Friday, August 6
1) Aug. 6, 2010. 10:33 a.m.
2) Write from 10:33 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
3) Finish the damn Prologue.
4) Ron left our workplace laptop at home, so I'm using that. Wasted 15 minutes trying to pair the wireless keyboard and mouse. Spent another 15 searching for the cord to Benny's boombox so I don't have to listen to the loudly humming refrigerator. But then I started really kicking ass: by 12:30 I had added 1,000 words to the Prologue, and by 1:30 we were finally in San Francisco!
5) Tomorrow: start Chapter 1: "This House Won't Sell."
Saturday, August 7
1) Aug. 7, 2010. 9:21 a.m.
2) Write from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m..
3) Start Chapter 1
4) Lots of spinning wheels today. Wrote a few paragraphs of Chapter 1. Started reading old blog posts to refresh my memory and read all the way back to 2005. Started searching online for old articles I wrote in Michigan and discovered another Christine Kilpatrick who runs a touring company for Twilight fans. I hope people don't think it's me. Sent emails. Wrote a long blog post on how the distractions of the Internet keep us from focusing on our tasks. Hmmm, ironic.
5) Tomorrow: Keep plugging at Chapter 1.
Showing posts with label Treadmill Journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Treadmill Journal. Show all posts
Friday, August 6, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Treadmill Journal: Week of July 25
Sunday, July 25
1) July 25, 2010. 2:38 p.m.
2) Write while Ron and Benny are at the park.
3) Work on Prologue. We've landed in San Francisco!
4) Wasted a lot of time trying to find the right version of the Prologue. Finally found it, then decided to rewrite it to sound like a diary. So the prologue begins like this:
Sunday, July 22, 2007
5 a.m.
I’m typing this by the light of my laptop in our empty living room. I’m sitting on the floor, of course — all the furniture is gone — beside a pile of luggage and the cat carrier. Ron paces the room and Benny sits in his car seat, clutching his stuffed sheep.
I have no idea why I ever thought I wanted to relive that morning. We almost missed our flight to San Francisco because I called the night before to change our cab reservation and the idiot on the phone typed 4:30 PM. Since then, I've stuck to my vow NEVER to use Bauer again. Just working on the Prologue made me anxious and it took three cookies and a Milky Way Midnight candy bar to calm down. I managed to get us on the plane to San Francisco before Ron and Benny returned from the park.
5) Tomorrow: Work on Prologue and try to avoid an anxiety attack.
1) July 25, 2010. 2:38 p.m.
2) Write while Ron and Benny are at the park.
3) Work on Prologue. We've landed in San Francisco!
4) Wasted a lot of time trying to find the right version of the Prologue. Finally found it, then decided to rewrite it to sound like a diary. So the prologue begins like this:
Sunday, July 22, 2007
5 a.m.
I’m typing this by the light of my laptop in our empty living room. I’m sitting on the floor, of course — all the furniture is gone — beside a pile of luggage and the cat carrier. Ron paces the room and Benny sits in his car seat, clutching his stuffed sheep.
I have no idea why I ever thought I wanted to relive that morning. We almost missed our flight to San Francisco because I called the night before to change our cab reservation and the idiot on the phone typed 4:30 PM. Since then, I've stuck to my vow NEVER to use Bauer again. Just working on the Prologue made me anxious and it took three cookies and a Milky Way Midnight candy bar to calm down. I managed to get us on the plane to San Francisco before Ron and Benny returned from the park.
5) Tomorrow: Work on Prologue and try to avoid an anxiety attack.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Treadmill Journal: Week of June 27
Well, the writing treadmill ground to a halt between May 16 to June 27. (I begin to see that the biggest benefit/drawback of this journal is that you clearly see the number of days you didn't write.)
My writing fell victim to a horrific work project involving a Color I Shall Not Name, Benny's last weeks of kindergarten and a two-week trip to Michigan. I actually hauled a ream of research in my airplane carry-on to Michigan and back, along with two military history books.
Nope, didn't touch any of it. There is no limit to the extent that people can delude themselves. The ironic part is that this memoir addresses the human tendency to make decisions based on the people we wish we were, rather than who we truly are and what we truly need.
Anyway, I trudge forward once more with today's journal entry:
Sunday, June 27
1) June 27, 2010. 2:33 p.m.
2) Write from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
3) Organize research and outlines for memoir.
4) Started well, but went downhill fast. Read over memoir notes and outlines. Read writing blogs. Searched through Writer magazines and selected a handful that addressed memoir. Looked at clock. A half-hour had passed. Found a neat Wired article on the Internet about how surfing the web wrecks your brain. Emailed the link to myself. Found neat blog about by a neurosurgeon called Dr. Grumpy. Emailed the link to myself. Remembered an interesting finance series that USA Today ran last year and found it. Emailed link to myself. Started to think that Wired was onto something. Found an old NanoWrimo novel about the Greek gods, sat on the floor and started reading it. Ron and Benny return an hour early at 3:30 p.m. and I only felt relief.
5) Tomorrow: Get to work early and work for an hour on prologue (I hope).
