Deadlines and dirt

There’s one week left before the deadline for Lyrical Iowa and some of the national poetry organizations submission deadline.  I’ve had a plan for getting my poetry together and edited and all shiny in more than enough time to get my submission sent in.  Have I sent it in yet?  Of course not.

I’ve barely looked at my poetry over the past couple weeks.  I’ve picked out some promising rough drafts, typed them up, and printed them out so I could have them in one place while I edit them.  They are even saved on my USB drive so I could edit them in word.  All I have managed to do so far, however, is realize I write about rural Iowa a lot.

How many poems can there be about fields in Iowa at dawn?  Several notebooks worth, that’s how many. 

On the plus side, I am still inspired by the landscape every morning. 

Every day there is something different to draw out my inner writer and start scribbling on notebook paper.  Some days it's the fall of light across the stubby fields.  Others, it's the distant scattered farm house lights that echo the stars above.  And that's just in winter.  Wait until spring gets here and everything starts growing.  It's amazing how the first blush of green plants poking up out of the black earth can change a landscape.  

For the rest of the week, I will sit in my little apartment and revisit those early mornings, polishing them to the jewels I know they are.

Procrastinators of the World Unite.... Tomorrow!

I'm a terrible procrastinator when it comes to writing.  I have a plan, but things always get in the way of my plan, or I find myself staring out the window for the entire time.  My many writing plans have gone out the window to never return.  How am I supposed to get writing done if I can't sit down and write?

The Renegade Writer tells me this is okay.  Well, sort of.  An article I read a while back states that as long as you are getting your projects done on time, don't force the writing.  There's a definite emphasis on getting things done, though, just taking the writing as it comes to you.  It still involves planning and editing and all the stuff that makes up writing, but the article just states to write when you feel like it.  If you have a writing date scheduled for Thursday afternoon and on Wednesday morning the writing bug bites you, then write.  If on Thursday writing feels like pulling teeth, then don't.

If I was free to write whenever the mood struck me, this would be great for me.  And it slightly relieves some of my self-guilt about not following a writing schedule.  A part of my plan has always been to write when I feel the words coming on.  As long as I make my deadlines, it shouldn't matter too much when I write.

The main problem with my writing plans is that I have no enforced deadlines.  Any suggestions?

Write: Epic Fail, or Lessons from NaNoWriMo

So... I didn't come close to finishing NaNoWriMo this year.  Yes, I know I still have all of today to catch up, but it is not going to happen.  I still have a good start on my novel and I really like it, it's just not getting done right now. 

Last year, I finished NaNoWriMo with a sense of accomplishment.  I could, indeed, write a freaking novel.  I could find time to write more than short stories and I could hang in there over the long haul.  I had hand written a novel in a month.  It didn't end up where I wanted it to go, but it was down on paper.

This year, I walk away from novel writing month with only a big sigh, a half finished manuscript, and a sense that I have finally stretched myself as far as I can. Catching up on my writing would have only added to my insanity and everything would still be half done right now.  I can't take on any other tasks for a while.  However, I know I can still make some time for writing.

Did you finish NaNoWriMo this year?  How do you deal with tasking yourself up to the snapping point?

Write: Keeping Track of Deadlines

Deadlines always sneak up on me.  I write them down in multiple places or have the same deadline every time, but still somehow I manage to forget about them until the day before.  Or it could be that I don't forget about them, it's just my procrastination self telling me I have time.

One of the best ways that I have found to keep deadlines in mind is jotting them down at work.  I have a bulletin board thingie at work that I post important things to, like the list of office numbers, poetry, meeting schedules, pictures of my kiddo.  I've added a listing of the writing deadlines coming up.

I look at it about once a day and that helps me remember when I need to have things done by.  Of course, that doesn't mean I get them done, but at least I don't forget about a deadline that I have written.  I might forget it if it isn't written down, though...

How do you keep your deadlines straight?