My Most Difficult Writing Challenge Yet | PEDIA+
I don't quite know what first made me feel that it was a good idea to attempt to consistently post every single day in a month of my choosing. I think I just liked the challenge of it the first time I decided to do it. When trying to objective, I have wondered if this is what I should be pouring my time into when I have studies, work and a horse too but there's just something about writing that makes me want to push myself again and again and just create as much as possible.
I did a whole month in December 2016 and August 2017 and I did nearly a month in December 2017. So it felt almost inevitable that I would attempt to do yet another one in this August. This year I actually have a re-take exam mid-month, so that will make things even more interesting. My studies cannot suffer because of my drive to write but I hope and believe that they can exist next to each other (and without negatively affecting my mental health). They simply have to so because I want to write and these stories live in my head and they demand to be put on paper.
I am a bit more apprehensive about this writing challenge than I have been before because I will not only be posting every single day in August, which can adorably be shortened to PEDIA. The past two days, I have been posting the travel posts from our holiday and because I will have two continuous stories running with weekly updates during the weekend, I will end up posting 5 weeks in a row if I stick to the schedule. That's absolutely insane.
I will be juggling so many different universes and characters. I will be writing so many words (last December I posted over 100,000 words, which is the length of a good-sized novel). I will be feeling the ache in my lower back and my bad shoulder and the tiredness in my eyes. Since February this year, with the exception of a few days while I was aboard on holiday, I have been working on my writing every single day in some capacity. It's something I set myself as a challenge back then and I'm proud of how I have been able to commit to it.
Writing is a craft and I will continue to hone it and explore the different areas of my mind to see what I can conjure up. It's fascinating and interesting and I love it, even when it's hard. Still, I know I will be cursing my future self a little because I continue to put massive tasks in front of myself. Voluntarily. I could just be relaxing, or just releasing less or at least spread it out more. However, I know that the added pressure of having to share it with a deadline will keep me pushing forward and I have been fortunate enough that kind people find my stories and support them and give me motivation as well.
I have no doubt that this will be a hard task but that's why it's called a challenge. You learn so much when you push at your boundaries and step out of your comfort zone, no matter how scary that is for me. I think that's one of the reasons that I like doing this every now and again. I'm very much a comfort zone person. I love my little space and my routine and the "usual". I love it but I also fear complacency a bit. By trying to push and improve my writing I can challenge myself in a controlled way and swim out where the water is just slightly deeper.
As I swim out where the water gets a bit rough, I have to work harder to stay afloat but I trust all my past efforts will help me out and I have faith that I will learn from the experience and be better at faring in even rougher waters in the future.
It's been a while since I have sectioned out a part of my text as a quote. It feels a bit odd but nice too. I have grown and changed so much since I originally started this space as well as posting my fiction online. When I look back on some of my earlier work, I will occasionally cringe at my past self but I will always stop myself from being properly embarrassed. If I did not write those stories, I might never have written the stuff that came after. I have always tried to write the kind of stories that I want to read. I love reading my own stuff because no matter what I think about the writing style, the plot or the universe setting, I will always love my characters. Flawed as they may be, by intention or accident, I have had them live in my head at one point or another. I have probably acted out their dialogue in front of the mirror. I have thought about them while going to sleep at night. I have sat down to write a scene and they have surprised me. I'm proud of the stuff I have made.
And I hope I will be proud of the stuff that I will make this month and I hope I will be able to stick it through. I have made a schedule and a plan (I love a good planning session) and I have most of the slots for the different days figured out already. The few red boxes I might end up filling with prompts from my readers or followers or I will post whatever I might randomly get the inspiration to write. The yellow colour means that the story or chapter is loosely planned but not yet written. The green ones are written but not yet proof-read, which I know I will probably have to do on each day as I'm posting them.
I have a distinct feeling that a lot of the yellows that aren't tied to a continuous story and a set day might be moved around, so it will be interesting to see how it looks like once I finish up the month and whether I was able to stick to it. Also, Mum, if you're reading this, I know it looks a bit overwhelming and I know you'd warn me that I shouldn't put too much on my plate but this is a way to keep my creativity satisfied.
So... I plan to post every day in August (PEDIA) and a little around the edges of the month as well. It looks somewhat intimidating right now but I believe in myself and my abilities. I know I will be fighting my perfectionist tendencies when I'm pressed for time and writing quickly to make the deadline and that I will probably make mistakes here and there. That's okay. I'm writing for the joy of writing and also to share it with people who will hopefully enjoy reading it. I like when I'm in the groove of writing consistently and I know this will encourage me to put aside at least a couple of hours each day to stay on top of everything. It will be hard but it will also be fun.
