Beyond FEBO: MARMO?

The response to FEBO was amazing. It has been an encouragement to see so many writers making goals and then setting out to achieve them.

Whatever you accomplished in FEBO, you should take a moment to pat yourself on the back and say "Well done." Don't think about what you didn't get done--just think about the writing or editing or submitting or journaling or project-starting that you did do. Wish we could all get together and throw ourselves a party!

I'm still thinking about where to go from here with FEBO. I want to pray about it too.

But meanwhile, we can all be setting our writing goals for March. The trick is to set goals that will challenge and stretch us a little, without going crazy and setting unrealistic goals that can only lead to failure, self-loathing, and massive consumption of carbohydrates. I ...um...sort of learned this the hard way in FEBO! Fortunately, I'm fond of carbohydrates.

A new month is a great time for setting new goals, renewing our vision, letting go of past failures, and pressing ahead to future success. This may sound dumb but one of my goals right now is simply to find the right goal for my discipline of daily writing.

What about you? Are you continuing your goals from FEBO or making a new plan? And how do you find the balance point between asking too much of yourself and asking too little?

Day 29: Farewell to FEBO!

February 29th. The last day of February and of FEBO. Where do we go from here?

A Musing Mom, Donna Alice, and NancyE have suggested a Yahoo Group. That would give us all the ability to chime in whenever, and I like that.

Here is my one reservation, because I have also considered this alternative. I already belong to an on-line crit group--through Yahoo groups. I absolutely adore my group, but it can also be time consuming by spells. If I can discipline myself to turn off my email during "writing time," so that I'm not always being interrupted by Yahoo messages, I think it might work.

Let me ponder this possibility and get back to you. I don't want to lose touch with you guys. In fact, I'd like to know you better. And I'd like to have some gentle accountability to meet my writing goals. And I'd like to see all of you reach your goals too!

So, on to MARMO!

Day 27: Confessions of a Reluctant Blogger

Actually, I didn't set out to do a blog.

I have nothing against blogs. In fact, I greatly admire all you writers who take the time to blog. You are amazing. And some day I may really want to do a blog on some topic that floats my boat.

But for me, FEBO isn't about a blog. It's about connecting with other writers for mutual support and encouragement as we set out to make writing a daily habit, to set goals and reach them, little by little--or chunk by chunk as Peaches put it in her latest entry on The Word Place.

This month has flown by a lot faster than a typical February. I have been so inspired by Llama Mama and A Musing Mom and bbear and Donna Alice and Katiebee and nlindabrit and NancyE and everyone of you. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.

I have struggled in February to reach my goals, but I don't want to quit. I don't want to lose touch with all of you. I hope to keep going on into MARMO.

But as I said, I didn't set out to do a blog. Do any of you know of a place in cyber space where we could have more of a forum, a place where we could just check in now and then to report on how we're doing? Sort of like a blog, but not with one person pontificating and others adding comments in fine print--a place where we could all chime in as equals?

There may not be a better way to do it than this. . .as a series of linked blogs. But I am open to suggestions.

Day 23: Little by little

If at first you don't succeed, lower your expectations!

This modern take on an old proverb seems like a cop-out at first glance, but it contains a germ of truth.

Sometimes we "fail" simply because we set unrealistic goals for how much we're going to accomplish (write two chapters a day) or how fast we're going to get it done (lose 40 pounds this month).

I don't know if my Febo goals were unrealistic or not. But I do know that a lot of stuff came up this month that I wasn't expecting. Sickness. House guests. Family stuff. And exactly why did I invite all those people to dinner next week? :~)

So I've decided that it's better to "lower my expectations" than to quit.

I am reminded of another proverb, this one from the book of Proverbs in the Bible:

Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. --Prov. 13:11

The writer of this passage was talking about acquiring wealth, but it applies nicely to writing a book too. Brick by brick. Page by page. Day by day. With patience and persistence, little by little adds up to a lot.

There are some expectations I refuse to lower. I don't want to compromise on quality. I don't want to compromise on completing the writing project I'm working on. It may take a little longer than I had hoped, but I'm going to reach the finish line--little by little.

FEBO was never really about seeing how many words we can generate in one marathon month. It's about forming new writing habits for a lifetime.

In the immortal words of Peaches:

I think maybe there's only one rule when it comes to writing--DON'T QUIT!

