Have You Perfected Your…

Balancing Act by Vicki Keire

(Until we get new sponsors, I hope you all won’t mind me continuing this trend of sharing some of the great essays and inspirational posts from our archives. Like this one:)

Originally posted on August 22, 2011.

Sometimes, even the most dedicated and productive writers among us can have trouble meeting our goals. Simple exhaustion, financial stress, and family responsibilities can seem to conspire to keep us from doing the work that needs to be done. While we can’t do anything about many of these stresses —the rent needs to be paid, and families need attention— we can change the way that we deal with these external pressures and minimize their impact.

Write during times that you are most productive.

Do you write well in the morning, or do you find yourself snoring into your keyboard? Can you work in the evenings after the kids are in bed? Try to schedule those hours for writing. If at all possible, plan your work schedule, errands and chores so that you reserve your creative hours for writing.

Write in a space where you can be productive.

Do you get more done at home, or does getting to work an hour early do the trick? There’s no sense planning to work at home if you wind up watching television every time you try to work at your kitchen table.

• I can’t say enough wonderful things about my library (plus there’s a coffee shop in the basement.) But lots of people find them too quiet and stuffy.
• If your work space is at home, try not to make it your bedroom. I never sleep well if my work space and my sleep space are the same room. We all need at least one room where we can escape.
• If you get “stuck,” try a change of scene. A coffee house, a park, a bookstore, or even a new spot in the house may provide that kick you need.

Figure out how you work best, and try to work that way.

• Develop “writing” rituals. Lighting a candle, brewing tea, using a special WIP-only pen, and other ritualistic behaviors tell your brain that “it is time to get down to business.”
• Think about what actually works, not just how you like to work. You may LOVE to blare your favorite band while you write, but if you wind up singing along at the top of your lungs half the time, it may not be working. Plus your neighbors might secretly hate you.
• The point is, figure out what works and DO THAT. If something keeps you from working, DITCH IT. Once you have the “ritual that works,” do it as often as you can when you write. Repetition reinforces!

Most importantly, don’t let the fact that you have a plan keep you from changing it when needed.

While it’s ideal to plan your days to enable you to spend your most productive work time in your most productive work space working in your most productive method, you can’t always do that. So practice working elsewhere, and at other times. Losing your magic WIP pen is not an excuse not to write! Neither is being on a business trip or vacation, or having to reschedule your regular writing time because you need to go to the dentist. Try to be flexible, and don’t let rituals become excuses.

 ~*~

Vicki Keire

What ARE you doing?

It’s time for both our Sunday check-in and our super-awesome sponsor post.

I tried to think of anything I might add here, Nope. Nada. Classic sponsor Claudia Lafeve ticked all the boxes. And I can’t think of a more appropriate post these days.

You’re Writing Anyway, Right? By Claudia Lefeve

Originally posted on August 15, 2011.

At the start of each round, I am always excited to see dozens of writers post their first updates. Then after a couple of weeks, the numbers seem to magically dwindle down. Whether writers are still keeping with their goals and are just not posting, or have decided ROW80 isn’t for them, I can’t say.

After reading various writer posts, the consensus among those that decide not to participate or drop out from future rounds is due to a lack of time. Time is a concept that is not lost on me (I have three jobs, including writing), the writer who tends to several kids, or the single mom (or dad) trying to raise a family while holding down a full-time job. We all have to deal with the big beast called Life.

Fortunately, ROW80 is a challenge that is tailored to each individual writer – because you create the goals yourself! And if you’re currently a participant, I’m sure I don’t have to go over the details of how this challenge works, but what I will say is this: if you feel like you don’t have enough hours in the day or can’t keep up with your goals…you can always change them! You don’t have to burn out by raising the bar too high with unattainable goals – there are other writing challenges for that. This is a challenge where you can set reasonable goals because you have limited time.

When I first participated back in Round 1, I wasn’t sure if this was something I could commit to. Then I realized the only commitment I had to keep was to myself. If I want to be a writer, I have to set goals, whether it be personal or something I post on a weekly basis. So I have only one major goal and it’s the same one I’ve kept all three rounds and it’s a simple one: write everyday. That’s it. I don’t feel the need to change or update it every round because while simple, it’s not always an easy task.

