#ROW80 Check In and #5MinuteFiction Update

The Row 80 Challenge

 

#5MinuteFiction is one of the things that I enjoy doing every Tuesday night, except I haven’t been able to participate the last three weeks due to various conflicts. Tonight the prompt was “Show the magical side of an everyday, boring object.” We had some interesting stories and circumstances. In fact, we showed the magical side of time! One of the fun parts of #5MinuteFiction is the voting. So, if you’d like to take part in that part of the contest, please feel free to go on over to Write on Wendy and read the stories and vote. My everyday object was a fan. I should also point out that the lady who inspired me to start out on ROW80 has a story in the voting as well.

 

Now, to the #ROW80 goals.

Goal #1 – Editing. I plan to do about 2 hours per week editing previous work.

Not much editing yet. Tuesday night is more of a new work night, especially with #5MinuteFiction. 

Goal #2 – Writing. I have a couple of short story ideas that I’d like to play with. So, I’ll do about 2 hours per week of short story writing.

I did an hour of writing, maybe a bit more. I also finished #5MinuteFiction this week.

Goal #3 – Begin cleaning up the mess that passes for my room at school.

State Testing is this week. I had to get some cleaning done so that I could test legally.

Goal #4 – Work on my reading. I need to spend about 4 hours this week on craft productive or other essential reading. 

Been working on this. 1 hour on prep for the State Test; 1 hour on the reading I’m doing for another group.

Goal #5 – no more than 1 hour per day on Facebook. 

While I was trying to get ready to work on this, I needed to talk to someone on Facebook. The talk went on for more than an hour in addition to the little bit of  time that I had already spent on Facebook Tuesday. 

So, I’m happy with the progress so far. I just can’t afford to start slipping! Besides, I have some major conflicts coming up in the evenings and I can’t afford to waste any time. So, while I’ve made progress this week, I still have to buckle down.

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Week 2 of #ROW80 and I’m Slipping!

The Row 80 Challenge

 

Oh! This is so uncool! Here I am trying to write and edit and stuff…and distractions hit. I need to avoid … another Facebook message? I MUST get that. With my self-imposed holiday from Facebook over, distractions are even easier to come by. I’m thinking a new goal is to stay on task!

So, real quickly since I’m late after finishing grading.

 

 

 

Goal #1 – Editing. I plan to do about 2 hours per week editing previous work.

I got about an hour and a half done. I think it was productive editing. I just let myself get distra…the Hawks let another goal in with less than a minute left? Now, where was I?

Goal #2 – Writing. I have a couple of short story ideas that I’d like to play with. So, I’ll do about 2 hours per week of short story writing.

45 minutes to an hour written. Slow progress….

Goal #3 – get back where I need to be emotionally at school.

Grading done. State Testing coming up. Retirement plans pretty much put on hold for the time being…I should be good.

Goal #4 – Work on my reading. I need to spend about 4 hours this week on craft productive or other essential reading. 

Uhmmmm Photography and other things seemed so much more important than reading……the hummingbirds are in town! And…a summer tanager!

Ok…updated goals. Now that I am back on Facebook I need to limit my time there. Goal #5 – no more than 1 hour per day on Facebook. Goal #3 – Begin cleaning up the mess that passes for my room at school.

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There was This Set of Goals I was Supposed to Be Working on – Row80

Ok, ok. So Wednesday is a terrible day for me to have to report. Monday night – not home til about 9:00 and then having to do dishes. (My wife’s doctor’s excuse expires soon, though.) Tuesday night, I can only say that I worked on goal number 3. Wednesday Night – I just got home and my only writing is going to be on this blog. Oh, and helping a friend edit an essay she has to write. It will be a late night. So…

 

 

Goal #1 – Editing. I plan to do about 2 hours per week editing previous work.

There’s still time. I don’t count the editing I’ll be doing for my friend. Nothing so far.

Goal #2 – Writing. I have a couple of short story ideas that I’d like to play with. So, I’ll do about 2 hours per week of short story writing.

Uhm…there’s still time. etc.

Goal #3 – get back where I need to be emotionally at school.

