— (Excerpt from The Hour of the Dragon, by Robert E. Howard)
Preparing for Round 3
Ten more days left in the Second Round of ROW80. At this point, I’m just trying to stay consistent with my writing, attempting to finish this round strong. Although I am nowhere near my 60,000 word writing goal for this round, I am happy with the quality of the words I was able to write. My goal right now is to organize my work and prepare for Round 3. I have a lot of story content that I want to develop during the next 80-day challenge, and I'm enthusiastically excited and optimistic about my writing prospects for the "Summer Round". My goal for this round (the "Spring Round") was just to experience it, to get my feet wet and my hands muddy, to hunker-down in the foxhole, and to bravely do my tour-of-duty with all you writing veterans. Hopefully, by Round 3, I can shake-off this “rookie” label that I've attached to myself and get some serious novel writing done like y'all. That’s the plan.
The Serenity of Silence
I tried to get some writing done yesterday, including an attempt to write this post, but I was easily annoyed and distracted. For me, Saturdays are usually a great day to make progress on my writing, as I have large blocks of uninterrupted time that I can dedicate towards writing my stories. With a little self-reflection and quiet meditation, I can usually get myself into the proper state of mind that invites my Muse. Once in that state, I can attune my frequency to that of my Muse, and while in that trance-like state, transcribe the story as it flashes in my mind. When I’m in that zone, the words start flowing. But not yesterday. I don’t know about you, but for me, that fragile writing-trance can be easily broken by loud outside distractions. You see, my neighbors had a big birthday party for their young daughter yesterday, with at least twenty-or-so of the girl’s classmates and friends attending. Adorable kids, and bless them all; they were having a wonderful time playing and singing and all, but my ability to concentrate was all shot to hell. Normally, I can tune-out normal neighborhood murmurings and traffic bustling noises, but my ears just aren’t used to the high-pitched squealing and screeching of twenty happy children playing outside my window. The pitch of their screaming was so uncomfortably piercing, that at one point, I briefly thought about puncturing my eardrums with my pencil just to alleviate the pain (okay, a bit extreme, I know, but it crossed my mind). The noise was painful and I was too frustrated to write (my Muse recedes into the shadows when I’m frustrated). Then I remembered that I had a box of ear-plugs that someone had given me years ago while they were doing construction, and I rummaged through my junk until I found it. Oh, sweet treasure! I turned my radio on, tuned it to a white-noise non-station, and turned the volume up a bit. I then put the ear-plugs in and basked in the ever-glorious serenity of silence. No more screaming
That’s all for now. Keep the Fire Burning!
Please visit the other writers in the ROW80 Community…
I actually don't need silence. I can write in almost any environment, but ideally I'll have music on. (Unless I'm revising/editing. Then it's too distracting). It's also tough when there are people around trying to talk to me. I can't write and carry on a conversation at the same time. Can't get into any kind of flow then.
ReplyDeleteIsn't ROW80 awesome? I discovered it last year and have participated in every round since except for one. Challenges like this always inspire me to do more (and of course, the accountability helps too). Glad you've joined. You're doing great. :D
Yes, ROW80 is awesome! I discovered it right after NaNoWriMo last year and it’s been, by far, the best writing challenge for me. I have gotten more creative writing done during this 80-day challenge than I have in the past several years combined. Sure, I’ll attempt the NaNo-challenges each year, but for me, ROW80 is my number-one year-round priority and focus, and I’ll be participating in all the rounds hereafter. Thanks for the kind welcoming!
DeleteI envy those that can sit in a crowded environment and tune-out their surroundings. It’s hard for me to turn-off those instinctual primal perceptions (I guess my “primate-brain” is still scanning the jungle shadows, listening for that prowling beast skulking in the tall reeds). In order for me to do my best writing, I need solitude and quietness. I have been getting better at ignoring the surrounding noises of the neighborhood, and can sit under a tree at the park and write in my notebook, but if I’m sitting at my computer and need to drown-out the noise, I usually put my headphones on and listen to white-noise or nature sounds like wind, rain, and waves. Sometimes, when I’m writing action scenes, I can listen to movie soundtracks, like 'Lord of the Rings', just to set an epic tone or mood in my writing. Never any lyrics, though. Again, my monkey-brain can’t help but hear the words to the songs. Distracting. For my Muse, I like to create the best environment for her to play in, be it with low lighting or ambient nature sounds. She rewards my efforts with wonderful worlds of her own.
I prefer some sort of noise, whether it's a quiet radio station or my irish/celtic/african instrumental music. I have also taking to writing on my porch. There is something about being in the world that in inspiring to me and my muse. I do get distracted, but I prefer it to silence which (for me) is far more distracting. But to each his own, Good Sir!!
ReplyDeleteBeen thinking of maybe sponsoring a round. I have the new label still, after two years. Time for a change. See you in Round 3!!