The Great Writer Hoax

We are in the third full week of the new year, and I have already blown my writer goals. Yes, that’s right. How does that happen?

I know exactly how it happens. I feel like I am doing the great writer hoax. I mean I am not doing as I said I would so doesn’t that make me a fraud?

Depends upon how you look at this. Maybe I have things going on beyond my control. Maybe I have been really sick and realize there is just no way that I can sit up at a computer and write every day.

But that’s not the case.

The days I miss my goal

I joined the 365K Club for a reason. I planned to write 1000 words a day and help my team out by doing so. Right now I am lucky to get 500 words written in a day except days when I have a blog post, such as this one.

What is my problem? What is making me feel like a hoax?

First of all, I am stuck in the one novel I have started. I started it for the second time for National Novel Writing Month in November and only made it to 18,000 words.

Now I can’t seem to move much past that amount. Why? I am not sure, but I do know I am having trouble with the storyline. I simply don’t like where it is headed.

My dilemma arrives. Do I keep writing a book that I don’t like, or do I start over for the third time? They do say third time’s a charm, right?

Other than my novel, I do have blog posts that I write, or try to, once a week. That isn’t too hard to make it to 700-800 words. Once I get a blog idea, I am off and running. No problem.

But what about the other six days? Since the novel isn’t working out, I have started working on a memoir about my five vacations to Myrtle Beach.

I am adding links to the restaurants, hotels, and things to do and make it like a guidebook as well. It’s a fun little project, and one way for me to show off my travel writing ability.

Second, I am tired. That is no excuse I know, but at times my brain won’t engage in writing, no matter how hard I try.

I work a regular part-time job at a youth center every day after school plus other days when they aren’t in school. I also work as a substitute teacher, which I do once or twice a week. I am a Thirty-One consultant and have my freelance writing and proofreading business.

Yes, I have a reason to be tired. However, maybe a better word is overwhelmed. After all it’s like working four part-time jobs or two full-time ones.

On top of all of this, I am a single mom of the one child who lives with me. He is a teenager and can take care of himself, but he still needs me as his mom.

The days I do hit my goal

As I already stated, I have no problem hitting the 1000 word goal on the days I write my blog post. I can easily write 700 to 800 words so it’s not hard to write a couple hundred words on something else.

I am working on the Myrtle Beach memoir/guidebook, which I hadn’t touched in a couple of years. I am pleased with the progress I am making on it. The book won’t be very long, but that was my intention when I started writing it.

One other way I hit my goal so far was by sprinting. I have heard of this from other writer groups, but I had never given one of them a chance.

And I did. What is a sprint? Someone sets a timer for fifteen minutes. It can be longer or shorter. Fifteen minutes works well, or, at least, that time did.

I wrote 595 words the first time I did a sprint. Not too shabby, huh?

I had a few words to write to get the 1000 mark, but at least over half was taken care of in fifteen minutes.

How do I feel about not hitting my goal?

I am disappointed in myself. I am allowing my personal life to get in the way of my dream of being a writer. I need to be more positive and less negative and look at any writing I do each day as something good — even if it’s only 100 words. It was 100 words more than when I started that day.

I feel like a fake or a hoax although I am not sure that is the right word. I am not giving 100 percent as I should be. I should force myself to write every day no matter how crappy the writing is. I should not expect perfection the first time. No writer can do that.

Final thoughts

One thing I know I need to do better is get focused. I can’t focus on writing if my thoughts aren’t organized. If I wrote down my plans for each day of writing, that would help me organize my thoughts and make me less overwhelmed. Do you agree?

How do you writers or even readers keep the goals you set? Do you write down every thing you plan to do, or do you keep your ideas stuck in your head?