ROW80

Part of my goal for 2011 is to regain my life. Step 1? Start writing again. So....I'm going to take up ROW80.

ROW80 or A Round of Words in 80 Days challenges writers to take one, mesurable goal, and accomplish it in 80 days.

I choose, for this round, a very simple goal: write 30 minutes a day. Not research, not plot, but write. I need to keep clear it in my mind that it should be part of my WIP and not a blog post or twitter chat. I also need to state that I can plot and research, but that does not go into the 30 minutes of writing.

So, I've gathered my writing tools into one place (my favorite fountain pen, my notes, and my research books, plus I'm going to update my Scrivener software today to 2.0) and I've made myself a little chart.

Starting January 3, 2011, I'm going to write for 30 minutes straight. If I write more? Great. However, I cannot go less than 30 minutes.

That's my goal and I'm stickin' to it.

For more info on ROW80: http://networkedblogs.com/cnUDw

Regaining My Life

What happened to my life?

In August, I was a new mom to a teenager, 1/3 of my way through a book project, and feeling pretty spiffy about life, in general.

Then life hit hard: some deaths in the family, my stepfather has Crone's, a teenager proved the equivelant to possessing the energy of a toddler... etc., etc., etc.  Then, no sooner did I catch my breath from that, but then my teen's crappy attitude towards school and my own school's financial woes attacked my energy. I put on my big-girl's panties and adapted to these left turns just in time to receive the news that the owner of our home wanted us to either buy or move within a few months.

I lost my life this fall and, hey World? I want it back.

I want to wake up in the morning, have my tea, read a chapter or two of a good book, write about 200-300 words, and feel accomplished before hitting work. I want to come home, brimming with enthusiasm about cooking or writing. I want to feel like I'm progressing in some way in my life. What this progress looks like, I don't know...I just want to feel a forward momentum.

I'm done with treading in mud. I'm done with wondering how I lost four months of my life. I'm done with this awful feeling of crappitude.

In less than 30 days, we move to our new house: a minimally fixer-upper with lots of space. My teen's attitude has somewhat improved thanks to a near straight-A report card (B+ in Art). I can't fix my school's woes, but I can begin now to look for a new job instead of waiting until June.

In other words...I can't regain my four month long blackhole, but I can regain my perspective and my positive attitude.

Hey World? I'm coming back.