Running Way Behind...

This is just about what my desk looks like anymore!
Image by Doctor Bob

I owe several authors book reviews and just wanted to pop on here and let them know I haven't forgotten them. I also wanted to apologize for the delay as a couple have been waiting for several weeks. I've been super swamped with work and college (as I had midterms this past week). Some days I wonder what in the world I was thinking to go back to school while working full time and trying to write my first novel :) Perhaps I just want to test the limits of my sanity!

I should be back on track with the reviews and they should be posted, at least the majority of them, throughout this week and the next. Again, I am so sorry for the delay, I know how important reviews can be.

In addition to being behind on my reviews I also got way behind in my writing. I was discussing with a friend that a big issue I seem to have is with turning off the internal editor. I've always kind of edited as I go along and then I get frustrated later because my word count seems to barely move. The more discouraged I would get with this, the less often I would write. This is especially true after a 16 hour day at work and then class, on days I have to work on research papers for hours on end.


With that being said, I hope I have found a solution to both my time issue as well as booting out the editor for now.  With the first issue, I am going to try to write in smaller blocks, a minimum 100 words at a day for now and perhaps if that goes well I'll increase it to 500. I also want to make myself accountable in a way so I don't just procrastinate until it is too late to accomplish and throw in the towel, so I have added a Don't Break the Chain! calendar to the blog in the upper right sidebar. This way my readers can keep track of my progress as well :)

The second thing I hope will help is a site called Write or Die which helps a writer get rid of that pesky editor by making them write or face the consequences. Of course the writer gets to choose the pace (how many words and the time limit) as well as the consequences which range from annoying sounds to the program deleting parts of your work if you don't keep up. They have a free web app as well as a desktop edition with more features. I figure it's worth the try, after all what do I have to lose?

I know I'm not the only writer around with a hectic daily schedule or paralyzing fear of the internal editor coming out at the wrong time, so what are some of your tips and habits to overcome these obstacles? Do you have a certain time you schedule yourself to write or do you slam it down as fast as you can when you get a free minute? Do you force yourself to keep writing instead of going back and fixing that error you noticed earlier? I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on this :)