I did a whole month in December 2016 and August 2017 and I did nearly a month in December 2017. So it felt almost inevitable that I would attempt to do yet another one in this August. This year I actually have a re-take exam mid-month, so that will make things even more interesting. My studies cannot suffer because of my drive to write but I hope and believe that they can exist next to each other (and without negatively affecting my mental health). They simply have to so because I want to write and these stories live in my head and they demand to be put on paper.
I am a bit more apprehensive about this writing challenge than I have been before because I will not only be posting every single day in August, which can adorably be shortened to PEDIA. The past two days, I have been posting the travel posts from our holiday and because I will have two continuous stories running with weekly updates during the weekend, I will end up posting 5 weeks in a row if I stick to the schedule. That's absolutely insane.
I will be juggling so many different universes and characters. I will be writing so many words (last December I posted over 100,000 words, which is the length of a good-sized novel). I will be feeling the ache in my lower back and my bad shoulder and the tiredness in my eyes. Since February this year, with the exception of a few days while I was aboard on holiday, I have been working on my writing every single day in some capacity. It's something I set myself as a challenge back then and I'm proud of how I have been able to commit to it.
Writing is a craft and I will continue to hone it and explore the different areas of my mind to see what I can conjure up. It's fascinating and interesting and I love it, even when it's hard. Still, I know I will be cursing my future self a little because I continue to put massive tasks in front of myself. Voluntarily. I could just be relaxing, or just releasing less or at least spread it out more. However, I know that the added pressure of having to share it with a deadline will keep me pushing forward and I have been fortunate enough that kind people find my stories and support them and give me motivation as well.
I have no doubt that this will be a hard task but that's why it's called a challenge. You learn so much when you push at your boundaries and step out of your comfort zone, no matter how scary that is for me. I think that's one of the reasons that I like doing this every now and again. I'm very much a comfort zone person. I love my little space and my routine and the "usual". I love it but I also fear complacency a bit. By trying to push and improve my writing I can challenge myself in a controlled way and swim out where the water is just slightly deeper.
As I swim out where the water gets a bit rough, I have to work harder to stay afloat but I trust all my past efforts will help me out and I have faith that I will learn from the experience and be better at faring in even rougher waters in the future.
By a Girl who Loves to Write aka Me
It's been a while since I have sectioned out a part of my text as a quote. It feels a bit odd but nice too. I have grown and changed so much since I originally started this space as well as posting my fiction online. When I look back on some of my earlier work, I will occasionally cringe at my past self but I will always stop myself from being properly embarrassed. If I did not write those stories, I might never have written the stuff that came after. I have always tried to write the kind of stories that I want to read. I love reading my own stuff because no matter what I think about the writing style, the plot or the universe setting, I will always love my characters. Flawed as they may be, by intention or accident, I have had them live in my head at one point or another. I have probably acted out their dialogue in front of the mirror. I have thought about them while going to sleep at night. I have sat down to write a scene and they have surprised me. I'm proud of the stuff I have made.
And I hope I will be proud of the stuff that I will make this month and I hope I will be able to stick it through. I have made a schedule and a plan (I love a good planning session) and I have most of the slots for the different days figured out already. The few red boxes I might end up filling with prompts from my readers or followers or I will post whatever I might randomly get the inspiration to write. The yellow colour means that the story or chapter is loosely planned but not yet written. The green ones are written but not yet proof-read, which I know I will probably have to do on each day as I'm posting them.
I have a distinct feeling that a lot of the yellows that aren't tied to a continuous story and a set day might be moved around, so it will be interesting to see how it looks like once I finish up the month and whether I was able to stick to it. Also, Mum, if you're reading this, I know it looks a bit overwhelming and I know you'd warn me that I shouldn't put too much on my plate but this is a way to keep my creativity satisfied.
So... I plan to post every day in August (PEDIA) and a little around the edges of the month as well. It looks somewhat intimidating right now but I believe in myself and my abilities. I know I will be fighting my perfectionist tendencies when I'm pressed for time and writing quickly to make the deadline and that I will probably make mistakes here and there. That's okay. I'm writing for the joy of writing and also to share it with people who will hopefully enjoy reading it. I like when I'm in the groove of writing consistently and I know this will encourage me to put aside at least a couple of hours each day to stay on top of everything. It will be hard but it will also be fun.
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