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Posts tagged deadlines
Novel Writing – Progress Report III
1November 29, 2011
by Ndidi
in NOVEL WRITING
Done! Fini!! Finito!!!
It has been a month of drive, uncertainty and pressure but above all it was good. The novel “The Forbidden” has been drafted. Indeed I agree with Chris Baty that a deadline can generate a product even if it is in its rough form. Yes, the novel is in its rough form and certainly not for anyone’s eyes. There definitely will be re-writing and re-writing but I believe the challenging part has been achieved. I have been planning to write this novel since 2007 and never got round to it. There always seemed to be more important things to do.
Last year I registered for NaNoWriMo but did not write a word. This year I decided to spread the news to help motivate me. It was a good move because I did not want to back out a second time. Although I am undergoing a postgraduate program, I did not envisage to still be on the program this year. I started the program in 2008. The past years I zeroed down to the program to finish it but it has been one challenge or another. So this year I resolved that although the postgraduate program is important, writing is also important. I decided to treat the program as a 9 to 5 work. So no school work was done at nights. Planning in that manner gave me an opportunity to write the novel at nights.
I realized I could have actually written the novel back in 2007 if I had been deliberate and scheduled a time daily for it. Perhaps it was because there was no urgency in it. Registering and committing to NaNoWriMo has indeed been helpful and also visiting the forums on NaNoWriMo site provided the motivation to achieve 50,000 words.
I have learnt some lessons which I will share in the next post. So watch this blog!
Is writing daily feasible for a nine to five (9-5) worker?
0July 19, 2011
by Ndidi
in WRITING STEERS
A number of us are stuck in our jobs such that we don’t have time to pursue a passion. We write a host of genres in our minds but not on paper. Our times have been so encumbered (or so we think!) we have concluded it is impossible to ever be writers. And of course since the writing is yet to generate money, quitting day job will be out of question with bills to pay. Furthermore, some workers are called 9-5 workers but their work times exceed and a number of people like me carry work home.
I have battled and I am still battling to integrate writing with my day job. However, I have come to realize that if I don’t take action, I may never be a writer.
Recently, I have been applying a few strategies which have helped me and I thought to share with you.
Be motivated and determined
Since you have a job that pays the bill, you may observe your friends and family are focused on that. Although they may not be against your writing, they may not spend time and energy stimulating you to write. You have to be motivated from within and you may find that it is your level of enthusiasm and passion that may spur people around you to be supportive. So a lot lies upon you to move your writing forward. The desire to write should continually well up within you. I remember I registered with NanoWriMo annual novel writing project last year and I told a few people with the hope I will be encouraged and followed up by them. However, there was not much impact from them. Yes, there was so much work but I realized later that if I had managed my time, I could have written at least two thousand words. One of them asked me if I was writing, I gave an excuse and that was it. As long as writing is not my main source of income and primary focus, people around me may give it less attention. This is very likely to happen especially when you are just starting out as a writer. So you have to be self-motivated and determined to allocate time for writing. (more…)
