ROW80 Challenge Check-in

I joined this challenge late, and in keeping with that general theme I’m getting off to what can only be described as a slow start.

I haven’t done any writing of note, but that’s not to say I haven’t done any writing. Given that even a few weeks ago the amount of my writing was negligible (in fact, the only way it could really be worse was if I’d written in pencil and spent time erasing words I’d already written), I’m rather proud of my slow start. Slow or not, it still counts. And a little something is better than a big nothing.

I’ve remembered (reawakened?) just how much I enjoy writing. How much I need to write, need the sense of peace and accomplishment that comes when I’ve finished something. Whether a short story or a journal entry, I do love to write.

Two events have occurred recently that have helped keep my motivation strong(er). 1) I bought myself a pretty journal with butterflies on the cover. Butterflies appeal to me lately, and I enjoy filling the pages of this book with my thoughts, story ideas, dialogue snippets, etc. 2) A couple days ago, my husband made good on a promise he’d made me months ago to replace my dying laptop. The poor thing was dying a slow, painful death, and neither the laptop nor I enjoyed using it anymore. I think my husband was tired of listening to me cursing whenever I attempted to use the thing. It runs Vista, for goodness sake, which will give you an idea of how desperately it needed to be put out of our respective miseries.

Now that I have a reliable piece of computer equipment again, I can start transferring my handwritten ideas and notes into something more organised and coherent. I’m starting to feel excited at the prospect again, the prospect of giving shape to my ideas. Somewhere along the way I lost my self-confidence and actually felt trepidation at the thought of writing. But I’m changing that.

All of this to say that my progress with the ROW80 has been slow. I’ve missed a check-in or two. And I’ve realised that one of my goals needs a major revision. It’s time-consuming to find and research places to submit to. I think I was feeling cocky with the goal of submitting three times a month because I’d just made two submissions. But that was more luck of the timing than anything. Right now I need to keep my focus on the writing. I might try to submit something once a month, but I think that’s a tentative goal.

I’ve done better with the reading portion of my goals — hardly surprising. I got a copy of Best British Short Stories 2017 and have read a few of them. A couple I didn’t care for, but that’s part of the learning process.

I’m still glad to be part of the Round of Words in 80 Days challenge. And I see the potential for better progress being made in the weeks to come.