Halfway there….ROW80 Update

I'm going to be upfront here.  I was doing so damn well.  But…Monday and Tuesday I didn't get my writing in.  Work was just way too busy and there weren't enough hours in the day to fit everything in.  However, despite not meeting my goal, I've decided to look at this recent misstep as not necessarily a bad thing.  As I mentioned in my last update, I have been chugging right along on the longer WIP.  I'm a little more than halfway to the end which is both exciting and scares the hell out of me.  So missing two days in the scheme of things--well I am okay with that.  I think also, it gave me time to let step back and breathe.  I needed time to think and go over my notes and outline, and especially stew over the "how I am going to get this to the ending I had planned" thought that has been poking at me at random times in the last week and a half.

So not having looked at it since Sunday, when I opened the file today  I felt ready to dive in.  I started to read it through, and although I had promised not to do anymore major revisions until the end, well that didn’t work out too well.  I ended up ripping some parts of it to pieces--switching the order of a couple scenes and adding another one.  More importantly though, as I went through I started taking out information, back-story and kind of 'extra bits' that the reader isn't going to need.  It was information I had included more for myself, to keep me on track as I kept plowing forward.  That took a good deal of time, and I took out a lot more than I had anticipated, but the result is a much cleaner, better flowing and more organized first half.  Now I have no more excuses to procrastinate the next part--which is to start bringing this thing to its end.  Yikes…

On a somewhat unrelated note, I've added another goal to the challenge which, hopefully, will become as much of a habit to me as the 'writing everyday' has. That new goal is to "be active 6 days a week". I started this about a week and a half ago and so far I've nailed it, working out 30-60 minutes every day, except for the day I chose to take off--which was Sunday. I think I've done so well because I left it kind of open. Why didn’t I put a '1 hr' per day caveat on there, like I did with my writing? Easy answer--I hate exercising. So I just left it open to see what each day brings, avoiding any feelings of being pressured or guilt if I can't workout for exactly an hour. I have to admit, I do feel more focused, have more energy and I've been sleeping better since I started keeping track of this latest goal. But, despite these benefits, I say that begrudgingly. I still consider it evil and unfair, and would rather be writing, reading or swimming with sharks.

   

Anyways, I'm off to relax and have dinner, and then dive back into my writing. No time like the present to start that ending right?! Hope everyone's week is going well and I wish you all the best on your goals. I can't wait to check around on everyone's progress!