Saturday, October 13, 2012

Progress

I'm finding it to be incredibly difficult to continue the pace of editing every day.  Yesterday, I realized I hit my limit. I had a mild headache. I wanted a break.  I needed to go back to bed.

I told myself I would just write up revisions to a chapter of my WIP - just marking changes with a pen onto a printed copy of it.  Nothing more.  I gave myself permission to do it half-assedly.  Something is better than nothing, right?

I ended up editing two chapters.  While I was working on the second chapter, I forgot how much I didn't want to work on it.  I lost myself in it.

Today, I'm going to meet my CP just to write.  I'm going to type up revisions to those two chapters and finish one more. 

It's the thirteenth day of the month.  By the end of the day, I will have completed revisions to eighteen chapters.  I'm very pleased that I didn't take a break yesterday.

The other thing I promised myself I would do every day this month is exercise.  Epic fail.  I haven't spent a single minute exercising, unless you count cleaning and the think where my heart rate was doubled when I was freaking out over the mouse.  Today I will exercise. 

One issue I'm trying to overcome is the thing where I'm afraid to lay on the floor to stretch when there's the very real potential that a mouse is going to join me. 

I'm thinking about pulling out a blank journal and starting a book of excuses - a daily list of why I can't exercise each day.  Maybe after writing that twice, I'll probably see how lame the excuses are and will get into the habit of exercising the way I used to. I'll remember how good it feels to get lost in it and forget the reasons why I almost didn't do it.

Have a great weekend!

17 comments:

  1. Mouse might be more afraid of you than you are of it! Exercising clears my head, so it will probably help you concentrate better on your editing.
    You're on pace - you will finish this month!

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  2. Check out The Healthy Writers Club at www.shalleemcarthur.com/p/the-healthy-writers-club.html.
    I just found out about it today. It seems like a nice spot where writers can share and support one another health-wise, and there's the accountability factor too...

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  3. Exercising helps but don't try to jump right back in. Increase gradually. Try walking for a half hour, then add one more exercise every day or every time you exercise if it's 3 x's a week. If you do this for 20 days, it's supposed to become habit. Walking is one of the easiest things to fit in.

    I'll bet the mouse at least gets the heart rate up. . . good luck, I'll cheer you on. I used to buy the exercise mags to get motivated.

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    1. You're absolutely right about the exercise. I'm going to walk today.

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  4. For me, writing and exercise require some of the same "just do it" motivation. It's always tough to get started, but then once you get going it's not too bad, and I always feel better after doing both. Now, if only I could work on the laptop while I go for my walks, life would be perfect. Glad you're making such great progress.

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    1. I know exactly what I need to do and what I need to eat (and not eat). Years ago I logged in lots of time with a trainer and lost enough that people called me skinny. I need to just do it. It's time.

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  5. Exercising is like editing. Start it or keep going even if you don't want to and you somehow just keep going and feel good about it. I feel so guilty if I miss a day of exercise.
    Great job on the writing goal.

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  6. I know exactly how you feel. The only exercise I get is twice a week of martial arts and even that doesn't feel enough. Oh and I'm editing too! I try to sneak in at least 2 chapters a day, but sometimes it's so hard.
    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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  7. Great going, Tonja! I feel better when I exercise regularly. For me, it's necessary.

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  8. I'm glad you managed to push through with the editing! And mice may startle you, but they really won't hurt you.

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  9. I find editing and exercising a hard balance too. If I do one, I'm too tired to do the other :/

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  10. lol, I love your idea of writing a book of excuses. Maybe you could publish that too!!!

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  11. I agree with Lynda. I love that idea. I've been dealing with extreme fatigue again. I hate this!

    Hugs and chocolate,
    Shelly

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  12. Thanks for stopping by today, Tonja. You've been missed!

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  13. I love your book of excuses idea. I could probably rival War & Peace for length if I started doing that. I had great intentions to start exercising again and have made some progress but mostly I'm still being lazy.

    I hope you've had a better week of both editing/writing and exercising. :)

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