinking about covers and getting excited about writing again.
 
What about you? 
 
Do you use the minimum word count method?
 
What works for you?