Now, I’ll admit, this is the only writing challenge I’ve ever participated in, so my experience is limited when it comes to challenges, but I can say without a doubt that I have met some of the most supportive writers/authors by participating in ROW80. For me, that’s what ROW80 is all about. And I don’t mean on a superficial level either. I’ve connected with some very talented authors that I’m honored to call my friends. Through supportive emails, comments, and unconditional support, I’ve been able to get past the “should I really be doing this” to “hot damn, I’m doing this!”

I know I’m preaching to those ROW80 veterans out there, but for those of you who are embarking on this fabulous challenge for the first time, don’t sweat it! You’re writing anyway or else you wouldn’t be here. Sure, there are times when I don’t feel like posting or meeting my weekly goals and most times I don’t and it’s okay.

I just move on to the next week and start all over.

~*~

Claudia Lefeve

When You Just Gotta…

When you’ve got to get it done, there are a multitude of little hacks you can call out to get yourself past the planning stages—even past the “Oh, how do I get this ALL done?” woes. Sponsor extraordinaire, Deniz Bevin gives us some her favorite go-to tips in this classic post (for your check-in, please leave those in the comments) :

Overcoming The Block By Deniz Bevan

Originally posted on August 1, 2011.

We’ve all got our own methods for barreling through the day. Some of us make lists, some of us have reminder apps, some of us keep all our errands and tasks in our heads. When you’re writing, some days the words flow and sing, and when you’re editing, some days you’re so excited that you can feel the s***ty first draft words turning to smooth, well placed sentences under your fingers.

At other times, between real life and lack of confidence, every word sounds stupid and clichéd and nothing your characters say seems plausible or remotely exciting. The best cure for that, of course, is to go out and live life for a while. Step away from the page and interact with others. Do something fun and unexpected!

For those times when you can’t do that – faced with a deadline or the need to by-gum-get-things-done – I’ve got a few tips and tricks that have helped me

Read poetry, especially something that’s written in a style completely unlike what you’re used to reading or writing. Penning a dark urban mystery? Read some Gerard Manley Hopkins. Creating a lyrical literary masterpiece? Browse some Bukowski. The contrast, and the 360 way of looking at the same old world, tends to jump start your creativity.

Research. Not in a long-term, leading to procrastination way, but in fits and starts. What’s the view from the castle at Naples? A two second Google image search. Can you use coltsfoot in stew? Another split second search. Don‎’t get distracted by photos of the Italian countryside or delicious recipes. Search, find the answer, return to the manuscript. Done! Hopefully, that’ll satisfy any urge you might have had to click over to Facebook…

Plan for writing time. “Today I will write from 1 to 3 pm.” Watch your writing time get eaten up by family demands, freelancing, household tasks, what have you. Get mad. Write anyway, even if you lose an hour’s sleep.

Go out of your comfort zone. I love writing at home, listening to my own music, accompanied by cats. Yet I get a lot more work done when I wake early and head to the coffee shop, where they play music that I can’t stand and where there’s always the possibility of overhearing ridiculous conversations (“So, like, I told him not to do that, but then he did, and I was all, how could you, and you know what my therapist says…”).

Last but not least…

Read. Write. Don’tStop. Don’tcompareyourselftoothers. There’snohurry. ChangePOVs. Writeinstreamofconsciousnesstoexploreacharacter . DrinkcoffeeStopreadingalltheso-calledrulesaboutwriting. Idleawaybythinkingofchaptertitlesorcharacternamesorbynamingashipcardoggoldfish. Siptea. Thinkaboutyourstorywhilewalkingshoweringbicycling. Re-readafavouritebookorlistentoafavouritealbum. Playagame. Daleks! Tellittosomeoneelse. Ignoreitandgowatchamovie. Eat. Blog. Exercise. Putyourantagoniststogether. Stopfocusingonbooksales-yourownorothers’. Have fun!

 ~*~

Deniz Bevan

Evading the Real Writer’s Block?

We’ve all been there. We’ve all set ourselves up for failure somehow or taken the path well trodden instead of pressing forward on our goals. We really can be our own worst enemies when it comes to keeping to our goals… to ourselves. After all, what are those goals we make at the beginning of a Round of Words but promises to ourselves, personal commitments,? Yes, life happens but when it’s always happening, eventually we need to take stock and see if we might be sabotaging ourselves as we ROW.

I don’t think I could have written a better post on the subject than this one by veteran sponsor Anne-Mhairi. I hope you enjoy it too.

Check-ins can be added in the comments

Get Out Of Your Way By Anne-Mhairi Simpson

Posted originally on July 25, 2011 

This is my fourth attempt at writing this post. Not doing so well on the ‘inspirational’ so far. That said, the key is not to plan this stuff out too much. The last three times I did this (or tried to), I went into it thinking ‘inspirational, think inspirational’. The problem is, I’m not.

