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Posts by Miranda

Jan 4

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Miranda: Results for week #1

Chapter 2, first draft completeWell, I’m amazed, but I finished Chapter 2. Finished to the point of sending it to one of my readers. I’d told myself I’d need two weeks for each chapter, but since there is already a good amount of draft in Chapter 3, I’m going to set next Friday as my deadline for its completion.

Meanwhile I’ve been doing a lot of surfing, reading the blogs of other creative women and writers. So many people are doing such cool things! It always inspires. I especially enjoyed the two blogs MartaWrites and On-My-Desk. Got me thinking about keeping a visual journal, and taking more pictures of my kids with my new (good) camera.

I also managed to spend at least an hour poring through Google images for the perfect picture for my laptop’s desktop. I really don’t know how I am able to waste so much precious time doing nearly nothing.

My dilemma for the week: keeping up my momentum. The weekend looks full of errands, and I’m worried that I’ll fritter away naptime on Saturday and Sunday (doing dumb things like searching for the ultimate photo of Edith Wharton). I’d like to do a bit of cross-pollinating this weekend–finish a painting I started last spring, or do some graphic journaling–and of course, get busy on Chapter 3. But I need to write thank-you notes and work on cleaning out the basement, on top of the usual domestic tidal wave. My best defense is usually trying to create a schedule for the weekend, so that I have time for myself before it all gets swallowed up. Then, even though the schedule is likely to get thrown off at some point, at least I have a lighthouse to swim toward.

Any other suggestions?

Jan 1

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Miranda: Here goes…week #1

I’ve worked out a schedule whereby I can complete my nonfiction manuscript by early April. As I have 129 manuscript pages in hand. (These pages are patchwork bits and pieces of the whole book, rather than the first 129 pages. Chapter 1 is a solid draft.) If I crank, I can finish each one of the eight chapters in two weeks’ time apiece. This is aggressive, but I am determined to have a fairly complete draft in hand before baby #5 arrives in early May.

I’d also like to do a little sketching and drawing, but I won’t have a lot of spare time–especially as we may be putting our house on the market again. So for now, I need to focus on the book. According to my spreadsheet, I’m supposed to finish Chapter 2 by this Friday. Ack! This will be a challenge, but I don’t have a heavy client workload this week, so I can commandeer a good amount of my babysitting time for the book.

Longer term, I need to focus on two things: just write something, every day–even if it’s only 5 minutes’ worth–and use longer, scheduled chunks of work time. Just creating this blog post makes me feel more committed!

Jan 1

The creative buck stops here. (Or doe, natch.)

2008.jpgIt’s the start of a new year, and many of us are full of plans and creative dreams. For me, and many other women I have spoken to, turning dreams into reality is a lot easier when someone is watching over your shoulder. We can all benefit from a stern yet supportive friend to remind us of our stated intentions, and keep us “honest” in the process. Checking in regularly, and seeing the progress that others are making, is inspirational food for the creative soul.

With this blog, I hope to create a community where we can share our creative intentions–only a daily, weekly, or monthly basis–and receive support in making those goals happen. Going public with your “wishes” can be a powerful means to actualization. You can link to a website of your own, a Flickr site or your artwork, or post documents for others to read and comment on, if you like.

If you’d like to participate, send me an e-mail (see box in right column) and I’ll set you up as a contributor. Then you can post your own entries and receive comments, feedback, and support–from me and the rest of the community.

So, what do you want to do this year?

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