Like every year, I’m doing something approximating AcWriMo. I’ve been checking in on twitter (although towards the end of last week I got distracted), and on a spreadsheet that my writing group has organised.
My goals this year are as follows:
- Get into a daily writing habit (so far, so good)
- Finish book introduction (done!)
- Edit each chapter (6/7 done!)
- Submit book
- Plan book chapter
- Finish book review
It’s going…dare I say…pretty well? I feel like every year, I check in for AcWriMo, with grand plans, but saying, unfailingly, that I’ve never met my goals. But in the last few months I’ve actually, finally, got into a really good daily writing habit. I’ve no doubt that this is book-being-due-imminently related. In fact, it’s due by the end of the month, and it actually seems likely I’ll get it done with some time to spare. The test, I think, will be to see what happens when the book is in. Will my good habits collapse back into binge writing, or will I maintain something more like my book-finishing pace? One thing I’ve noticed since adopting a proper writing-every-day habit is just how quickly it’s all come together. The book felt like a gargantuan task just six weeks ago, but it’s now essentially done.
I guess one thing that’s certain is that my daily writing practice won’t look the same as I start work on newer projects. I might have to be more flexible in what I’m defining by writing, e.g. 30 mins of book chapter planning might become writing, or an hour of reading an article, or a couple of hours of work on my book proposal. I guess as long as I’m making progress and chipping away at each project each week, it won’t matter the exact form.
I’ll check in at the end of the month to let you know how I got on – I’m hoping I’ll be able to say I met all of my goals!
Dr Freya Gowrley 