Inspirational, I mean. I’m just someone who decided to do something really stupid and is putting all her energies into it.

Oh, you want to know what the stupid thing was? Well, I decided that I wanted to earn my living from writing by the end of this year. I figured I’ve got some money in the bank and should be able to make it last until the end of the year. If I’m UBER-careful with the money, which I’m generally not.

You see where the stupid-ness comes in?

The even more stupid part is that I hate those jobs which are considered secure and gainful employment. Sitting at a desk day in, day out, is simply not my idea of fun. Or security. Or anything other than mind-numbing boredom and a one way track to hell and depression. Of course, I never anticipated that my body agreed with me to the extent that it granted my wish for time and money to write by rupturing a disk in my spine and sending me home on full sick pay.

This is not meant to be a post about me. Really, it isn’t. And I’m so not going back for a fifth attempt. What I’m trying to say is that the only thing getting in your way is you. Not deliberately, you understand. But there is something in the human psyche that would rather not commit to the pursuit of a desperately longed-for dream, than make the attempt and fail.

My grandmother grew up on a farm in Norfolk (in the UK, not Virginia), the eldest of six. Her father was a merchant seaman, her mother a stay-at-home mum. There was no money for expensive education, so she studied every day (apparently it served the dual purpose of being the only acceptable excuse for not helping with the housework) and got scholarships from secondary school all the way through to university in London. She graduated in 1939 with a degree in Zoology and went on to become a biochemist working on the polio vaccine in America. Then she was headhunted back to England to develop the same vaccine for Glaxo. So far as I know, it’s the same vaccine I took on a sugar lump about fifteen or so years ago. Bear in mind she was a scientist, and a very well-paid one, when most women were housewives, teachers or secretaries.

She died at the end of January this year and I remember her for the lesson she taught me without ever meaning to, that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. She never mentioned this and I think it’s because it simply never occurred to her that all people don’t think this way. Or possibly (being the kind of person she was), she thought if they didn’t think that way then they were too stupid to bother with.

I’m here to tell you that you absolutely CAN succeed at your goal of writing a book, publishing a book, making enough money to live on, and climbing the Empire State Building and BASE jumping off the top. All you have to do is refuse to give up. Ever.

Just as you wouldn’t (I hope) climb the Empire State Building and BASE jump off the top without first learning about the technicalities and then getting a team together, there is no rule that says you have to go this trip alone. The only person who can achieve your dream is you, but you are allowed to have help. You are allowed, on occasion, to sit down in the middle of the road and say ‘you know what? I just can’t do it anymore. Someone has to help me.’ Only please don’t make a habit of it because people will get frustrated with you, as my CP told me after one gasping flail too many: ‘I’ve told you enough times that you’re awesome, now SHUT UP!’

She’s great.

That’s what ROW80 is about. It’s not just the daily goals, it’s the support system, and you are absolutely entitled to ask for help from that support system. Otherwise it’s like a pair of lungs breathing away in the middle of a table on their own. It looks kinda cool, but what’s the point?

~*~

Anne-Mhairi Simpson

A “Sweet” Check-in

This is our regular Sunday post, a check-in and an bit of inspiration.

Here’s your check-in linky first, as always “Powered by Linky Tools“

Click here to enter your link and view this ROW80 Linky list…

And now… for a touch of ROW80 Sponsor Awesomeness from our archives (originally published in 2011)!

Zen and the Art of Chocolate by Cate Morgan

Now that I have your attention, let’s do an experiment. Here’s what you need:

• 2 large jars of equal size, large as you like.
• Enough bags of small candy to fill one of the jars not quite to the top. I recommend M&Ms, but that’s just my personal preference. J
• A bunch of large candy bars
• Labels (optional)
• Marker

We’re going to talk about goals and prioritization. Actually, I’m going to blog, and hopefully I still have your attention with the mountain of chocolate.

We all have roles in life. We’re parents and children and siblings, employees, housekeepers and cooks, volunteers and, since we’re on the ROW80 site, writers. On each candy bar, write or label each of your roles. Line them up in the order of importance.

Okay, fill one of the jars with small candy. You might not fill it all the way to the top, but that’s okay. Get as close as you can. It goes without saying, but I’ll put it in writing anyway:  escapees are fair game. Now, one at a time, try to fit the big candy bars into the full jar. Go on, I’ll wait while you stand on a chair for leverage and use the meat mallet. Try to not break anything.

