March #WriteMotivation – Final Update

Header image and thumbnail photograph by Hugh Lee and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

1. Finish first draft of NaNo 2012.
I advanced approximately 300 words on this and, like I said last week, it’s going to be my novel for Camp NaNo this year.

2. Read at least 4 books.
This week I read:
Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan

And I started reading Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger. I think my love for her stuff borders on the unhealthy side, because when a teenage version of a character from the Parasol Protectorate series showed up, I made a lot of happy squeaky noises.

3. Pre-write all posts for the A to Z Challenge in April.
I have scheduled every single post except for my Q, Y, and Z posts, and both Q and Y are halfway written. I’m going to go ahead and mark this off, and hopefully by the end of this week (or maybe next week?) I’ll have the last three posts ready to go.

4. Work out at least three times a week.
Sadly, I did really well on this goal throughout the entire month–usually working out 4-5 times each week–until this last week. I worked out both Monday and Tuesday, and then between a major deadline and Easter weekend, I haven’t gotten a chance to since.

On the plus side, it looks like my efforts have had me lose about four pounds since February. It’s not a lot, but it’s progress. I’ll definitely be continuing. Tomorrow we start the strength portion of P90X2, which should be interesting. From what I hear, this is where it starts to get hard.

Next month will be the A to Z Challenge, so be sure to swing by every day in April for a new review!

And then Sundays (my day off from A to Z) I’ll post my Camp NaNo updates. (April’s going to be a bit busy, no?)

(In other news, HOW IS IT APRIL ALREADY?!)

March #WriteMotivation – Week 4

Header image and thumbnail photograph by Hugh Lee and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

1. Finish first draft of NaNo 2012.
Yeah, we’re just moving this to April for Camp NaNo. I may write some more on it this month, but I won’t beat myself up over it if I don’t.

2. Read at least 4 books.
This week I read:
Jingo by Terry Pratchett

I love Discworld, guys. Just every time I read one of these novels I have to hunt down someone so I can read aloud a particularly clever/funny passage. Because you HAVE to share them.

3. Pre-write all posts for the A to Z Challenge in April.
I’m scheduled up through O (that’s 15 posts) and I have just three left to write: Q, Y, and Z. And Y is started; I just have to finish it. I’m also about halfway finished with the book I’m doing for Q.

4. Work out at least three times a week.
So I’ve never been that flexible. Even when I was taking ballet and gymnastics (which was…dear God, 20 years ago, HOW AM I THAT OLD), I couldn’t touch my nose to my knee or touch my toes when I bent over. And when I first started working out a few months ago, I was lucky to touch the tops of my ankles.

So you can imagine my shock when I bent over on Sunday and THIS HAPPENED:

Why, yes, my fingers ARE under my toes.

I’m officially more flexible at age 28 than I have ever been in my LIFE, and that’s after working out regularly for just two and a half months. I don’t even care if I lose weight, guys. I CAN TOUCH MY TOES.

Take THAT, eight-year-old me.

How’s your month going? Still kicking butt on your goals?

March #WriteMotivation – Week 3

Header image and thumbnail photograph by Hugh Lee and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

1. Finish first draft of NaNo 2012.
I’ve made so little headway on this I’m tempted to just shuffle it to next month and work on it during Camp NaNo. Unless I bust out close to 40,000 words in the next 2 weeks, it ain’t happening.

Here’s an excerpt:

I nestle under the blanket, which stinks to high heaven but is marginally warmer than the cell. The rocks are rock-hard, as one might expect, and I toss and turn, trying to find a position where a miniature stalagmite isn’t poking me in the back. It’s not very easy, though.

However, I know Nadine is right. If he were here, Captain Butler would be ordering me to relax and get some sleep. But imagining the order in his rough voice makes my heart ache. I don’t know where he is. I don’t know what that awful General Natriss is doing to him. And there is nothing I can do about it except be stuck here and pray. For what, I don’t know, but I have to do something.

