Thursday, October 6, 2011

#ROW80 #ROWnd 4 Goals and Inspiration

Last #ROW80 I took a book from a draft, through edits and formatting and published it. That's CANCELLED. I know the theme for this #ROWnd is "Rocking the #ROW" and there was a big party and celebration and it didn't click for me. I didn't know why. Last time I had a great time making a passport, an itinerary and tracking my progress. I have my inspiration for this round, even though it's a little dark.

I am dedicating this round of #ROW80 to the memory of Steve Jobs. His death is very much on my mind, and really try to use his way of challenging the status quo, sticking to my guns, and keeping my head down.

"We've never worried about numbers. In the market place, Apple is trying to focus the spotlight on products, because products really make a difference." - Steve Jobs
I will ONLY check my sales numbers at the end of the day. Not when I wake up and I'm looking for a little motivation. My motivation MUST come from somewhere else.
"That's been one of my mantras -- focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains." - Steve Jobs
30,000 words by Oct. 31, 70,000 words by Nov. 30, finished by December 9. That's the production schedule for PAST DUE. I don't do weekly goals because when I don't make my mark, it derails me too much. I personally do better watching my progress and feeling the freedom of making chunks disappear.

“It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy.” - Steve Jobs
This is a little closer to home for me. One of my goals for this round of #ROW80 is remember who I am and what I'm doing. I didn't query agents because I knew my book wasn't ordinary. It wasn't going to fit in a certain hole. It'd be fun for readers who love romance and who love chick-lits. It'd be fun for readers who want to see a realistic woman make realistic decisions about the men in her life. So I need to remind myself of what's fun and stick to celebrating that I get to do what I love.

In summary:
* No checking sales figures except at the END of the day (for my graph)
* 30,000 words by Oct. 31; 70,000 words by Nov. 30; finished by Dec. 9 PAST DUE draft
* Celebrate one fun aspect of my career choice each check in.

Visit my A ROUND OF WORDS IN 80 DAYS FRIENDS


A robotics engineer asks his business partner to marry him, but a previous one-night stand is having his baby. CANCELLED is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords WIP: PAST DUE A nurse, crippled by debt, takes a part-time job in medical investigation only to find the man she's dating is a fraud!  (status: outlining)

5 comments:

  1. This is my first ROW80 round, but what drew me to it is the ability to set up your goals the way it works for you.
    If you prefer setting up word count by month, then go ahead, and we'll support you!
    Good luck with your goals!
    See you around the ROW boat =)

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  2. This is my second, and I do really well with "finish lines." :) My expectations of last round were seriously exceeded! Like you said, the freedom is very important. :)

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  3. I love the way you've got this planned out. Long-term goals work well for me because the schedule of my life is not conducive to "regular" progress. One week I'll have time each day to work toward my goal, but other weeks it might only be a single day or a single hour. Love it!

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  4. Lesann... that's EXACTLY what my life is like. I have a 2 year old and an 11 year old. Day to day is never, ever the same. And so it works better for me to go "Okay, it's Oct. 6, I need 30K words in 25 days and I'm sitting at 4k, hmmm need to get to 10K by the 12th, etc." I also wrote 18,000 words on my last novel in 4 days. Yeah. So for me when it rains, it pours (hubby took care of kids that weekend).

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  5. I'm with you on Steve Jobs. He always took bets against the odds, and went for it. He wasn't afraid to dream big, and live that dream..

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