I don’t think it’s cheating to say I met my goal yesterday. I did get to page 101 on my editor’s marked up version of my manuscript. However, truth be told, I am at the very bottom of page 99 on my new and improved version of this manuscript. I am so, so, so close to page 100, but there’s something I need to fix at the bottom of page 99 and I didn’t quite get to it yesterday because, well…I got a little obsessed with looking at mandolins online again. But the good news is I finally bought one! It’s a nice one, too (well, nice for a starter instrument – I’m not ruling out the possibility of buying something down the road that would look authentic if I carried around a Renaissance Faire)…American made, hand made, solid wood, flat top…and my teacher had heard good things about the company. The nice man who built it has been paid and it’s on its way to me right now. So I can finally stop obsessing about what to get.
And I didn’t get back to page 99 last night because I started a yoga class! I’m taking it with a friend…and one of her other friends. I really like this other friend a lot, so I’m looking forward to getting to know her better. She’s Buddhist…and she’s one of these people who’s calm, focused etc. You can feel the positive energy radiating from her. (Plus even though we don’t know each other very well, she always greets me with a hug and then hugs me good bye, too – I like that!) She said something to this other friend of ours that I should put up by my computer: don’t think it terms of “obstacles.” Obstacles are road blocks; they’re hard to get around. Instead, think in terms of “hurdles.” A hurdle is something you can get over, and getting over it is empowering. (I wonder if that holds true in writing, too? Do we want to create obstacles or hurdles for our characters?) BTW, the yoga class was GREAT. I’m still walking, anyway…
I never set a writing goal for today (or the rest of the week) because now I’m starting to head into the part of the manuscript that needs a little more work and I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to get through it. I also have Toastmasters tonight…and I’m giving a speech. The title of my speech is “Four Things I’ve Learned from Amelia Bedelia.” The fourth thing I’ve learned from Amelia Bedelia is “when all else fails, bring baked goods.” I don’t know if I’ll give a good speech or not, but if everyone has a cookie or two to munch on while they’re filling out my evaluation form, maybe they’ll think the speech was better than it actually was? (I hope none of my Toastmasters friends reads my blog…I wouldn’t think so…but if any of them do, they’ll know my secret weapon for tonight.) So…I had to make cookies this morning (and I had to make a double batch because people in my house would whine if I only made enough for the Toastmasters)…and I had to practice my speech, which I did on my bike ride, thereby killing two birds with one stone. (I needed to ride my bike today because I didn’t ride yesterday, and if I don’t ride regularly I get fat and frumpy…and I worked in my garden…but I am going to work now this afternoon! Really!
I will say this about my goal for the week: in an ideal world, I will get to the end of the manuscript by the end of this week (including fixing that section back around page 31) so that I can read the whole thing from start to finish over the weekend and turn it in on Monday. I don’t know if I am living in an ideal world or not. I suspect not…I’m not sure I’ll be ready to surrender the manuscript for good yet on Monday. Hopefully by the end of next week, though, because I’m going to a writers retreat with a bunch of friends next weekend (this will be our tenth year doing this retreat…seems to me that calls for a bottle of wine. I wonder if the Sisters would mind?) and it would feel good to have this manuscript turned in then.