Finished?

Doesn’t work very well, does it?

Now pull the chocolate bars out of the candy, apologize for trying drown them in the chocolate witch trials, and realign them in order of importance. “Writer” is probably somewhere toward the end, because roles like “parent” or “employee” most likely come first. The whole “starving writer” gig tends to lose its charm after the age of twenty so. But do not despair; it isn’t the end of the world.

Now put the chocolate bars in the empty jar, again in order of importance. Dump the full container into the one with the candy bars a la New York mob. Laugh diabolically if you like. Oh, go on. It’s fun.

See where I’m going with this?

The moral of the story is life is full of minutiae, and we’re often tricked into believing it’s important. Fact of the matter is, minutiae is exactly what it looks like. It piles up around us, burying us, masking what is truly important.

Prioritization works the other way around.

You make room for the big, important stuff, and if a few M&Ms fall to the way side in the process, well, you can laugh. (Have I mentioned how much I love this demonstration? *crunch crunch crunch*)

I will bet you a crisp, new twenty dollar bill you forgot a role.

Forgot yourself, didn’tcha?

I thought as much. *grins*

You, as in YOU, are an individual-type person, complete and whole. You deserve some prioritization too, so be sure you take at least a little time for yourself, even if it’s only a half hour here and there.

One of my favorite me-rituals takes place on Sunday morning. The husband is still snoring merrily away like a grizzly bear hibernating for the winter. The coffee is fresh and piping hot, the resident Ninja Katz cavorting about my ankles. I sit at the dining room table and plan my week: What do I need to accomplish? How will I meet my goals?

Goals on their own are lovely, all bright and shiny and full of promise. Especially writing goals. But they do you no good whatsoever if you don’t have a plan to reach them. A word count goal or a promise to yourself to write every single day the sun brings is a good start.

Know what works better? Specific steps, or mini-goals, to get you there. Whether you’re a pantser, planner, or somewhere in the middle, you need milestones to reach for. I’m seriously OCD (I prefer the term “Zen”), and I like balance in my life every bit as much as coffee and M&Ms. I also work on more than one project at a time, whether I’m in the discovery stage of one and the revision or rehabilitation stage of a second (as I am now), which requires optimal prioritization. I also know I have an edit letter coming at any almost moment for a recent sale.

It doesn’t have to be painful. I have a specific process, with very specific tasks. I assign myself tasks in groups of three for each project and if you’re a full, er, on pantser, you can brainstorm a scene before you write it. This way you get a real feel for what you’re working with before forming definite words around it. Yanno, minimizing the staring at the Blinking Cursor of Doom while maximizing the typeity-typeity. It isn’t planning so much as discovery, and one of my favorite parts of writing..

Do yourself a favor and consolidate either your writing or your you time with studying your craft. Spend some time reading and analyzing what you’ve read, or join a critique group just to read the work of others. You’ll gain beaucoup perspective. Every week I try to write a substantial first chapter review on the Online Writing Workshop for Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror writers. Every bit of insight helps.

Let’s review.

Block out time at the beginning of the week and assign yourself specific, reachable tasks in order to accomplish a larger goal.

Invest time to develop your craft, so your art will transcend craft.

Finally, treat your time as valuable. If you don’t, who will?

Ummmm . . . gonna eat those M&Ms?

~*~

Cate Morgan

The “P-Word”

Again, since this is also our Sunday Check-in, here’s our linky for you to share your progress (and to find your fellow ROWers and cheer them on). Comment check-ins are also welcome.

Click here to enter your link and view this ROW80 Linky list…

Have You Been Using It Too?

When poet and creative, Shari Emerson wrote this post in 2011, she had been in the ROW80 for two Rounds of Words. She called herself a “beginner”, but she clearly knew what was going to be our biggest foible as a group. Her words are as wise now as they were back then.

Er, not that one.

The other one.

Perfectionism.

Yes, I am treating it as a bad word. I’m a barely published poet, with one fiction work in progress. And you know, I love that P-word – Progress. I dislike ‘perfectionism’ so much that from here on out, I am ordering you to think about your work – writing, cooking, painting, castanet playing, Administrative Assisting, cat herding, – whatever it may be – in terms of progress.

