January 08, 2012

ROW 80 - R1 #1

This is my first ROW80 check-in. So I'm sorry in advance if this will be awkward, I'm still familiarizing myself with the whole thing.
And as I said, I'll probably do 1 check-in per week.

My goal was to write at least 500 words for 4 days per week - ticked. I wrote almost 2,5k in 4 days. I didn't write from Wednesday to Friday, because I caught the cold. These words all go to fiction; I've started a new novel on 2nd January.
And this also marks the end of the first chapter!

As for my other goal, it was to revise a chapter of my 2010 NaNovel. Because of my cold, it all came down to Sunday, after I've written my at-least-500-words for today. And I was like 'Ooow, don't wanna! I have fun with the new story!' because I knew it needs so much work. But to start with failure? Nah...
In the end, I opened the document and tried to find where I was the last time I revised (because it was in September...). Chapter 8 didn't have a title and the beginning of chapter 9 had many blank paragraphs, meaning that was where I most likely stopped in September.
I re-read chapter 8 to give a title and found myself laughing at some parts. And realized that I still love this story very much! But it took a different turn from the first draft around chapter 6-8, so I would need to think on chapter 9 as much as I would need to think on my new story...
That said, I decided to leave it for next week. But at least I've found a title for chapter 8, fixed some awkward-sounding sentences and picked up the thread of the story, again. So, until next week, in between (or after?) writing my new novel, I can think on how to continue this old one.

I think I've started off well and because I aimed for a lower wordcount and not for everyday, the cold didn't disrupt me much (though I had to make a conscious effort to sit down and continue the story after I got better)...
Next week, I want to continue the new novel as I did this week and want to plan and write the new chapter 9 for my earlier story. If I can write more (than for 4 days) for the new one, then great, but it's not priority at this point. Haaaaah, why do you give me so many things to revise, earlier novel?!

4 comments:

Tia Bach said...

Great check in. Hope you are feeling back to normal, but the cold didn't seem to hold you back much. I have a daily writing goal, and I think I already need to re-think it. Life tends to need me to be flexible. ;-)

Looking forward to following your progress this round. Hope you have a great week!

Tika said...

Thank you! Yes, the cold didn't hold me back, because my goal isn't to write every day.
But I'm struggling this week (even though I am healthy now). Well, we still have a few days to write!

Hope you can find a daily (?) goal that is working for you.
Thank you for the comment.
Have a nice week!

Rhianna said...

Which experience do you like better - ROW80 or NaNoWriMo?

Tika said...

Phew... that's a though question.

I like ROW 80, because I can concentrate on quality (which means I'll have less revision to do), not just quantity. And it's a good way to build a writing habit IMHO.
And I can write in my own speed.

Whereas with NaNo, I can pay attention to quality in the beginning, but as the month goes on, I either write something (and disregard the quality), or I won't be able to reach 50k by the end of November.
BUT I like Nano, because I need to concentrate on one project for a long while (I tend to switch between projects around 30k) & by the end of it, I have an almost-done manuscript, AND since I don't need to worry about quality, I usually have some quite unique ideas in the second half. Which I probably wouldn't, if I were to write in my own (slower) pace.

To sum it up, Nano is great for a creative rush, but ROW 80 allows me to advance with my WIPs throughout the whole year, so I think the latter fits me better.
But I wouldn't give up on the adventure in November, either :D