Many apologies for the brief posts lately, but… life has been a bit extra cray-cray lately. That said… the ROW80 is the Writing Challenge that Knows You Have a Life. Good thing too, since I’m sure I’m not the only one in this group that’s been busy-busy.
Hope you’re all doing well despite that.
Let us know. As always, you can leave a note in the comments or on our FB page. Best words to you.
Just a short “How’s everything going, folks?” check-in. Hope you’re Sunday is going well and the rest of the week too.
As we get deeper into the round, we may find our energy ebbs and flows like the tides. Sometimes the words fill us to near bursting. Other times, we might need a bit of a push to get moving.
A former ROWer, EM Castellan retweeted this the other day. April may have already started, but who knows… this might be just the extra boost to help you get moving toward your aspirations and achieving those goals that get you to your dreams.
What are you doing to keep yourself inspired? Let us know in the comments or on our FB page.
Ever find yourself being “Happied Out”? Like you’ve had so much fun doing things you love that you just need to settle down and work on stuff you don’t, because the fun isn’t fun anymore? That feeling you get when you’ve had a slightly too long vacation?
It can happen in writing too. That Zone we all hear about, the place where the words just flow and the characters seem to just flow through the air and onto your page without any real effort on your part… it does exist. Not that many of us get there regularly. We’re the Writing Challenge That Knows You Have a Life, and we know life comes with distractions. Distractions and the Zone just don’t seem to inhabit the same physical or spiritual plane of existence.
Thing is, we tend to be so very happy when we’re in the Zone. Things make sense. They work. We feel the progress, the creative energy… we feel powerful. And we feel like it’s effortless.
Thing is… when everything is easy, it’s nice for a while, but after a bit… things lose their wonder; the stories don’t seem as good. It’s because our brains thrive and develop when we’ve challenging ourselves somewhat. The stuff we do all the time… we let go, we give up some of the control and let it all go on automatic… and we can’t be sure what we’re getting is what we really wanted.
That’s the time our brain is saying “give me something new to do; I need a challenge”.
Fortunately, there are all sorts of ways to challenge yourself as a writer. You could try a new style or genre. You could switch point of view. You could try writing articles or copy, poems or screen plays. Maybe you could try writing a video game (design, not the code…. though you could try that too).
And what if you’ve never found yourself in the Zone…
Well, here are some posts with ideas to try. Feel free to pick and choose, The Zone is a fleeting, personal thing. Sometimes the path to it changes even… Don’t be afraid to try and try again.
Have you found yourself in the Zone before? Have you found yourself in need of a challenge? Tell us what you’ve learned in your check-in, here or in our FB group.
And here we are… the first checkin of a whole new Round of Words. 80 days to step forth and do those things that we’ve been dreaming of….
It’s early, so a lot of you all might think you’ve got nothing to report. Try anyway—you may be surprised by what you’ve accomplished already.
I can’t get to my main computer tonight to set a linky (writing this in the car on the way to NJ), so leave your check-in in the comments or on our FB page. And keep on keeping on.
Is everyone ready for a whole new, bright and shiny Round of Words in 80 Days?
Well, here it is folks. We’ve made it! We are here. It’s Round 2, and we’re ready. We’re going to make this one awesome. We’re going to rock this.
Because….
And if you still haven’t posted your goals, here’s the linky:
Hey all!
First off, I wanted to send a huge “Thank You” shout-out to Denise Young for covering the End of Round post. A family crisis had popped up and.. well, I am truly grateful.
Next, I wanted to remind all of you that next Monday is the beginning of Round 2. If anyone is looking for an accountability partner, you should get in touch ASAP. I will send out msgs this weekend to all people who’ve signed up. That is, unless you would like to keep your ‘old partner’ (that works too). Either way, send me an email or an FB message. Or leave a comment in the thread below.
And lastly…
If you haven’t posted your goals and/or aspirations yet… it’s time. Here’s the linky. Have fun!