And I invite every one of you to defenestrate (oh, look it up. You’ll like it) the other P word. That other P word is destructive, debilitating, defeating, and damning to almost any endeavor.  In fact, I think of Perfection quite like I do another P word – pick-axe. Much as with a pick-axe, Perfectionism is highly useful in trained hands, for appropriate situations – brain surgery, for instance.

Brain surgeons get a pass with their perfectionism because the margin for error is fractional, and the stakes are monstrous. If I ever need a brain surgeon, that doctor better be workin’ the P in his PhD! On the other hand….

A pick-axe, in the wrong hands, for the wrong reasons – eating an ice-cream sundae, perhaps, can only leave us, at best, messy and distraught, and at worst, well, needing a brain surgeon! Before you insist I’m exaggerating: have you ever caught yourself saying to someone else, “If I want anything done right, I have to do it myself!”? And, if you have, have you noticed the emotional fallout? If not, it’s quite something to think about. That is a fine example of perfectionism, used as pick-axe, and that’s barely scratching its destructive power.

Caveat – not everyone is like me (about this, you should be thrilled ;-). It means that you are perhaps not frozen in place at the sight of the guest room you have to organize…by tomorrow. Or, feeling guilty about the workout video you bought but aren’t ever ‘ready’ to use. These examples look like, oh, I don’t know – laziness, cowardice, more laziness…certainly procrastination. And why? Because something overwhelming inside is demanding the room be done ‘the Right way – but there isn’t enough time! Or needs the right water bottle or shoes….you get the idea.  And you know what that ‘something’ is.
Have you set up and re-shuffled story boards, index cards of plot notes, or character sketches – and spent more time than on the actual writing? These are good tools, but if you are feeding more time to the tools than to the story, you are succumbing to perfectionism. It wins in two ways – you waste your time making everything ‘right’, then you are either too tired for the work, or too overwhelmed. And if you haven’t shaken it by the next day, and it’s, perhaps, a tough day, your next days can easily fall toward doubt – about the story, your talent, your drive. Before you laugh this off, consider how you feel if a beta-reader or two doesn’t go for a plot point (or three.) How do you feel about reworking that mess? If perfectionism gets its way, your story can sit there, for a very, very long time. And in the meantime, you punish yourself every time you see the computer or notebook or printout. Those formerly cherished tools have been replaced by a loathsome doppelgänger you cannot bear to see or touch. Welcome to perfectionism. Can you think of a more destructive impediment to writing your story, than to not actually want to look at it?

I mentioned above that I’m merely a beginner; I’m sure more experienced writers have overcome this struggle. With experience, everyone gets more wise to it – you simply know the only thing that’s going to happen if you write is…you’ll up your word count.  For those like me, there’s that occasional wall of fear- of letting yourself down, of not being who or what you thought you were – and it can stop you. But making effort, despite fear, is still progress.  As humans, it is hard to admit that we will have few days of perfection. But it is absolutely delightful that we can always strive for days, weeks, months, and years, of progress.

~*~

Shari Emerson

Check-in 7/19

_{Courtesy Sparkpeople}

We’ve barely stepped out the gates for this Round of Words, and it seems that some of us are finding they’re swamped. I get it. It’s so easy to overreach (especially when we try to compare ourselves with others online); we read posts about our favorite author’s newest book (and we know that secretly Said Author writes in three other genres under pen names, plus is the head of their local writers’ group, and holds a full time job, and…)

STOP!

Just stop.

Your writing career is your own. Your creative expressions, your outlets, your hobbies… all your own. How you work toward your goals, be they professional or personal, should not be dependent on anything but what you feel you can achieve and yet be challenging enough to feel that little burst of “I did it!” once you’re done. Anything more, anything more you can and do achieve that is, is gravy. Anything more than you can achieve, something that leaves you frustrated or stressed because you can’t find the time or Life Happens, those… those aren’t great goals. Keeping with the gravy symbolism, those would be closer to what they called Ersatz Goods during the World Wars. The term, just like “ambitious goals”, doesn’t have to mean something negative, but when we’re stressed and fighting ourselves, it’s too likely that we’ll be disappointed in what we come up with.

Anyway, this is a check-in, so here is your linky. Don’t feel obliged to use it. You can post your check-in in the comments if you’d prefer.

