So I lived through November with NaNoWriMo, my own birthday and Thanksgiving dinner for 20 at our house. And now we are in the midst of December and all the activities of this glorious month: homemade cookies, new recipes, buying and wrapping presents, family visits, birthdays, parties, Christmas and New Year's Eve...
And two stories to revise/edit. Yes, revisions, with an S. I now have two beasts to slay. And, fortunately for me, I received an early Christmas present in the form of a new writing course to help with my first story.
But how am I going to keep on top of everything and maintain forward motion on my stories? I've got a plan...
1. Courses - Each manuscript corresponds to a writing course, so I'll be able to use the tools from my coursework to assess and modify each story. The weekly assignments will help me keep a schedule of sorts, if not a strict schedule. Fortunately each course is self-paced.
2. Hard copies - I'll be keeping actual paper copies of my manuscripts nearby with notebooks and a red pen to mark down notes. Yep, I'm using old school technology. Besides, it's safer to keep paper than my precious in a kitchen dusty with flour. (Don't worry, I'll still be using electrons and the "intertubes" to do research and coursework.)
3. Time - Schedule some time just for my writing/revising each day, even if it's just a few minutes here and there. I commit to performing at least one writing activity each day. Even if it's in between batches of cookies and wrapping presents, I'll find time to work on my revision.
4. Flexibility - This will be the hardest for me, but I'll just keep reminding myself that having fun and enjoying this holiday season will only help my writing, even if it gets pushed to the side from time to time. Besides, there is always January.
So, that in a nutshell, is how I plan to keep slaying those beasts I've created.
I'm off to imbibe a cup of eggnog and toast this plan of mine. I'll need those extra calories to keep the my sword at the ready.
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