Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Getting Organized: ROW80 Mid-Week Check-In
Oh what a week's in been and it's only Wednesday! I got myself organized earlier this week and it has made getting items on my to-do list done much easier. I mean, it's still crazy long, but I've been able to tick some things off that have been piled on my desk for awhile now. Now if only I can be this organized every week I might find more time to write and read and, oh yeah, maybe have a life outside of work!!! This should be motivation enough for me to stay that course, but perhaps I need a post it on my computer screen to remind me...
Anyways, in getting myself organized I got around to taking all my notes and outlines that I have on my works-in-progress (which are several!) and putting them in One Note. I've had this program awhile and I use it for work projects, but I've never used it for my writing. By getting all my notes together in one place I feel so much more focused, and it has cut down on the random documents I've had saved in various locations on my computer and the post-it's I have everywhere. I know there is a program out there, Evernote, that is similar and I've heard people rave about it. I may switch to that some point but I need to look into it some more. At some point I will likely cave and get Scrivener, but perhaps when things at work die down and I can concentrate on learning how that program works. Right now if I bought it, it would sit there for awhile until I had the time to go through it. Anyone have any familiarity with these programs or comparisons? Do you use a program like Evernote and Scrivener? Or does Scrivener do the same thing as Evernote? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this if you have 'em!
And now, back to the task at hand...here is my mid-week check in:
Write 5000 words per week: I've written 1993 so far this week which leaves me with just over 3000 words to go.
Pick a cover and get Book 1 of my new series out by November 1: The title of the book won't be Book 1 by the way. LOL! I am just waiting to reveal that when I have the cover picked! Anyways, this goal is in progress so not much to update here. I do have one worry though about the book in general. I have been re-reading through this (for the millionth time), and I'm starting to wonder if it is suspenseful enough. It's not a mystery, it's not a suspense. It's more chick lit/contemporary with a mystery/suspense element. As a reader, when I find a book I want to see character growth and development and a side mystery is fun and can add to that growth and development when done right. But I'm waffling, wondering if I should add more (or less) of it. *sighs* I talked this out with one of my crit partners who has assured me it's fine and that I've just read, and re-read, my book too many times. She is probably right. Maybe I just need to put it aside and not look at it for a week. Anyone else ever run into this problem, where you're done but you don't know if you're, well, done (or if it's missing something)?
Book 2 (this remains untitled): Of the 1993 words I've written this week, it hasn't been on this WIP. However, last night I jotted some notes down on my outline and want to get started on those scenes today.
Check in for ROW80 at least once per week: Done!
Write a non ROW80 post once per week: The week isn't over yet...
That's it for me so far. Hope everyone is having a great week and good luck!
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I use Scrivener, but have never used Evernote. You could take Gwen Hernandez's book Scrivener for Dummies out of the library, it will give you a pretty thorough look into the program. I love it because it keeps me organized. All my research, notes, etc. goes into the same place. I can work by scene, and rearrange things as I see fit.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your goals for the week!
Being organized can be helpful. I'm just happy when I can find stuff and see surfaces. ;) I have Evernote, but I tend to use my mini post it notes and notebooks. I try to go digital, but I can't seem to manage it. Though, the plus side to Evernote is that it is not only on your computer, it syncs with the website, so you have a backup online. And I only have experience with the early Betas of Scrivener for Windows, so I can't properly weigh in on that (though I kind of want it from that experience).
ReplyDeleteYou are doing great so far. Keep up the great work.
I can't offer any useful suggestions about Evernote or Scrivener. I'm still a pen-and-paper-to-Word gal, although I admit to coveting Scrivener a bit every time I look into it (so I try not to look at it very often).
ReplyDeleteWhat I find really interesting about your goals is the weekly word count. After watching myself through one (and a half) NaNos, I can see how that progression from daily word count to weekly word count would make sense. It's one of those, "Now why didn't I think of that?" kind of things.
(Incidentally, I found your blog through the ROW80 check-in linky. This is my first ROW80 round, and I'm trying to visit a couple of my ROWers' blogs each day and to follow them on Twitter. So, while I might seem like a random person visiting, I'm not really entirely random.)
Good luck with the rest of the week!