What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them knowwhat's up. It is run by Jamie Morrow and Erin Funk. Jamie has a link at the bottom of her post with everyone who's joining in each week.
So, I didn't get a post up last week. I knew I'd be traveling at the time, but I thought, surely, I'd have the time to write on the blog. Brought my computer, thought about blog posts...then I got to the beach, and all thoughts of my computer were gone from my head. I didn't open my computer once. I mean, can you blame me?
My nieces!
Storms at the beach
Low tide
Happy baby!
WHAT I'M READING:
So, now I guess I'm reading the next book. I have it on my shelf, but haven't picked it up yet. I have some things I have to do before I open it, or I know I won't be able to do anything else. I love books like that!! Oh yeah, it's called: Days of Blood and Starlight. I am so excited to read it!
(Also, finishing Daughter of Smoke and Bone means I've read 12 boos so far in the month of June. And I plan to read at least one, hopefully two, more books before the end of the month. YES!
WHAT I'M WRITING:
Anyway, my goals for the first week didn't quite work. I think I wrote 3 out of 7 days. I was hoping for at least 4 out of 7. But I should have known that between packing for the beach, and actually being at the beach, there just was not enough time. So, I didn't reach my goal, but I feel okay about it.
Knowing that it was hard for me to get in 7 days of writing, I'm going to pull the goal back a little, but still have the same idea in mind. I want to get in the habit of writing every. single. day. But, maybe I need to work up to it. And that's okay. I'm allowed to not be perfect. And really, if writing every day was easy, wouldn't everyone do it?
So my goal for this week of Ready, Set, Write: Write 5 days this week. Hopefully write at least 500 words per day.
Any 5 days between now and next Wednesday. I still have some wiggle room for things that come up and keep me busy (or occupied watching Sherlock), without one day ruining my goal. And if I can get at least 500 words in each of those 5 days, I'll be happy. Obviously, I'd love to write more than 500, but I can go for at least that.
WHAT INSPIRES ME:
Two words: Benedict Cumberbatch.
Then the week before we went to the beach, I started watching Sherlock. And I was a goner.
And then Saturday we saw Star Trek again and I about died.
I exploded my friend's Pinterest feeds with almost 200 pictures of Mr. Cumberbatch. TWO HUNDRED. Ridiculous.
WHAT ELSE I'M UP TO:
My break is starting to wind down, so I'm hopefully going to be job hunting soon. Which I'm not excited about. But it has to happen, I guess.
I'm pretty nervous about doing therapy full time. It's very emotionally exhausting and I don't know if I'm quite in the emotional state to do it 40 hours a week. Part time I can do, for sure. But full? I don't know.
So, I'm also going to be looking at other options for a part-time job. I would love to find something related to writing, books, reading, publishing...who knows. The problem is, there's not a whole lot of options like that in my city. The only publishing companies here are for technical manuals or textbooks. Which is NOT what I'm interested in. So mostly, I just have no idea what options there are, or if it's even possible to find something like this. Hopefully I can find something.
Any ideas?
What are you up to???
For publishing, I heard some tele-work is possible, maybe you could look into that...:-)
ReplyDeleteThose pictures at the beach are the best! I think we can all understand why didn´t blog :D
Totally cheering you for this week´s goals. 5 days a week, you can do it! Maybe you´ll write only a page one day but it really feels like a habit. I think Stephen King mentioned this in his book ON WRITING...and for me it´s true, my fingers really itch to write whenever I establish a routine :D
Have a great week!
I've been meaning to get On Writing, I think I should go ahead and do it soon. :) I would LOVE to get to the point where I feel physically uncomfortable if I don't write every day. I have that with reading, which is fantastic, but I would love it to extend to writing as well.
DeleteI'll have to look into tele-work and see what options there are. Thanks for the suggestion!!
Isn't Sherlock AWESOME?!?! Ohmigosh, Benedict Cumberbatch's voice is just beyond description. So deep and smooth. I'm so ready for the third series of Sherlock. I just feel sorry for anyone sitting with me when I do watch it because I'll be making Star Trek references all over the place :P "YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP JOHN!"
ReplyDelete*cough*
Beaches and laptops do not mix at all. Looks like you had a fab time!
I love when Sherlock quotes Spock in one of the episodes (I think the Hounds of Baskerville?) and then John calls him Spock. Fantastic cross over. :) I look forward to the new Star Trek cross over comments that will be made by fans everywhere.
DeleteI feel bad for people sitting with me when I watch Sherlock (whether when the new ones come out, or re-watching the old ones) because I tend to make a slew of awkward, inappropriate comments about Sherlock and well... I'm sure you could guess. :)
Well, in the 2009 Star Trek film, Spock quotes Sherlock too ;) Crossovers yay!
DeleteI think I probably can ;) ENJOY!
What is this wonderful thing you speak of? Spock quoting Sherlock?!