Day 19

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.
--Somerset Maugham

This is one of my favorite writing quotes. It pretty much says it for me. Writing is an exploratory expedition. If there are three rules--or two or ten--I'm going to have to find them on my own. I can only learn to write by writing.

If you’re going to be a writer, the first essential is just to write. Do not wait for an idea. Start writing something and the ideas will come. You have to turn the faucet on before the water starts to flow.
--Louis L’Amour

What a crazy endeavor writing is. You have to start a sentence (like this one) or a blog entry (ditto) or a chapter or an essay without knowing exactly where you will end up. Even if you make a plan. Even if you think you know the ending.

Heather Sellers, the author of Chapter by Chapter, compares writing to faith:

When you write, you believe in something no one else can see. You spend lots of time committed to a project for which there are no assurances, no guarantees. Being a writer subjects you to the same doubts, the same unpopularity, the same nagging questions that believers struggle with.

And yet it is amazing how when you do take that leap of faith onto the blank page, things begin to shape up and come together in unexpected ways. Quirky new characters drop in for tea. The plot thickens. You take a walk in the woods and a startled chipmunk gives you a new idea. While you sleep, the answer to a story problem comes in a dream. There seems to be something about courageously setting out that invites the things you need to finish the work.

Watch for these gifts, and accept them gratefully.

Day 15: Mid Point

Today is day 15 of FEBO, the middle day of February in the year 2008. If the writing life were a linear, logical progression, you would be half done with your writing goals for February.

If.

But it's not. At least it's not for me. I got side-swiped by a flu bug early in the month, and this feels more like Day 7. Maybe you were derailed by something else, and you're actually on Day 10. Or maybe you're just joining FEBO today, and this is Day 1.

FEBO really isn't about yesterday--with its failures or successes. And it's not about tomorrow--when we fantasize about how organized we're going to get and all that we'll do some day.

FEBO is about TODAY. About setting writing goals and working on them today. Today is a fresh start, a clean page.

To paraphrase Aragorn's battle speech in The Lord of the Rings: "The day may come when the hearts of men will fail. . .but it is not this day. This day we write!"

So, welcome, one and all, to Day 1.

Day 14: A Valentine for Writers

Dear Writer. . . .


You may not be rich.


Or famous.


You may not get letters from adoring readers or crazed fans.


You may not be doing the talk show circuit to promote your latest best seller.


You may feel like you’re never going to get a break / be discovered / find an agent / finish the stupid book you’ve been writing since Ronald Reagan was in the White House.


But still you keep plugging away in the face of discouragement and set-backs and rejections and gray sky days and the temptation to throw your computer out the top window of a thirteen story building.


You write in your journal. You enter contests. You send out queries. You jot down ideas on table napkins and church bulletins or the back of your electric bill. You trade critiques with other writers and keep working on ways to make your story or poem or article better than it was before.


You do it for love.


You do it for the love of creating order and meaning and beauty with words.


You do it because you have been given a gift, and you want to give back.


You do it in spite of everything. You do it anyway.


Here's to you, faithful word smith!


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY. :~)

Day 13

This morning I set the alarm on my phone to go off in one hour, and then I jumped into the day's writing. I knew that I could stop as soon as the buzzer sounded but not a moment before.

Now I can't wait until my next trip to Walmart or Target, because I'm going to buy a timer.

Somehow using a timer is different from just glancing at the clock and saying, "Okay, now I'm gonna write for an hour." Maybe it's because the clock is vague. On clock time I can be distracted or interrupted. On clock time, I can procrastinate. On clock time, one hour is often interchangeable with another hour. But timer time is writing time. It has a beginning and a definite end. When it's over I can quit, confident that I met my goal for the day. Or I can continue, knowing that now I'm doing extra!

When I had a job, my boss would have been appalled if I had stopped in the middle of a project to run home and sweep my floor or throw in a load of laundry. He expected me to those things on my own time, not company time. But I think nothing of interrupting writing time to do housework or talk on the phone or run to the store. At least for FEBO, I think I need to start clocking in and out.

So, what have I learned so far from doing FEBO?

• It pays to plan the next day's work.
• Interruptions will happen--the trick is getting back on track.
• Writing time needs to be time apart.

But I'm a slow learner, and you probably already knew that stuff. So, what have YOU learned so far this month?

