Wednesday, November 1, 2017

The Problem with Pride - Writing updates for September


Another month has passed. Some days I've impressed myself, some well let's just say I wanted to hit myself. And some others I hadn't even noticed when they passed. I was just startled that the end of the month had arrived and there I was missing and skipping days. Unawares.

I have realised something while writing over the past few months. Whenever I write, especially 1,000 or more words in a sitting, I get cocky. I become proud, but my pride hinders me in fulfilling my quest and meeting my target.

At first, I thought it was just the taste of accomplishment. But month after month, I realised the feeling is recurrent. And hindering.



I don't know if that's just me, or if other writers struggling to jot a book down or meet their writing targets have the same problem. But it's definitely a problem. And if you're like me, setting a doable target each month, then exceeding a daily quota on some days, feeling proud and lazing the next few days, then you, too, are suffering the same problem.

September achievements:
·        4-5 poems
·        5,462 words for Darya's story that's around 55% of my target
·        4 book reviews
·        1,724 words in other projects
·        Three prose pieces (most of them have not been copied)
·        1 Article (The August Writing Progress piece)
Total word count for September 2017 (excluding uncopied pieces, book reviews, & August progress piece): 7,186 words


October is a new month, which means a new chance and new attempt. In Darya's story, I haven't written a thing. I wrote around 1,500 words in another project I'm saving for NaNoWriMo (but keeps jumping in my head). But so far, I'm 10 days in October – my favourite month – and I basically haven't moved from square 0.

But there are 20 more days to make up for my laziness. Then, I'll be off to the tough stuff aka NaNoWriMo – or so I thought when I had originally written this piece and was planning to publish it in October. More on that in the October progress report.

For those who are unfamiliar with NaNoWrimo. It stands for National Novel Writing Month and entails a tough target of 50,000 per month, that's 1,667 words per day. Your story can be in the language of your choice. All you have to do is make up your mind and sacrifice a few things, like outings and socialising, to meet your target.

Writers from around the world try their hand at it, every November. You don't have to travel anywhere, just the comfort of your laptop and track your progress online. The NaNoWriMo website tells you how much of your target you've achieved and how much you have left.

For October and as I write this, I want to remind myself that it's good to be proud of one's achievements but not to let those achievements hinder future ones. Pride is after all a deadly sin, and I'm not planning on dying until I finish these books I have in my head.



Who's with me?

*feels like I'm readying myself and others for war, right?*

I'll be taking part in November's NaNoWriMo, which means my posts might be fewer. I'm not planning on reading much during that month. May be one book just to keep my mind working.

If you're taking part next month, whether with the 50,000-word target or less, join me and let's support each other via Twitter and Facebook.

If you have certain music that you like listening to while writing, please share it in the comments below or via Twitter or Facebook.


This post was written on Tuesday, 10 October 2017. (A little late in writing this post and publishing it)



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