Thursday, February 6, 2014

Keeping myself accountable

I'm getting on with my novel (TA) pretty slowly, and I thought I'd check in. To tell you the truth, it could go faster. I could be writing more. I've deliberately organised my schedule this semester so that I have swathes of time to go to the gym, work on my art, and of course, writing. Yet somehow I'm only getting one of the three done.

Yeah, I didn't think it was going to be the gym, either. I think it's mostly because I've signed up for Tough Mudder in August and I am screwed unless I start training now. One of the things I have to particularly work on is my upper body strength, which is abysmal. At Tough Mudder, I'm expected to climb and haul myself over ten foot walls, and right now, I'm not exactly prepared for that. My roommate has lent me five pound weights to start off with. Five pounds is the equivalent of a newborn, and a small one at that. Here's the thing: five pounds is heavy. I am struggling to lift up small newborn babies, never mind myself. But I'll get there in the end.

With writing, I don't really have the same concrete goal. There are no consequences for me if I never finish TA, apart from a lack of novel. It's harder to keep myself accountable. I know that if I don't write 1,000 words a day, it will still be okay. Nothing will be there in the distant future to punish me if I fail. It's easy to think: I'm tired, I don't need to write. It's harder to think: I need to write because I've got to get this novel out of me and the only way to do that is to put pen to paper (or hands to keyboard).

So I guess my goal for today is to keep trucking. Even if I don't make it to 1,000 words today, I still have words down. The story's still in my head. I can work with what I've got, and after all, anything's better than a blank page. Onwards and upwards!

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