Day 8

I'm back. Sort of. In a just-getting-over-the-yucky-bug kind of way. Glad to hear that you guys have been getting a lot done. Congratulations to Llama Mama for sending out a sub this week. :~) I'm rooting for A Musing Mom to reach her goal of sending a query by today. And Donna Alice--what can we say? That girl was born to multi-task!

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. -- Sir Isaac Newton

Poor Isaac is probably turning over in his grave, because I'm going to take one of his "laws of motion" and apply it to real life. It seems to me that when you set out to accomplish something, you're going to meet resistance.

Peaches said it was "bad timing" for the bug to hit me now. I couldn't agree more. . .but let's face it, how we deal with interruptions and bad timing can ultimately make or break us as writers. No, I'm not beating myself up for not writing this week. That would be dumb.

But now I face a choice. Do I say, "Oh, what's the use? This didn't work. I tried to start this writing in February thing and whine, whine, whine. . . . ." Well, yeah, I could. That's the way several Great Projects have ended for me. Diets. Exercise programs. New Year's Resolutions. Will FEBO be the latest victim?

Honestly, I don't know the end of the story. I'm going to have to write this adventure one page, one day at a time by the choices I make now, after the interruption. It helps so much knowing that others are making the same journey.

I'd like to close with a message from bbear. Her FEBO goal is to write an encouraging word to someone every day--so I asked if she would like to write a word to the FEBO writers. Here's what she said. . . .

Persistence/endurance (keeping your commitment to your goal) is a difficult thing, but consider this, you may have already passed the hardest test/done the most difficult thing. Making a commitment to FEBO was wrung from me, not at all a glib reaction, and perhaps it was the same for you. Pause to reflect on the successes you've already had since Friday, including deciding to DO THIS THING, and continue to write.

Thanks, bbear! Yes, we need to focus on the successes. And begin again after the interruptions. :~)

- - - - -

My apologies to NancyE, who asked me to make a post for her on February 6th, Ash Wednesday. Sorry, I was too out of it, but today I am adding her comment to Day 6. It is worth reading. Sorry for the delay.

Day 6

Sorry, guys. I guess I came down with that bug my hubby had last week. I can barely hold my head up. I'll be back as soon as I can.

Hope you are all going great guns on your writing goals!

Day 4

Ahhhh, the first full week of FEBO. We got our feet wet on Friday or over the weekend, but today. . . . . today we plunge in. It's so important to form a writing habit this week, to build momentum that will keep us going "to infinity and beyond"--or at least through February.

Did you guys watch the big game yesterday? I know almost nothing about football, so this is how I pick a team. By the color of their uniforms. Or by the city they're from. Or because they're the underdog.

Yesterday I rooted for the Patriots simply for this reason (okay, I also liked their uniforms). It seemed to me that the Patriots had more invested in the game. Either team could go away with a Super Bowl Victory, but the Patriots could have had an undefeated season. That would have been one for the books. So the Patriots made me stop and ask myself: how much do I have invested in my writing? Is there enough at stake to make the game worthwhile? Am I willing to put it all on the line?

On the other hand, part of me was also rooting for the Giants, because I too am an underdog. When I submit my writing, I am competing against writers with better track records, more experience, more education, snazzier presentations. And I'm hoping for an upset. The Giants help me believe that upsets are still possible!

And since I started this stupid football analogy, I may as well run it into the ground. What does it mean to "win" in writing? To write? To be published? To do my best? To outsell J. K. Rowling? I suppose this is a question we each have to ask ourselves.

But for FEBO, the answer is much easier. To win, we set some writing goals and then try to reach them. And we can win even without reaching the goals, as long as we get more done in February than we did in January. The only way to lose is to give up.

So I'm off to eat a piece of toast with apricot preserves, and then on to FEBO, Day 4!

Day 2

Day 2 and I'm already re-thinking my goals for FEBO.

For one thing, I'm going to shoot for writing 1 hour a day, Monday through Friday, instead of 2 hours--with the hope that most days, once I get started, I'll keep going for longer than that.

The second adjustment I want to make is to the weekends. I was planning on taking the weekends off, but I think that at least during FEBO, I don't want to lose the momentum. So on Saturday and Sunday, I'm going to aim for 15 minutes a day of "writing for fun"--not necessarily slogging away on my SMO (Sprawling Magnum Opus). The big goal is to have some sort of writing routine in place by the end of this month.