Friday, July 2
1) July 2, 2010. 1:44 p.m.
2) Write from 1:45 to 3:45 p.m., then pick up Benny from camp.
3) Work on Prologue. We're in the cab now, let's get to San Francisco today!
4) Wasted the first 15 minutes looking up quotes on adversity. We didn't make it to San Francisco, but at least we're on the plane.
5) Tomorrow: Get Ron, Christine and Benny to San Francisco and finish Prologue.
My writing fell victim to a horrific work project involving a Color I Shall Not Name, Benny's last weeks of kindergarten and a two-week trip to Michigan. I actually hauled a ream of research in my airplane carry-on to Michigan and back, along with two military history books.
Nope, didn't touch any of it. There is no limit to the extent that people can delude themselves. The ironic part is that this memoir addresses the human tendency to make decisions based on the people we wish we were, rather than who we truly are and what we truly need.
Anyway, I trudge forward once more with today's journal entry:
Sunday, June 27
1) June 27, 2010. 2:33 p.m.
2) Write from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
3) Organize research and outlines for memoir.
4) Started well, but went downhill fast. Read over memoir notes and outlines. Read writing blogs. Searched through Writer magazines and selected a handful that addressed memoir. Looked at clock. A half-hour had passed. Found a neat Wired article on the Internet about how surfing the web wrecks your brain. Emailed the link to myself. Found neat blog about by a neurosurgeon called Dr. Grumpy. Emailed the link to myself. Remembered an interesting finance series that USA Today ran last year and found it. Emailed link to myself. Started to think that Wired was onto something. Found an old NanoWrimo novel about the Greek gods, sat on the floor and started reading it. Ron and Benny return an hour early at 3:30 p.m. and I only felt relief.
5) Tomorrow: Get to work early and work for an hour on prologue (I hope).
Friday, July 2
1) July 2, 2010. 1:44 p.m.
2) Write from 1:45 to 3:45 p.m., then pick up Benny from camp.
3) Work on Prologue. We're in the cab now, let's get to San Francisco today!
4) Wasted the first 15 minutes looking up quotes on adversity. We didn't make it to San Francisco, but at least we're on the plane.
5) Tomorrow: Get Ron, Christine and Benny to San Francisco and finish Prologue.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Treadmill Journal: Week of May 16
MAY 16
1) May 16, 2010. 12:05 p.m.
2) Write from noon to 3 p.m.
3) Write rough outline of memoir.
4) Wrote from 12:15 to 3:30 p.m. Slow going until I consumed a few cans of Coke and half a box of Cheezits. Finished rough outline, along with a theme and tentative title. Started weaving financial news into memoir's chronology and made it to November 2007.
5) Tomorrow: Get to work early and write for an hour. Continue weaving financial news into last four months of outline.
MAY 17
1) May 17, 2010. 3:50 p.m.
2) Get to work early and write for an hour
3) Finish weaving financial news into memoir's chronology.
4) Muni made me late, so I wrote during lunch instead. Finished weaving financial news into memoir's chronology.
5) Tomorrow: Get to work early and write for an hour. Work on Prologue.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Oh No, Now I Gotta Write It
So I've finished my preliminary research for my memoir project, which involved reading old blog entries, printing out a year's worth of NPR Marketplace highlights and digging up my 2007 planner. Yay me. Now it's time to write the darn thing.
To help me stay focused, I'm going to keep a treadmill journal, which I read about in an old issue of Writer Magazine. The article's writer compares it to running on a treadmill to train for a marathon. Each day you make five entries:
1) The date and time.
2) How long you will work.
3) What you plan to work on.
4) How it went.
5) When you will work tomorrow and for how long.
(Yeah, it's another goal list, and I'm the one who made fun of lists three months ago. Sue me.)
Anyway, here is my journal entry for today. Ron is taking Benny to a birthday party this afternoon at Golden Gate Park.
1) May 15, 2010 — 9:31 a.m.
2) Write from 2 to 5 p.m.
3) Spread out all my research and work on rough outline for memoir.
4) Started an hour late; walked all over the Inner Sunset lugging my computer and ended up working at home. Worked on themes, thought about the plot and outlined opening chapters.
5) Tomorrow: noon to 3. Finish VERY rough outline of book.
To help me stay focused, I'm going to keep a treadmill journal, which I read about in an old issue of Writer Magazine. The article's writer compares it to running on a treadmill to train for a marathon. Each day you make five entries:
1) The date and time.
2) How long you will work.
3) What you plan to work on.
4) How it went.
5) When you will work tomorrow and for how long.
(Yeah, it's another goal list, and I'm the one who made fun of lists three months ago. Sue me.)
Anyway, here is my journal entry for today. Ron is taking Benny to a birthday party this afternoon at Golden Gate Park.
1) May 15, 2010 — 9:31 a.m.
2) Write from 2 to 5 p.m.
3) Spread out all my research and work on rough outline for memoir.
4) Started an hour late; walked all over the Inner Sunset lugging my computer and ended up working at home. Worked on themes, thought about the plot and outlined opening chapters.
5) Tomorrow: noon to 3. Finish VERY rough outline of book.
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