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?