Welcome to Week Two of #WriterRecharge!
If you want to learn more about this month-long motivational writing challenge co-hosted by Sara Biren, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, Liz Parker, and Elodie Nowodazkij, just click here. And be sure to include the link to your update on Sara’s blog or tweet about it using hashtag #Writer Recharge!
Last week, I set my monthly goals here.
How did I do during my first week?
- Writing: Instead of plowing through my next 50 pages of draft two, which had been my plan for the week, I slowed down. Really slowed down. But that’s a good thing. I was lucky enough to get into one of the monthly First Five Pages workshops, so I spent the entire week on my first five pages: digesting comments from others, brainstorming solutions, researching (it’s a historical), and finally, revising. By focusing on the tone and details of those first pages, I think I just saved myself a boatload of work down the road …
- Swimming: I only ended up swimming three days instead of four this week, but in my defense, I was thwarted by a snowstorm. Hopefully the weather cooperates better this week. 🙂
- Reading: I read the next book in my stack of award-winners (THE NAZI HUNTERS by Neal Bascomb) and started the next (YAQUI DELGADO WANTS TO KICK YOUR ASS by Meg Medina). So good!
What are my goals for this week?
- Writing: Revise first five pages once more as part of the workshop and revise next five pages in a similarly meticulous manner.
- Swimming: Swim four days!
- Reading: Finish YAQUI DELGADO WANTS TO KICK YOUR ASS and start the next book in the stack (THE LIVING).
Hope your first week of #WriterRecharge went well and that you have a great week in store!
I should add exercise to my #writerrecharge list. I just cannot stand to get hot and sweaty at the gym and then go out and freeze in the cold. It is expected to go up into the fifties by next weekend though so HERE IS TO SPRING!!!
Oh, I’m totally with you! It is SO HARD to swim in the nice pool and then go out into freezing temps. It’s definitely much easier for me when it’s a little warmer. I’d even settle for 20 degrees at this point. Brrrr.
Sometimes a close edit like that can be so helpful. Glad that you had a chance to sit with them! Hope the next five go just as well 🙂 Nice work on your goals this week.
Thanks so much! I tend to leave this kind of work until the end, but then the problem is if the tone changes, the whole thing needs more rework anyway, so uuuuuh! For now, I’m glad I’m doing it this way this time. 🙂
As I told Elodie, I think it was brilliant to incorporate exercise goals into #WriterRecharge. I wish I would have thought to do that. Maybe next week. 🙂 It sounds like you’re making amazing progress, Kip. Best of luck meeting your goals in the coming week!
Thanks! Same to you–so nice to see the progress all around!
Those first five pages are critical for grabbing the reader’s attention. I know that from my own reading experience, and the comments I received from my First Readers on my novel underscore the point. So I applaud your decision to back off working on the first 50 pages and concentrate on those first 5. All the best with your progress this week, Kip! 🙂
Thanks so much, Colin! It’s so nice to be with a crowd of people who get it. Ahhh.
Those five first pages are tough, but you´re right once you get the tone right (and start at the right spot, it probably will save you time down the road). Yay of swimming three times this week! 🙂 Best of luck for this week!
Thanks, Elodie! I do hope I save time this way, or at least some frustration. We shall see! In the meantime, the pool definitely helps. 🙂
The first five pages of a manuscript are so important so I think it’s smart that you decided to slow down and focus on them. Good luck with the workshop! Sounds like a great opportunity. 🙂
Thanks, Ghenet! I am so glad I got in the workshop. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone wanting feedback from strangers!
Sometimes slowing right down can really help. I find it hard as I feel like I’m not achieving enough, but as you showed you can actually save yourself a load of work.
Good Luck for this week!
Yes! I know. It was hard to slow down, but I’m already glad I did. Good luck to you too!
slowing down can be of great benefit to your manuscript! Swimming three days is a huge accomplishment to me. I’m a weak swimmer, but I love it! And it’s a great work-out.
Thanks! I really love swimming. It’s pretty much the only exercise that doesn’t feel like exercise to me. 🙂
Nice that you got to work on your initial pages. A strong beginning can serve as a foundation for the rest of the story.
I’m hoping so! *pours concrete* 🙂