Tag Archive | writing habits

Tracking Creative Progress and Becoming a Writer

2017… the year I’m trying to get serious about being a poet. And about allowing myself more creative time in general.

I’ve been using the awesome (and incredibly simple) app Timesheet to track how much time I’m giving to writing and how much time is going to a given project. In January I tallied an impressive 35 minutes. Total. But in January I also gave most of my creative time to a photo book project. Many, many hours in fact. It was something I was passionate about creating and have been putting off because I’ve been terrible about allowing myself time to work on creative projects at all. I’m thrilled with the end result. And I’m learning how to give myself time for the creative projects I really want to work on, not just writing… and how to gently let go of the projects begun that became a burden instead of a joy.

I’m doing better with writing this month, and even though I haven’t clocked a lot of hours yet I have seen definite progress on my project. I’ve also taken on a commission for the first time. A small project for a friend who needed some poetry in her story. I’ve got a good start on it and am waiting for more notes from her before I launch into finishing it up. I’ve never tried to write something that isn’t a vision in my own head before, so this is good practice, even if not something I’d normally do. Continue reading →

NaNoWriMo 2016: Week 2 Recap

Nov17

This post is a couple of days late, but I’m here! I’m still kicking! At this point I don’t see how 50 hours will happen, but I’m certainly not giving up.

The weekend saw a couple of good writings days, but I’m woefully behind. So far behind that at this point, my more serious goal is 25 hours. (Though the insane part of me does still whisper in my ear that 50 could happen…)

I finished day 14 at 10 hours, 38 minutes of time logged.

Keep in mind that I’m not counting any time my brain wanders to thinking about my project during the day. Or any time I may be vaguely thinking about it in between more serious writing sessions while I do other things. I’m only logging focused time on the project. Butt in chair, pen in hand, total focus. My brain is getting tired… I forgot how much creative focus can be a mental drain!

I’m also starting to feel ‘hungry’ for other poetry. I’m draining so much out of my head that I need to replenish it with the awesome words of others. Thankfully I own at least a few poetry books and have been rereading through those, plus I picked up a new book from the library just yesterday. There’s some poetry books on my Christmas list (*fingers crossed!*) and a friend just got me a subscription to Southern Poetry Review for my birthday so I’m very excited! Not to mention the second issue of Outlook Springs should be headed my way soon too. Plenty of new words to consume in 3, 2, 1…

I’ve been very scattered with my writing this last week. Working for 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there… having difficulty getting any one piece to talk to me strongly, but making sure I take the time to be quiet and focus on each one in case they’re just being quiet. This is a change for me, and a positive one. I’m trying to stop writing ‘only when I’m inspired’.

The good news? I finished a new poem! Edits and all. It’s the second complete poem of the collection. (I realized that one of the poems I finished in the spring was actually the beginning to the collection I thought I hadn’t started yet. Funny how that works sometimes.) Two poems hardly make a collection, but they are a beginning. Perhaps I can finish at least one more before the month is up? Retraining your brain, your creativity, and your motivation is hard…

Answering Your Questions, Part 2

Jun9

It is now time for me to get to all of the writerly questions you lovely people left me during the poetry giveaway in April.

Onward!

1) Do you have a writing schedule?

Absolutely not. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. I don’t do very well on a strict schedule. What I do need to make sure I do, however, is to make time for writing. It’s all too easy to get caught up in everything else there is to do.

2) Do you feel your poetry has evolved over time or do you have a style that you’ve stayed true to?

Definitely evolved. Still evolving. Continue reading →