Good intentions

I downloaded a marketing course a few days ago. I've been reading through the course materials, checking e-mails, checking facebook, and I realized that I haven't done any writing this week. A couple words on Monday.

Part of it is because I'm working on a story and I have no idea where it's going. Well, I never have any idea where it's going, but for some reason this one is resistant to pantsing. So I try to write and just sit there staring at the screen, which is neither comfortable nor useful.

But mostly it's just because social media has sneaked up on me again.

I usually check it in the morning, before I begin writing. I try to leave it alone for the rest of the day. But you know, it's a geometrical progression. The more "friends" I have the more people I have to check, and the more people I have to look at, and laugh with, the more things I like, the longer it takes.

So, the Facebook sucking is over. I'm on a Facebook fast for the next week.

See you next Monday!

It's been a year

I've been blogging each week for over a year. I've been thinking about increasing the frequency to twice a week, but right now once a week seems quite sufficient. People are used to that schedule, and as I gain more followers (Thanks for following me!) the numbers are starting to go up on Monday. And since there are more people coming on Monday than are listed as followers, I know there are silent watchers out there.

Thanks to you as well!

BTW, I need to apologize for putting last week's blog up so late. I was involved in a family crisis and I thought the post had been scheduled. By the time I realized it hadn't posted, it was early afternoon.

And it has been a year. In the last year I've quit my job to work on my writing, started a blog, started a twitter account (@laurenritz1, although I haven't done much there--I don't have a cell phone) and a facebook account (Laurenritzthewriter, since there are so many other Lauren Ritz's out there) but I haven't really done much with that either.

I started designing a web page, did a monthly blog post for Writingsnippets and participated in all of our interviews there. I've completely edited three novels, finished (as in beginning-middle-and-end) four more. Working on editing a total of seven, and I have five unfinished that I'm actively writing.

I only started two new ones that I haven't finished, so that's progress...well, two new ones that have more than 20,000 words. I put the rest away and I refuse to touch them until I have some of the backlog taken care of. Maybe. Unless I get bored. I have a bad habit of starting new novels just because.

My "Writing year" actually started at the end of August, so that's nine months, but I wanted to combine my nine month progress report with the blog.

It has been a very hard, very busy year, and I've loved it.