You guys are amazing! You have been sending comments with your progress reports--and everyone is writing, editing, outlining, submitting. . . . In fact, just making the decision to do this is a big step forward. And there are more people doing FEBO who aren't chiming in on the blog because some of you are having trouble leaving comments. Maybe some of you experienced bloggers can tell us what we're doing wrong!

Well, I'm off to reach today's goal. Catch you later!

Blastoff: FEBO: DAY 1

Gentlemen (and ladies). . . . .start your engines!

There's something delicious about the first few words of a story, because you never know where they're going to take you. -- from the movie Miss Potter

You may be starting a brand new story today, or you may be continuing work on something you started before. But whichever of these choices we make, today is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives as writers. Today we do what writers do. We write!

It's a tried and true metaphor--I prefer to think of it as timeless rather than trite--but today we begin a journey.

The road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And wither then? I cannot say.
--J.R.R. Tolkien

A journey is always a bit dangerous--leaving behind the wheel ruts of my daily routine, the comfort of self pity because I just can't find the time to write, the safety of never failing because I'm not really trying.

But there are places I'll never see and companions I'll never meet if I don't get going. So enough blogging already.

On to FEBO, Day 1!

Don't forget the map!

T minus 1 and counting! FEBO begins in less than 12 hours. I am giddy with excitement, because I am expecting big changes in my life.

If you missed the previous posts, you may be thinking, That sounds great, but. . . . . . . .

What the heck IS FEBO?

(If you already know about FEBO, you can skip this section!)

Good question. FEBO is a chance for prodigal writers to come back home and start writing again. It's a chance to turn a new page--literally and figuratively--to make a new beginning by applying some discipline to your writing life. Would you like to write 10 minutes a day like NancyE? Do you want to tackle a children's book like Marmot Mom? Do you want to finish the novel you started for NaNoWriMo, like Peaches? Do you want to do something instead of nothing in February? Then this is the place for you.

It's so simple. You set your own goals--small and manageable or big and grandiose. To write five minutes a day. To write and mail one query letter each week. Or to write a complete novel by February 29th. Or you can set a new goal every week or every day. It's up to you. What FEBO provides is a small community of writers who are doing the same thing--setting goals and reaching them, one page, one sentence, one day at a time.

Plan to Succeed

I am reading a great book about writing a book. It's called Chapter after Chapter, and it's written by Heather Sellers. She says that a good technique to use to keep yourself on track is to PLAN each night for the next day's writing. "Writing a book is exactly like traveling in a country you don't know well. What do you do in a bed in a new country before you fall asleep? Look at maps. Orient yourself. Memorize the landscape, the roads, the route you will take. . . ."

So what is my plan for tomorrow? I intend to read every word of my SMO (Sprawling Magnum Opus) of a children's book (about 30,000 words), editing as I go. Then I'm going to think about how to best introduce the characters and setting to the readers. If I don't lure them in with a good opening, they won't read the rest. Right now I think the beginning is what's killing it. I've made a new copy of the manuscript, so that if I mess anything up, I won't destroy what I've already done. I've got a plan and, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'm ready to go on the first day of FEBO.

What's YOUR plan for tomorrow's writing?

A Timely Word for the FEBO Writers: Daily Writing Practice

3. . .2. . .1. . .We're almost there. FEBO begins in just two days. There's still time to set some writing goals for the month of February and to join us in reaching our goals.

Here's a timely post from a FEBO participant. . . .

Hi, I'm NancyE, and I'm a member of The Writing Academy and of the St. Davids Christian Writers Conference. For both of these organizations, I have given a presentation on Daily Writing Practice. The concept is inspired by various writers-on-writing, particularly Natalie Goldberg. Her "rules" are in her book Writing Down the Bones. She recommends writing 10 minutes every day--and she suggests doing this for a whole year before starting on more ambitious writing projects. She and other writers say they continue with the daily practice even after they are regularly publishing writers--it's a way of warming up for the day's work!

I embarked on the practice and kept it up for a year. Yes, I did 365 daily writings--though sometimes I fudged a bit and let a daily writing do double duty, like brainstorming for something else I had to write. Since I don't like so-many-minutes, my guideline was "12 pt. Times New Roman, space-and-a-half spacing, no less than one page and no more than two." (I discovered I could do a page in 20 minutes.) As Patty says, we can make our own rules!

