Thirty Days and Counting ...

It looks like I'm back to my evil procrastinating ways again.

And this time last week I was going so well!

It's September 22. In thirty days I turn 25. I started my Writing School course almost five years ago, and I do not want to cross out the Age: 24 and put Age: 25 on my student record sheet.

I have no plan. I had a plan that looked incredibly scary and involved writing a new story every day and editing them on the weekends.

That's not going to happen. Especially with three weeks passing in between sending each assignment ... and I have four assignments left to send.

And then there's the thirteen (!) submissions to make in order to complete the course. It's not so bad - I've partly written my way through five of them, but they're not completed.

I need to think of ways to be positive!

Seven submissions down ...

Today I hit seven submissions sent to magazines. I have sent off two in the past four days - that's very impressive for someone who procrastinates as much as I do! Out of those seven, three have been rejected, two have been accepted, and two are still being decided on. So I'm pleased with myself!

Last weekend I decided to take some time away from the house (where things like TV and the computer lured me away from writing) and I spent the afternoon in my old university's library. When I used to go there (only two years ago, but it seems like such a long time!) I always used to be writing bits of stories and novels, and so I wanted to see if I could write better there than at home. And I did actually get a lot more done, so in the future I'll be heading down there for a day every other week and hopefully productivity grows and procrastination lessens!

Too much sitting in front of a computer (8 hours at work and then whatever time I spend writing at home) has made my brain ache. Not good.

It's 38 or so days until my birthday, by which time I promised myself I would be finished with Writing School. So let's get this straight: in 38 days I expect myself to not only work 40+ hours a week at the day job, and get the 8 hours of sleep a night I require, but also to finish four assignments and thirteen stories, all of approximately 1000 words each? Is it good to doubt yourself before you've even started?

Novel progress ... sort of ... and Fan Fiction

While trying to ignore the fact that I've got four more assignments and fifteen more submissions to make before I can complete my course, I have been reading a book from the library which is supposed to help me re-structure my badly written NaNoWriMo novel. And the surprising thing is, I think it's working (although I am only two chapters in)!

I've been reading some other blogs lately, and one of them commented on another how-to-write-a-novel book. Usually I try and steer clear of how-to-write books, because I spend all my time reading them and then not doing any actual writing. But this book came highly recommended, and I made a note to search for it the next time I logged on to my library's website ... until I thought I had heard the title before.

I rushed to my Advanced Editing and Proofreading box (which my mother has taken prisoner - she won't let me start a new correspondence course until I finish my comprehensive writing one), and lo and behold, they had given me this book as one of the 'random books we decide to give you to make you think you're getting loads of free stuff with the course material'. Which was good in a way, but bad in a way also, because now the book's sitting there tempting me to read it.

But no. I have to do my writing school assignments. And my Fan Fiction. Hopefully the second and third chapters of Fan Fiction will be written and posted today. If I can find time to write around Father's Day celebrations for Dad. Maybe Fan Fiction people will have to wait until the end of the week. I've always had a talent for procrastinating!