As I’m supposed to be writing 1000 words a day, but I haven’t been adding to my Scribometer, I thought I’d list the top ten places my words have been going.
1) A NEW and MORE EXCITING 241 word bio to replace the dull and boring 109 word bio I’d sent originally to the editor at HCI Books to be used for PR and the title plan for my VOWS story.
2) The first page of what I was hoping would be my VOWS story as I loved the characters and their journey and knew exactly how I wanted to start their book. Turns out I’ll be writing something else and that will be settled on soon.
3) A number of additional words to a proposal I fine-tuned and sent out. No idea of the net number, just a lot of words cut, and less words added, resulting in a tighter submission. A good thing for the book, just not for the Scribometer.
4) Many MANY emails as I finished a Website design for a new client and corresponded with her, added a new member to Access Romance and did the necessary back and forth to get her information, other emails going to editors, still more to friends as I argued my position on book formats and discussed career planning.
5) Quite a few tweets.
6) Innumerable texts to No. 1 Daughter (who finally added unlimited texting to her cell phone plan), to #2, to @cuppacafe, and to the son and d-i-l as we planned Sunday’s family dinner. Why pick up a phone when you can let the fingers fly?
7) Query letters.
8) Business plans and brainstorming, as my partner and I work out the handling and prioritizing of our monthly schedules at Access Romance.
9) Handwritten story notes on an idea that’s been simmering for several months. I’d put it aside thinking it too big and scary, but parts of it are coming together so I can’t let them escape while I wait for the rest to arrive.
10) To Do Lists, short diary entries, and record keeping for my own OCD benefit.
To help save my eyes from exhaustion, I’ve taken to writing my manuscripts with a soft blue background instead of on glaring white. It’s helped a lot. At the end of the day, my eyes don’t ache quite as much. Anyone else have vision-saving tricks?
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Good idea on the background. I just take lutein and eye breaks (look at the distance to let my eyes rest) and use a good screen with a BIG font. *g* Yay for pieces coming together!
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You should see the ingredient list in the eye supplement I take. Scares even me, LOL!
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I never really thought of any vision saving tricks… I just take a break here and there when reading… it is amazing how wide spread the written word can be during the day…
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I tend to read long beyond when my eyes are telling me they’re tired!
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This sounds silly, but we don’t blink as often as we normally do when we’re working on a computer, and this causes dry eyes. A simple solution is to put up a post-it with the word “blink” on the edge of your monitor and blink every time you look at the post-it. :)
Because I hate eyedrops, when my eyes feel tired or burn, I sit with a warm, wet washcloth over both eyes for a few minutes. I do this when I take a tub bath, too, and it works better for me than eye drops.
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I hadn’t thought about the blinking thing but it makes sense. And I love soothing tired eyes with a warm cloth. I only do allergy drops occasionally.
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I do the blue background tip too, plus I can set my computer screen to a dimmer setting. And as I’m easily distracted from work, staring out the window at random intervals saves me from eye strain :)
I’ve been loving your accounts of how the writing process goes for you Alison. It’s good to know a successul author such as yourself struggles to get those words down on a regular basis, just like the rest of us.
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I do a lot of staring, too. ;) And I don’t know anyone who doesn’t struggle with the words – with the exception of a couple of writing machine types. ;)
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I have open office on my netbook and set it up to display a black background with gray text. Total throwback to the DOS days (I used to type school papers in Wordstar back in Jr High). With the smaller screen, and my tendency to read for my crit group while sitting in bed at the end of the night, my eyes appreciate the break.
Also, as I’m a bit distractable, I count my “staring off into space” time as “saving my vision” (see, boss, I’m not just daydreaming, I’m attempting to save the company valuable health care dollars…)
I’m software developer by day and spend all day staring at text on computer screens, so my eyes are killing me by bedtime. But I am too used to computer screens and keyboards to do paper edits if I’m not forced to.
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I used to type in amber font on black text in WP for DOS! Wrote my first several books that way. May have to give that a try at some point, LOL!