Ok…with all the tension, I needed a blowout type of night. So here. I was talking to kids at school about that today.”You know what a selfie is, sir?”) Spoken with utter amazement. When I talked about using the hashtag that put it on the big video screen they gasped. “You know what a hashtag is sir?” They also asked about Facebook and Instagram. That and the end of the biggest tension producer for me made today a lot more fun. I need to be able to enjoy my students in order to be the kind of teacher I like to be. That and only have 6-7 weeks of school left….

Goal #4 – Work on my reading. I need to spend about 4 hours this week on craft productive or other essential reading. 

Remember what I said earlier about there still being time. Ditto.

I am looking forward to more writing time tomorrow – but I realize tomorrow may not be the writing nirvana I had expected. Thus, I really should seek to do a little bit each day. That or a lot on the weekends. (I bet you were expecting something deep and philosophical the way that started!)

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Week 1 of #ROW80 in the Can

The Row 80 Challenge

Well it’s certainly been an interesting week. Let’s not do that again. Sometimes writing has been a diversion from the pressures of the world. This week it’s been a necessary escape. Rather than dwell on this let’s keep looking to the future. So, as to my goals….

Goal #1 – Editing. I plan to do about 2 hours per week editing previous work.

I actually met this goal in an unexpected way. I write devotional thoughts on my daily Bible Reading each day. Someone put a bug in my ear about finding a way to publish them. So, I spent 2-3 hours working on editing those thoughts. I had planned to work on editing some past novels from my NaNo participation but this just struck me as what I needed to do. If you are interested, my daily writings can be seen at my devotional blog. 

Goal #2 – Writing. I have a couple of short story ideas that I’d like to play with. So, I’ll do about 2 hours per week of short story writing.

I just had a few minutes of writing to meet this goal and I got that done. I don’t know how much quantity I got done in that two hours, but I got a lot of research done by talking with my son. (I needed some help on military procedures.) Talking with him was the best part of that time.

Goal #3 – Use time wisely at school and get caught up on grading so that I have time to write!

I don’t know how wisely I’ve used my time, but I’m almost caught up on my grading. I’d better be by the end of the week since grades are due. To be honest, issues at school are what have made this such an “interesting” week. Without going into it, I can say that my stomach is still unhappy about things. I will get over it though. I’m working hard to prevent myself from making snap emotional decisions that will have long term effects.

Goal #4 – Work on my reading. I have two books I need to be reading right now. One for Sunday School leadership and the other for some group studies we’ll be doing. I need to stay caught up on those.

Let’s be honest. I didn’t touch the book for Sunday School and played hooky from that meeting. I don’t really like that book so it wasn’t a big loss. I didn’t get to the other book, but I still have time before the study. I did spend a lot of time researching some issues in publishing so it was sill worth the time. I consider the goal accomplished. 

Goal Updates for Next Week – Goals #1, #2 and #4 are good as they are, but I’d rather not be so specific on the books for goal #4. The reading will be craft productive reading or designed to keep up with other things I need to do. I need to spend about 4 hours this week. Goal #3 has to be met this week – it’s part of my job! I’m just going to try and get back where I need to be emotionally at school for Goal #3….

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#ROW80 – Experience is a Great Source of Ideas

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I know that sounds like an obvious statement, but I was reminded of that the other night when I came up with the idea to use my experience for a series of stories on life in the emergency room. Without going into detail the doc told my wife that one of the medicines could make me a little loopy. She shrugged her shoulders and asked how she would notice a difference. Of course that came after the time I asked her which was worse – the er personnel having to put up with me or her having to put with me while I joke with the docs. (If laughter is the best medicine, all I can say is I was trying.) She said something about the humiliation of being called my wife while I joke with them. (She was, of course, kidding. I think.) Since I’m being kinder on myself, I can tell you it wasn’t failing in my goals for the week – I’m making pretty good progress! Here we go:

Goal #1 – Editing. I plan to do about 2 hours per week editing previous work.

This is a Saturday goal. I should be able to work on that Saturday which was generally my plan.

Goal #2 – Writing. I have a couple of short story ideas that I’d like to play with. So, I’ll do about 2 hours per week of short story writing.