I curl up in a tighter ball, steadfastly ignore the rock currently making best friends with my kidney by way of my lower back, and fall asleep.

One of my goals with this story was to end as many chapters with the MC falling asleep as I could. I’m alternately proud and ashamed at how well I’ve done with that.

2. Read at least 4 books.
This week I read:
Komarr and A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold

Both were really, really good. I hope to have in-depth reviews up at some point, but let’s put it this way: by the end of the second book, I was adding the first two in the series to my TBR list solely because I wanted to read more about one of the characters.

3. Pre-write all posts for the A to Z Challenge in April.
The first nine are scheduled right now, bringing me up to ten total. I’ve got the books I still need to read from the library and the movies in the Netflix queue, but at least I’m making steady headway on this.

Even if I don’t get them all written by April 1, I think I’ll have enough of a buffer that I’ll be able to make sure everything’s written and scheduled by the middle of the month.

4. Work out at least three times a week.
This is probably the goal I’m doing the best on, oddly enough. I’ve been working out pretty much every day after work and then at least one day on the weekends. I haven’t actually lost much weight, but I can tell my arms are getting more defined and my stomach’s a little flatter. Which is yay!

How goes your #writemotivation month?

March #WriteMotivation – Week 2

Header image and thumbnail photograph by Hugh Lee and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

One of these days, I will not be writing this post at 11 p.m. after working till 10:30.

Today is obviously not that day.

1. Finish first draft of NaNo 2012.
I’ve written about another 300 words, though I’m really going to have to step it up if I want to make any kind of serious headway on this goal. On the plus side, I integrated a couple of the new ideas I came up with over the past couple of months, and they made me giggle uncontrollably. I’ll probably include an excerpt in next week’s update.

2. Read at least 4 books.
This week I read:
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey
Mort by Terry Pratchett

And I’ve started Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold.

3. Pre-write all posts for the A to Z Challenge in April.
I got the first four posts scheduled, and I’ve added the books I need to read to my library hold list. Hopefully I’ll be able to pick those up by Wednesday.

4. Work out at least three times a week.
I worked out five times last week, skipping Friday and Sunday. This is made somewhat easier because the roommates are doing it with me.

How’s your week going? Are you meeting your goals or taking it easy?

March #WriteMotivation – Week 1

Header image and thumbnail photograph by Hugh Lee and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Well, I’ve done stuff in the first five days of March, but unfortunately, most of it hasn’t been related to #WriteMotivation.

I finished up a short story I’d been working on and I’ve been doing some critiquing for a couple of friends. However, progress on actual goals has been slow.

I’m hoping to make some more headway this week.

1. Finish first draft of NaNo 2012.
Haven’t even looked at it yet.

2. Read at least 4 books.
I’m currently in the midst of reading Grave Mercy and Yours to Keep, and hopefully I’ll finish both this week.

3. Pre-write all posts for the A to Z Challenge in April.
I’ve got at least one scheduled.

4. Work out at least three times a week.
So far, so good!

March #WriteMotivation Goals

Header image and thumbnail photograph by Hugh Lee and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Tomorrow begins the first #WriteMotivation of 2013! Here are my goals for the month:

1. Finish first draft of NaNo 2012.
I’ve made a bit of headway here and there, and I have the last 5 chapters outlined; I just have to sit down and do the writing.

This is also because I’m pretty sure if I don’t finish this in a timely manner, at least one person might track me down and beat me with a computer keyboard.

2. Read at least 4 books.
Pretty self-explanatory, and this will also help me with #3 below.

3. Pre-write all posts for the A to Z Challenge in April.
I’m doing book and movie reviews (shocker, I know), and while I have several written, I have at least 10 that aren’t started or for which I haven’t even read/watched something. So hopefully I can get all these knocked out.

4. Work out at least three times a week.
I’ve been doing a good job so far this year, but I want to make sure to keep it up.

Any of you joining us for #WriteMotivation? What are your goals for next month (writing-related or otherwise)?