Hiatus

I'm taking a few days off and I'll be back next week.

Puzzling

Since I was a kid, I've always enjoyed jigsaw puzzles. I have a standard method for putting them together: I start with the edge pieces, then I pick out pieces by color and work on assembling small sections, eventually joining the sections together.

Outlining my novel is kind of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Except I don't have a picture on a cardboard box to follow, and I don't know exactly where the edges will be. Sometimes I change my mind about which pieces go together. But it's very satisfying when the pieces fit.

Progress

One month ago today I started my blog, so I thought it would be a good time to check on my progress with the goals I set for myself. I’ll address them one by one:

Post at least 5 times per week (except when I'm out of town).
I surprised myself by actually posting every single day. I did give myself a few days off by writing some posts in advance and scheduling them to post automatically.

Learn to silence my overactive inner critic.
I'm still struggling with this goal. I know blog writing doesn't have to be perfect, but it's hard for me to loosen up and not nitpick everything. I don't want to present myself as a writer with sloppy blog writing. But I also can't invest too much time in writing perfect posts when I should be working on my novel.

Build discipline by writing posts even when I don't feel like it.
I definitely wrote posts even when I wasn't in the mood, and it wasn't easy making sure I had something to post everyday. Some posts were short, and I know they weren't all interesting or original, but I think I've made a good start. I hope I can keep it going. I'm a creature of habit, and blogging is starting to become a habit.

Develop my writing skills.
I have been developing my writing skills apart from the blog. I'm not sure if the blog is directly helping me to develop my writing skills. But it does make me more aware of my writing process and help me stay relatively focused.

Share what I learn from the writing process.
I've written a little about my experiences writing and I've shared some useful links. I hope to share more as I learn more.

Poetry

Jim Holt's essay about memorizing poetry makes me want to dig out some of my old anthologies and start learning poems by heart.

Home Improvement

I'm working on redecorating around my house this week. I hope that while I'm busy applying elbow grease I'll get a little inspiration.

Nice Rants

One of my favorite literary agent blogs is Pub Rants by Kristin Nelson. She shares her publishing-insider perspective along with loads of useful advice for aspiring writers. She has been blogging regularly since January 2006 and her archives are filled with helpful and interesting posts.

Among the many topics she has covered, here are some of my favorites:

• Writing a query pitch like back cover copy (also see Agent Kristin’s Blog Pitch Workshop on her sidebar)
  
• Actual queries that worked (also see Agent Kristin’s Queries: An Inside Scoop and Submission Pitch Letters to Editors on her sidebar)
  
• Beginning writer mistakes
  
• Stories behind the covers
  
• Choosing the right title

For added fun, Kristin shows her eclectic taste in music by saying what's playing on her iPod at the beginning of every post.

Financial Literacy

I read a lot of blogs related to writing and publishing, but I also follow blogs about many other topics. My favorite blog about money matters is Get Rich Slowly. It promotes “sensible personal finance” and practical frugality by offering advice related to saving money and eliminating debt.

In honor of Financial Literacy Month, Get Rich Slowly is featuring stories about the fundamentals of personal finance. Yesterday’s post The Financial Literacy Compendium links to past advice on basic money skills, investing, and more.

Writing is rarely lucrative and it is important for writers to be financially literate, especially during the current economic climate.

TV

The last episode of ER airs tonight and I think I will have seen every episode. I missed some during the early seasons, back before I recorded all my favorite shows on VCR and then DVR, but I later caught up with them on DVD.

I've always been a committed TV watcher. I prefer the serial format with continuing story lines over formulaic self-contained episodes. Once I decide to follow a TV series I want to see every single episode, so I don’t miss anything. If I get bored or frustrated with a show, I give it up cold turkey. It’s all or nothing for me.

I hate when a TV series ends before I’m ready to give it up, especially if the show-runners don’t have a chance to wrap up the story. But it can be satisfying to see a series end when the time is right.

Over all these years, I never lost interest in ER and tonight I will find out how the story ends.

Foolish

I have a hard time loosening up and writing freely. Some days are harder than others, and today is one of those days when it is almost impossible to send thoughts from my brain through my fingers onto the page. I second-guess every idea. My backspace key is getting quite a workout.

I think this struggle is related to perfectionism. I like everything to be perfect, so it’s hard to push myself when things don’t feel right. I should be inspired by today’s date to be a little foolish and let myself make mistakes.