Life Throws Us a Lot of Things

Now, several years into this ROW80 thing, I believe I can say there aren’t many of us who haven’t been thrown a lot of obstacles in our writing careers. But we write anyway. This isn’t new. As this classic post from the beginning of the challenge shows, it’s part and parcel of being a ROWing Writer:

When Life Throws You A Curve Ball

This lovely sponsor post, by Lauralynn Elliot, was originally posted on May 30, 2011 

One of the best things about ROW80 is that it allows for life…REAL life. Wouldn’t it be great if life always went exactly the way you planned and nothing bad or unexpected ever happened? But that’s not the reality we live in. Life does happen and sometimes things come at you HARD.

This year several things happened to me. My mom had a heart attack with other complications stemming from it. The county I live in was devastated by a series of five tornadoes. And, not long ago, I lost my best friend. Life threw me curve balls, change ups, and some really fast balls. The question was, though, was I going to strike out or hit it out of the park?

How about you? What has life thrown you? I’ve read a lot of your blogs and there have been several instances where the authors had some really tough times. Sometimes it’s something tragic, sometimes it’s just something frustrating. But all of the things that happen to us can cause us to make up excuses not to write. We can get so tangled up in all of life’s problems that writing gets put on the back burner. And the next thing we know, the round of ROW80 is over and our project is abandoned.

So what can we do to get back in the game? I think one of the most important things we can do is turn to our fellow players. You know, those other authors doing ROW80. This has become quite a close knit little community, and I couldn’t believe the outpouring of thoughts and prayers when my friend died. All these people are here to support you when you need it. When you’re feeling like you’ve been benched and can’t get out of the dugout, talk to us. I’ve noticed that some authors will skip their check ins when they feel they haven’t done well. That’s the time you need to check in the most! Go ahead and do your Sunday and Wednesday posts, and let us all know how you’re feeling. I guarantee you’ll get the support you need. And if you pop over to my post for that day, let me know how you’re feeling right there on my blog. The next thing you know, you’ll feel more energized and you can swing that bat and hit a home run.

But what if, no matter how hard you tried, you didn’t make your goals for that round of ROW80? Just remember, a team never wins all the games. The important thing is that you play the best you can and give it your all. Like I said in the first paragraph…ROW80 allows for real life. And there’s going to be another round of ROW80 just like there will be other games. So don’t quit the team! Let’s all work together to win some games!

 ~*~

Lauralynn Elliott

Consider Your Focus

I cannot imagine trying to copy the excellent voice our early Sponsor, Claire Legrand shared with us in her post from May, 2011 Focus On What You CAN Control, but… I can hopefully encourage you to check out her piece and take the message to heart. There’s a lot of wisdom there.

Amend that to:
“Everyone would do it WELL“

On that theme, consider what might be holding you up from achieving your goals during these 80 day challenges… or at any time. Are you suffering the dreaded Impostor Syndrome? Is life just super busy? Have you been hearing negative remarks from people who might rather you devote your precious creative energy on their projects instead of your own?

So many things can interfere with your creative dreams… if you let them. Don’t let them.

We cannot control how others create or produce or even how they perceive our efforts. We can only do our best, give our best, be our best in whatever moment in time we are in. Some days that will be better than others. Some might seem downright frightful comparatively, especially if you’ve been a super achiever for a time, and that is not only OK, it’s normal; better to be a bit slow than to suffer burnout. The thing is to keep doing and trying your best.

The other thing? Remember to forgive yourself if your best today wasn’t the same amount of awesome as “your best” of some other day. Every day brings new discoveries, new challenges, and new opportunities. Be kind to yourself and keep doing.

That is what it means to ROCk a ROW80: doing, creating, being… our best.

Rewards and Saying “No”

Our classic sponsor post of the week is Vicki Kiere’s Delayed Gratification—JustSay “No”, which delves into a struggle I think we all can relate to in some manner. Some projects just… how to put it mildly… suck the life right out of us. 😉

It doesn’t mean we don’t need to do them. It just means it’s harder for us to do them. Harder still when we start doubting our purpose as creatives (oh, those nagging inner voices saying “does the world really need another author, painter, artist…” or lulling us with “it’s just a few minutes longer, you’ll still make your goal if you play a few more minutes of the game, scroll along in social media, watch another video…”)….

That’s why the ROW80 was started. It’s why we keep offering this challenge, even through some pretty tough years. Because it is hard, and sometimes having some supportive friends out there to check-in with or say “hi” to helps a lot.

Why not detour over and read Vicki’s post. Or any of our other great sponsor posts we’ve shared over the years. You’re standing alongside some pretty amazing, creative, and supportive people. Some aren’t regularly ROWing these days, but they’re out there doing great things, and being a part of the ROW80 is why.

Coming together cred: QLA