DeleteHaha, super late to responding (omg so sorry) but in the 2009 Star Trek film, Spock quotes Sherlock Holmes - "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"
DeleteAlso, I gave you a Liebster Award yaaay! It's over on my blog ^_^
Welcome to the Sherlock fandom, dear. We have cookies and scarves and a deep, abiding love for sharp cheekbones. *shakes hands*
ReplyDeleteLol, truth be told, I'm okay with there only being two series out right now...I spend waaayyy too much time watching it already. Benedict is fantastic, and his voice is on par with the best.*coughcoughTomHiddlestoncoughcough* And Martin! Okay, I'll stop gushing now. :D
In other news, the beach looks like it was a wonderful writing distraction. Your nieces are adorable!
I hope you reach your goals this week...they sound very reachable!
The beach was not only a wonderful writing distraction, it was a fantastic life distraction. I didn't worry or think or self-criticize or anything bad the whole time I was there. It was amazing. And thanks! They are pretty adorable, aren't they? I love them!!
DeleteNo need to stop gushing, Rae! I have spent hours gushing and imagine I will continue to do so. Those sharp cheekbones... and his glorious lips.... *SWOON*
It's okay to take some time off, and it looks like you had a great time at the beach!
ReplyDeleteJust think, we get to hear Benedict Cumberbatch's voice in the next Hobbit movie later this year since he's doing the voice of Smaug. I keep waiting for a trailer where we'lll actually hear him, but alas, no luck yet. (Apparently he was also in The Other Boleyn Girl, and my mind was completely blown because REALLY?!)
Ahem. I'd better end this before I go on about him all day. Good luck getting your five days in this week!
Lovely beach pics! I think writing 5 days a week is totally reasonable. It's good to give yourself breaks if you need it! I have a hard time writing every single day since I'm also working full time.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched Sherlock but I should check it out!
I've been working on the 500 words a day goal and its going pretty well. I hope it works for you!
ReplyDeleteThe beach looks fantastic, especially the storm photo, so dramatic!
I LOVE Sherlock so much. It's brilliant, hurry up series 3! I still need to see Star trek though.
Thanks! I'm hoping it works for me as well. If it doesn't, I'll survive though. I'm trying my best to not let my writing become something my silly brain uses to criticize myself or anything. So, goals are good, but if they don't happen, it's not the end of the world.
DeleteThe beach was so fantastic. And can you believe that storm picture was taken with an iPhone 4?
OMG, go see Star Trek as soon as you possibly can. Benedict is PHENOMENAL in it. I can't handle it!
Yeah, I can see how the beach would be just a wee bit of a distraction from writing. Sounds like it was a very fun distraction, so I'm glad you had a good time! I think the whole goal setting thing takes a bit of fiddling. This past week I found having a word count goal was a lot of pressure, so I switched to a more task oriented goal for this week, and that feels a little more comfortable to me. I hope your new approach works well for you. Good luck with this week's writing, and I wish you luck in the upcoming job search.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I totally agree that Benedict Cumberbatch is quite pleasant to look at. :)
Thanks! I did have a great time.
DeleteI am definitely glad to see other people tweaking their goals as well. It would be sad to be the only one. Sometimes I forget that other writers are human as well. It's such a relief to know that we all experience similar things. :)
I love your pictures!!! And so jealous of your beach time! I think your goals are admirable - I usually only write 5 days a week and while I know I should write every day, I'm okay with the 5 day thing. Good luck to you on your writing this week!
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a lot of people, especially those with families, do the 5 day thing and take weekends off. I think whatever works for your life and schedule is just fine. And as we therapists sometimes say, "Don't should on yourself!!!" There is no one-way-fits-all for life and writing, and if 5 days works for you, that's a good thing. :) (I have to remind myself not to should on myself alllll the time...)
DeleteI wish I was at the beach last week! I think your goals for this week are pretty realistic. I agree with Alison: it's hard to write every day. I hope you find this week to be much more productive! (Still, 4 days is pretty good if you ask me)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I hope it's productive as well. And yes, 4 days is still good compared to no days! :)
DeleteI wish everyone could have time at the beach, if they like that sort of thing. It really was exactly what I needed. Hope you get some good vacation/relaxation time in sometime this summer!
I love flying through books, too. I have to take breaks in between just so I can get some housework done. At least, I used to do that before I had kids. Now, I'm lucky to read a book in a week. Anyway, good luck with your goals for the week and with the job search! My husband has been doing the same, and it's tough. I never really thought about how emotional it must be for a therapist, but now that I am, I know I couldn't do it. You're a tough one!
ReplyDeleteGORGEOUS PICTURES! Glad you took a break at the beach. That is so important to do! Best of luck with your writing goals and job search! Christy
ReplyDeleteTwelve books in June? That's awesome! I really enjoyed DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE. Such a good book! That was one of those books that made me step back and go, "Do I really have what it takes to be an author?" Such gorgeous prose, and it had me rereading segments just to enjoy them again.
ReplyDeleteI think your goals for this week are really good. I try to write Monday-Friday and leave the weekends free, so I guess our goal is similar: 5 out of 7 days. You can totally do it, Rachel! Have fun writing (and reading) this week. :)