The truth, though, is that I had an ulterior purpose in my year of daily writings. I was "getting ready to start to commence to begin" (as my sister-in-law used to say) writing my memoir. After the year was up, I decided to move on to "starting to commence to begin." This stage, however, is not only vaguely defined, it has not proved to be a regular "practice."

So these are my two resolves for February: To do Daily Writings again (that's 29)--AND to write the beginning of my memoir. I'm not specifying how much "the beginning" will be, in number of pages or words--just "write the beginning."

If anyone is interested, I can share some of the suggestions and prompts for Daily Writing Practice from my presentations!

Happy Writing to everyone,
NancyE

All I can say is. . . . .

Duh, I'm such a ditz.

Not to mention a newb at blogging. I forgot that I had set comments to "moderate," so four people made posts that I didn't find until tonight. So sorry. I'm still learning.

On top of that, I didn't write one word today. Not one lousy little word. Not even a or the or of. (Okay, I wrote my name on a withdrawal slip at the bank, but I don't think that counts.) I had such great intentions, but then my hubby came down with the flu, and all my carefully-made, color-coded plans went out the window. But tomorrow is another day.

Meanwhile I'm thrilled that other writers are joining me in FEBO, because, to be truthful, misery loves company. Yes, the misery of facing a blank page or a blank screen with an equally blank mind and somehow wresting words out of the nothingness. I have been such an erractic, do-it-when-it-feels-good writer, and I want to change. I want more discipline. (And some would be more!) I want to get to the point that a day without writing just feels wrong. I want to get my stuff off my hard drive and into the hands of my readers (whoever those poor tortured souls may be. . . .)

Three more days until FEBO. Three more days until change.

Please Cheat. . . .Honestly!

Well, Febbies. . .we're in the one week countdown to Armegeddon. . . um, I mean FEBO. Yes, FEBO--that world-shaking web event that asks writers to make some goals and then set out on the adventure of reaching those goals in the month of February.

World-shaking? PattyK, you're thinking, let's not go getting delusions of grandeur. You don't have to take off your shoes to count the number of participants. FEBO is small potatoes. You don't even have tee shirts.

Ahhhh, the world-at-large may be blissfully unaware of FEBO, but frankly, I don't care because the world I want to shake is mine! I want to change my habits so that I can get back to DOING the thing I claim to love to do. . .writing. If I start small and stick with it, maybe someday I'll actually shake up THE world!

With one week to go, how should we prepare for FEBO? Replace those worn out ink or toner cartridges? Set cell phones to vibrate? Stockpile tea bags and chocolate?

If you've ever done NaNoWriMo--or tried to do it--you know the rules. Absolutely no writing before November. You can think about your characters or outline your plot or sharpen your pencils, but not...one...word must be written before November 1. And that's a really great idea. . . .for NaNo.

FEBO isn't like that because YOU are making the rules.

My FEBO goal is to spend two hours a day writing, five days a week. My pre-FEBO goal is to spend at least 15 minutes a day writing, just to prime my pump and get my feet wet. So next week I'm going to practice for FEBO with that simple goal. Some purists might call that "cheating," but I think it's hard to cheat when I'm making my own rules. And I encourage each one of you to cheat too!

Come on. You know you want to!

The Many Faces of Febo

People write for a lot of different reasons, and you can use FEBO in a lot of different ways.

You may want to write in an all-out frenzy--in the style of NaNoWriMo--to see how many words you can crank out in February. Then looking back, you'll be able to say, "Wow, look at what I can do when I put my mind to it (and dope myself up on high test caffiene)!" If that is your goal, knock yourself out. Some of you have said that you might want to finish the project you started in NaNo. And Peaches suggested that we might need to do "MARMO" to edit all the stuff we write during FEBO. Peaches is a visionary, and I believe she is going to do great things in FEBO. :~)

Or you may want to think of FEBO not as a gut-wrenching sweat-bath of a sprint, but as the beginning of a long distance race. You may want to set smaller goals that you can continue for the long haul. One Febbie said that she would like to write an encouraging word to somebody every day. You may want to set your timer for 15 minutes a day. Imagine what 15 minutes a day would add up to in a year. (And being math challenged I'll have to just imagine it. . . .)

