My plan for my plans is to attend to them, incrementally; even if I miss a couple goals in a day, at least I’d have completed some.
I’ve been going to group writings lately. Writing online via Meetup (using Discord or Zoom) with fellow writers gives me the charge to keep going when the discipline battery begins to fizzle out. My favorite writing group has been this monthly in person one. There, I can continue projects I’ve been meaning to get to, and get instant feedback when I read aloud. I’m working on my listening skills–I get so much helpful advice, I want to return the favor. Sometimes I struggle to think on the fly of compliments or questions.
Speaking of projects I’ve been meaning to get to, there’s one important one. One I want to focus on and put my all into.
The novel.
The three projects that I’ve been looking at instead of my first novel, which isn’t outlined yet, yikes, is I Know You (inspired by Lydia Davis) For The Last Time (my thriller/crime story) and a sci-fi flash fic I’ll call for now Lamar’s Story. All three of these projects are fun, and they all three require discipline and attention (unlike my 250 word freewrites, which are one-offs). But to write The Novel–and I have three ideas for a novel, I might even write two simultaneously–to write The Novel, I’ll have to seriously be committed. I’ll have to work on it every day. It’ll be like marathon training, which sounds insanely fun. But I may not have time to work on longer short stories like I am used to.
This November I might do my first NaNoWriMo. I have to see how it all plays out. But when there’s major progress on my novel (or novels) I’ll let you know.
The Fiction Writer 