The 2020 Daily Writing Challenge – November 16
Writing is like driving at night in the fog.
You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
– E. L. Doctorow
Today is Day 321 of the 2020 Daily Writing Challenge.
Did you write yesterday?
My year-end countdown has begun, and what a wild ride 2020 has been. The adage says what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. I’m not dead, yet therefore I must be tougher right? The question becomes — How much can I accomplish before we ring in the new year?
It all starts with a well-conceived strategy, and mine includes a master list of 100 activities to help me reach my annual writing goal. It may sound impossible, but many items are almost insignificant and require fewer than 15 minutes to finish. They are micro-actions, minor jobs that, while they are crucial, they are the ones I repeatedly push to tomorrow.
My new resolution is to stop multitasking and instead concentrate on finishing one task before starting another. I have dedicated a cute notebook to collect random thoughts that often distract me from my current job. I aim to eliminate some low-priority habits and devote my time to higher valued assignments. Each evening, I will organize tomorrow’s calendar and schedule my most important activity in the top slot of my To-Do list. I pledge to complete that job before doing anything else. It means moving my daily writing session from afternoons to first thing in the morning. Well, second after my coffee, of course. November and NaNoWriMo begin on Sunday, and I need to incorporate the challenge into my routine.
Will you participate in NaNo? Do you have a plan? What can you achieve in the next few weeks?
Let us know in the comments below.
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
November 15 Day 15 of NaNoWriMo 2020
Are you writing for NaNo?
How is Day 15 progressing?
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Salvaging Productive Writing Time from Sleepless Nights – Daily Quote
On countless evenings, I find I cannot sleep. My brain refused to stop. My thoughts race, obsessively testing ideas, possibilities, and contemplating the question ‘what if?’ I have long since learned my lesson, and I have learned there will be no rest. I relinquish my control, leave my bed, and write. Other nights I am jolted from my dreams by some cosmic alarm clock. I clutch a brilliant idea like a lightsaber slashing through the dark. Once again, I stumble to my desk, power on the laptop to transcribe the dream. The stories refuse to be pushed aside.
Telling tales is in my blood, and I schedule writing sessions every day, but I give myself a break from my routine on the days when my brain did not register it was quitting time.
Do you write at unusual times?
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
The 2020 Daily Writing Challenge – November 15
Writing is like driving at night in the fog.
You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
– E. L. Doctorow
Today is Day 320 of the 2020 Daily Writing Challenge.
Did you write yesterday?
My year-end countdown has begun, and what a wild ride 2020 has been. The adage says what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. I’m not dead, yet therefore I must be tougher right? The question becomes — How much can I accomplish before we ring in the new year?
It all starts with a well-conceived strategy, and mine includes a master list of 100 activities to help me reach my annual writing goal. It may sound impossible, but many items are almost insignificant and require fewer than 15 minutes to finish. They are micro-actions, minor jobs that, while they are crucial, they are the ones I repeatedly push to tomorrow.
My new resolution is to stop multitasking and instead concentrate on finishing one task before starting another. I have dedicated a cute notebook to collect random thoughts that often distract me from my current job. I aim to eliminate some low-priority habits and devote my time to higher valued assignments. Each evening, I will organize tomorrow’s calendar and schedule my most important activity in the top slot of my To-Do list. I pledge to complete that job before doing anything else. It means moving my daily writing session from afternoons to first thing in the morning. Well, second after my coffee, of course. November and NaNoWriMo begin on Sunday, and I need to incorporate the challenge into my routine.
Will you participate in NaNo? Do you have a plan? What can you achieve in the next few weeks?
Let us know in the comments below.
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
November 14 Day 14 of NaNoWriMo 2020
Yesterday’s late-night writing session added another 300 words to my total. According to my NaNo stats page, I am on track to reach my goal in March. The thought makes me smile, and it stifles the doubting voice in my head. The little devil whispers in my ear, telling me I can never finish a novel. If I allowed those words to influence me, I would give up. But I know better. Ray Bradbury said, “You fail only if you stop writing,” and I don’t plan to stop anytime soon.
Are you writing for NaNo?
How is Day 14 progressing?
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Coffee Time – Daily Quote
Let’s face it. Sometimes life sucks. And 2020 has served us a heaping hot mess of chaos, mayhem, and frightening circumstances for us to manage and overcome. Piled onto stacks of daily challenges, and ordinary tribulations, it is easy to get overwhelmed by frustration and succumb to feeling like no matter what we do, our best efforts are futile. We reel, caught in a whirlwind of an existence we cannot control.
I have a simple strategy for reestablishing my equilibrium — I make a cup of coffee. The process has become a ritual where I build a personal sanctuary, block the rest of the world, and concentrate on me, myself, and I. Nothing intrudes or interrupts my thoughts or the precise steps required. As my coffee brews, my focus revolves on where I stand in the here and now. When I allow my mind to wander, I ask myself, “Where do I go from here?” I imagine my ideal life, and when the image fully forms, I devise one thing that will bring me the smallest step closer to my dream.
The song says we get by with a little help from our friends. These days, coffee is my friend.
How do you create a safe space?
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
The 2020 Daily Writing Challenge – November 14
Writing is like driving at night in the fog.
You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
– E. L. Doctorow
Today is Day 319 of the 2020 Daily Writing Challenge.
Did you write yesterday?
My year-end countdown has begun, and what a wild ride 2020 has been. The adage says what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. I’m not dead, yet therefore I must be tougher right? The question becomes — How much can I accomplish before we ring in the new year?
It all starts with a well-conceived strategy, and mine includes a master list of 100 activities to help me reach my annual writing goal. It may sound impossible, but many items are almost insignificant and require fewer than 15 minutes to finish. They are micro-actions, minor jobs that, while they are crucial, they are the ones I repeatedly push to tomorrow.
My new resolution is to stop multitasking and instead concentrate on finishing one task before starting another. I have dedicated a cute notebook to collect random thoughts that often distract me from my current job. I aim to eliminate some low-priority habits and devote my time to higher valued assignments. Each evening, I will organize tomorrow’s calendar and schedule my most important activity in the top slot of my To-Do list. I pledge to complete that job before doing anything else. It means moving my daily writing session from afternoons to first thing in the morning. Well, second after my coffee, of course. November and NaNoWriMo begin on Sunday, and I need to incorporate the challenge into my routine.
Will you participate in NaNo? Do you have a plan? What can you achieve in the next few weeks?
Let us know in the comments below.
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
November 13 Day 13 of NaNoWriMo 2020
Through sheer determination, my Nano total has reached the foothills of 5,000 words. Some may scoff, but I count it as a major success. My scheduled writing time of 10pm is approaching, and we will see if Friday the 13th offers any change in luck.
Are you writing for NaNo?
How is Day 13 progressing?
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Happy Friday the 13th – Daily Quote
Happy Friday the 13th 😉
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Jo Hawk 