You may want to set a goal of trying to market the stuff you've already written. Llama Momma (love the name!) wants to do an essay or article for publication once a week. Or maybe you don't want to write for publication but rather for self discovery, as in journaling or letter writing or blogging. I would love to see someone working on a family history project for FEBO. There are just so many possibilities.

So pick a project (the Great American Novel) or a time limit (10 minutes a day) or a word count (6000 words a week) or a goal (to become rich & famous by March 1st). And make plans to join us on Feb. 1st, one week from (gasp!) tomorrow!

FEBO FAQ

FEBO is growing fast. Our numbers have already DOUBLED. . .from one to two. At this rate, we could reach maybe seven before February 1st. At least, a girl can dream. . . . . :~)

Febo is simply my attempt to get some discipline (ouch, it hurts to say the word) into my writing.

Donna Alice has set some good concrete goals. I prefer to keep mine more nebulous, so that it's harder for people to say I didn't achieve them! Yes, that's what I would prefer, but for FEBO, I'm going to bravely follow in Donna's footsteps and set some measurable goals. Oh, the pain! The injustice! The damage to my delicate artistic temperament!

Yeah, whatever.

FEBO FAQ

What IS FEBO?

It's like Lent for writers--a special season of discipline to achieve a higher purpose and form new habits. Like writing instead of talking about writing, dreaming about writing, blogging about writing. . . . ooops, bad example. Just forget I said that.

Why February?

Seriously, what else is there to do in February?

How Do I Join this Ground-Breaking Global Effort?

Just do it. Set your writing goal or goals and then make a real effort to follow through, knowing you'll be among friends. Feel free to leave a post and say that you're going to give Febo a try.

Now, the only question remaining is. . . .What life-changing writing goals are YOU considering for FEBO?

FEBO is coming. . . . . . .

February--the ickiest time of the year--when winter has hung around way too long to be amusing any more. A month so mind-numbing that someone invented Groundhog Day, just to break the monotony. But this year--in 2008--February is going to be different, at least on this side of the window pane.

I'm a big fan of NaNoWriMo, a program that encourages writers everywhere to write a novel in the month of November. The idea is to write 50,000 words in 30 days -- focusing on quantity, not quality. I participated in 2006, and wrote about 27,000 words before I had to quit because of other obligations--but hey--I did write 27,000 words I otherwise would not have written. In November,2007, we were packing up to move, so I didn't even attempt NaNo.

For me the problem with NaNo is the No part. November is usually an insanely busy month. So this year I decided to do FEBO (pronounced FEB-bo). At first I was going to try writing a novel in February. Then I realized that just writing anything would be a big step out of the Slough of Despond I've been wallowing in.

What I'd like to accomplish in February is to set some reasonable regular writing or marketing goals and then discipline myself to do them for one month. The hope is that I will change my routine so that writing becomes a priority. I'll know that FEBO was a success if I'm still writing/submitting regularly in March, April, and September.

At the moment I'm thinking that my goal will be to do writing or marketing for two hours a day, five days a week. But maybe that's too big, too daunting. I may change my mind and set a different goal before February 1st.

I'm inviting other writers to join me. NOT to join me in having the same goal but to set YOUR OWN goal and work toward it. Of course, some of you are already really disciplined and don't need this. But if you're like me and you would like some company while trying to establish a discipline of writing, you are welcome to join FEBO!

THE SO-CALLED "RULES" OF FEBO

1. Set a goal for writing/marketing in February--a chapter a day, a poem a week, five query letters for the month, ten minutes of free writing every Wednesday . . . . . .

2. Share your goals with the group and expect some gentle mutual accountability.

3. Work toward your goals, sharing victories and problems with the group if you wish.

4. Encourage yourself and others. Under NO circumstances are you to beat yourself up about not reaching a goal. Revise your goals if they aren't working. Or simply start fresh the next day.

I'm setting up this blog to create a way for the FEBO writers (all three of us???) to communicate and commiserate.

So let me ask this question of all potential FEBO participants. What TYPE of writing goal most appeals to you? So many words or pages a day? A certain amount of time each week? Something loosey-goosey and not too demanding? Something really sadistic and challenging? Working a new project? Editing something you've already written? Marketing the novel that's collecting dust on top of the filing cabinet?