I got a bit of a trade-off here. Tuesday night is a writing night when I get to include #5MinuteFiction. Life in the ER kept me from my writing. However, my boss ordered me to stay home, so I made up most of that writing…just not the #5MinuteFiction. I’m only short about 15 minutes which I should make up tonight.

Goal #3 – Use time wisely at school and get caught up on grading so that I have time to write!

I stayed away from school work today. Wife’s orders. Still have to catch up, but I did things that were relaxing for me today. Monday was the beginning of my problems so I didn’t work Monday or Tuesday on this. The pressure to catch up is still there but the rest helped.

Goal #4 – Work on my reading. I have two books I need to be reading right now. One for Sunday School leadership and the other for some group studies we’ll be doing. I need to stay caught up on those.

I do this reading either Saturday or Sunday. Will probably work some on Thursday too.

I’m making the progress I expected, except for the grading. I still have to do that. I hate grading, but that’s one of the reasons I get paid the big bucks! I try to teach my kids that sometimes jobs include things you don’t want to do but you do them because they need to be done. I won’t modify these goals until Sunday. I may keep them the same even then.

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#ROW80 – Round 2

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I entered Round 1 of #ROW80 right near the end and got my feet wet in this challenge. Then came the family issues that prevented me from finishing our even that short time. So now I’m back for the beginning of Round 2. It actually starts tomorrow, but I think I’m supposed to post my goals ahead of time. First check in is Wednesday. I will be less ambitious this time, setting smaller goals until I begin changing my habits and recognizing how much time my work cuts into my writing. 

Goal #1 – Editing. I plan to do about 2 hours per week editing previous work.

Goal #2 – Writing. I have a couple of short story ideas that I’d like to play with. So, I’ll do about 2 hours per week of short story writing.

Goal #3 – Use time wisely at school and get caught up on grading so that I have time to write!

Goal #4 – Work on my reading. I have two books I need to be reading right now. One for Sunday School leadership and the other for some group studies we’ll be doing. I need to stay caught up on those.

With everything else I have going on, I can’t do much. I think I can achieve those goals and still have a challenge.

And, here is the link to look at other blogs taking the challenge.

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#ROW80 – Plodding – It’s Slow But It’s Progress

This accountability thing is nerve wracking! I mean…how long do I keep using excuses? Actually, some progress being made. Monday and Tuesday are slow days, but I got some things done. Wednesday – it’s a full day already. I’m posting this early because I won’t get to it later. Besides – I’ve got an offer for you that is more fun that voting. Ok, well, really it’s voting so technically, it can’t be more fun than voting. (Ah, but too late. The offer has now expired.)

My ROW80 Goals beginning this week:

• I will work on editing my novels. I have neglected editing for too long. I will spend at least 5 hours this week on editing.
  • I’ve gotten about 30 minutes in so far this week. The next three days will be editing days. 
• Limit Blog Time. I have already given up Facebook for Lent in order to work on promoting my blogs. I will limit that work to 90 minutes or less per day.
  • I did pretty good at limiting my blog time. Most of my time was spent reading the posts from others in this challenge. Hopefully that will build up my writing blog/platform. I need to work on time to use for building my Devotional Blog as well. 
• New writing. I will engage in 2 hours this week of new writing. New writing may be anything from #5MinuteFiction to song writing to work on a novel or prep work for Nano 2014. (I won’t count editing the other books as prep work even if it is a series and I am doing my world building!)
  • Two things totaling an hour so far. One is #5MinuteFiction. I like that challenge because it forces me to get outside my writing box and look at things in a far different manner than I normally would. I made the finals this week. with the writing you might see in the post just before this one.  If you are looking at this before 6:30 CDT, you can actually go, read the stories and vote for your favorite – which will, of course, be mine. (Ok, maybe not.) Isn’t that a great opportunity for you? I told you it was coming… Next, I got something resembling verse 3 on my poem/song. With any poetic writing I do, the mental blank spaces are an important part of the writing! On my way to my goal.
• Photography. – I will categorize (star and label) at least 100 pictures per week. I will fully edit at least 5 pics per week.
  • Got a start with the categorizing at about 25. I should have more time the rest of this week to complete this goal. 

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