Early Bird--Day 4 update

It's day four since I decided to become an early bird. Surely I passed the test. I'm definitely still in the game. I plan to be waking up earlier only Mondays to Fridays.

I'll use weekends to catch up on sleep or else I'll end being a zombie. Sort of like a little reward.

Tomorrow I'll try to squeeze in a few extra hours of shut eye. I say try, because it usually happens that on days that I'm actually allowed to sleep longer, that's when my eyes force themselves open early in the morning and it's hard to get back to sleep.

When I have to get up early for work or anything else that requires me getting up early, that's when sleep is simply irresistible. I think it's like that for some people.

That's why I have a backup plan. If I happen to wake up early, I'll read a nice novel. I might start The Beach House by Jane Green. I read it already, but I love it, so why not again?

I'm also a digital scrapbooker, so I might cook up some designs. The point is to do something that's different and inspiring.
I'll do my editing at night on Saturday and Sunday. Monday, I turn into an early bird again.

What do you think of my plan?

Liz

Motivation links part 2

Hi everyone. I hope you're all doing very well. I am. It's really cold over here, but I'll get through it.
Even though I haven't posted anything on my blog for a while, Chocolate Aftertaste is progressing rather well.
 As promised, here's a bit of motivation for you. I hope it would get you writing that bestseller.

Great tips here:
http://writetodone.com/2010/03/12/motivation-tips-that-actually-work-6-sure-fire-ways-to-get-writing-and-keep-writing/

Goals, motivation, rewards...I love the last tip:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/pages/cstudents/dean/break-writing/break-12.html

Well, that's all for now. Time for me to follow some of those tips.

Some news from my world. I finally subscribed to the writer. I couldn't wait for my first issue to arrive in the mail. I received it yesterday. I feel great.magazine

Mindy and Body

I just got back from work and am exhausted. I can hardly sit up straight. Until yesterday, I used to have a very flexible job, where I could sleep in--I love my sleep. Now I have a 9 to 5 (or later).
My body is still adjusting to the new hours. I wanted to get at least, at least 500 words done tonight before I go to bed, but I don't know if I can.
"You can," says the mind.
"I can't," says the body.
"You can," says the mind.
"I'll show you who's boss if you don't leave me alone."
"Come on girl, where's the spirit? Just a few tiny words."
"Easy for you to say, all you do is sit around. I do all the manual labor around here."
"Without me you can do nothing," the mind said. "If I wanted to, I could force your hands on that keyboard."
"You can try," says Body.
"I can, but I won't. If we want Chocolate Aftertaste to be the best it can be, we have to work together as a team. Come on, friends?"
"Friends--hey, wait a minute," says body, laughing, "if I can write this right now, I can manage 500 words. You were right Mind-y."
"I'm always right Body."
"Fine, I'm off then. I have some words to suck out of my thumb."

 This was just silly me trying to get to get myself motivated to write. It worked.

The days I feel like destroying the world I've created

Yesterday I skimmed through my synopsis draft. When I got to the end, I realized I was not happy with it--the ending (the synopsis too, but that's a story for another day). That was all it took for me to question the novel I spent almost two years working on, the novel I thought was one of my best. Now, there I was, thinking it was my worst. my husband did everything to remind me I'm a great writer. Well, he is my husband, my biggest fan. What else would he say?
I think the only person that can really motivate a writer, is him or herself. People can only encourage us so much. They can tell us everything we want to hear, but in the end, it's up to us to believe it. Most of the time I'm very good at motivating and encouraging myself, but sometimes, it's just so hard. Yesterday was one of those days.

My husband diligently listed all the reasons he thought I'm a great writer, I nodded--equally diligently--but my mind was far away. In the end, after thirty minutes of nodding and staring into space, I dragged myself off the couch and went to cook dinner. I was still not quite present, it's a wonder I didn't burn dinner. Later, after a hot shower I got it. The wrong man got the girl. I love both of the male characters that are after Nora, my protagonist, but there can only be one Mr. Right. I had given her the wrong one and I couldn't get a moment of peace until I did the right thing. If she's not happy, I'm not happy.

The blockage has been removed and the fountain of my imagination is flowing freely again.

So, that was it really. The rain stopped, the sun broke out from behind the dark clouds, and once again, I was the best writer in my world.

What do you do when you reach your low point(s)?