Monday, February 8, 2010

We interupt these revisions to bring you...WIPadise!!

So the lovely and talented Ms. Sara McClung (who very generously sent me a Borders gift card just because I psycho-tweeted about her contest, and sent along some adorable ladybug bookmarks to go with it) is holding a Saradise for herself, wherein she commits to making writing her priority for the rest of February. She invited some of her blog followers to join her, and by-golly, we did!! (Wow, the lack of activities aside from revising is really getting to my head.)

I am pretty stoked about this whole thing. It's nice to have other people on board with me; that's part of the reason I was so successful during NaNoWriMo. Also, Heathadise doesn't sound quite as good as Saradise, so I named my own version WIPadise...which I love because it sounds like I'm cracking the whip!!!

Tonight, I accomplished the following things:

1. Finished revisions on the first four chapters, including all the major rewrites suggested from my workshop (OMG THIS WAS SO HARD.)
2. Ignored my husband when he asked to play Mario Wii with me (ALSO HARD. But the focus of this month is writing, not Mario. This is not Mariodise, it's WIPadise.)
3. I didn't watch any episodes of LOST, even though I've been watching old ones for clues to the new season. My resolve might not be so great when my new Dexter disc comes, but that's not for two days.
4. Before I go to sleep tonight, I will be sending my first few chapters to my critique partner, and I know she's very excited to get the pages, and will be waiting with bated breath for them. (I might be exaggerating here, but I have been making her wait since before the conference because I am very mean.)

This is really a lot, and I'm hoping to keep up the momentum and have first-round edits done by the end of the month! Maybe I can even get ahead of schedule, get some comments back, and start on the second round!! Oo!! I'm being ambitious. (But seriously, all you people almost ready to query makes me a little jealous. I know I can't rush it. But still. Jealous.) I do have a lot of days off, though, thanks to furloughs, Preisdent's Day, etc.

The point of all this, whether or not you're one of the lucky few who are participating in the event, is that it's important to set aside some time for yourself every now and then to just write. Dedicate yourself to the craft that you love. Shun things like TV, video games, showering, etc. (I think I've mentioned the showering thing before. I'm cool if none of you shower. We're Internet friends, after all.) Just remember that the more you write, the more you grow, so you won't become a better writer unless you WRITE.

Finally, something to get all of us Saradise/WIPadise/Whatever-dise people in the mood...and a fun song for the rest of you:


I was totally in a production of Footloose in high school. No, I did not play Ariel. I was Ren's mom, because clearly when I was 17 I could play a convincing 40-year-old. I do have a tape of the event, but fortunately for you me, it's not on a DVD and therefore can never be put online for Heather Shame. (Don't get any ideas, Frankie/Shannon/people that dare.) 

Now you can officially put me in a game of six degrees of Kevin Bacon.

16 comments:

  1. Hoorah for Saradise! Love all this motivations and productivity! Keep up the good work!

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  2. YAY! I'm glad I have you in the same boat with me. WE CAN DO IT!

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  3. Love love the post and thanks SO much for the shoutout! Also, did you know how easy it is to drop VHS (or other types of) tapes off to have transferred to DVD? What's that? You DIDN'T? Well, now you do.

    And I dare you to post it. And I'm allowed to dare you because I am SO not one of those people who dare usually. bahahaha.

    I love how much you accomplished today!! Isn't it soooo much easier when you set a specific timeframe goal to reach toward.

    Yay for getting so much done :-)

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  4. Oh and PS I'm so proud of you for not watching LOST. It's really hard for me too! And when your next Dexter dvd comes in? I so won't blame you if you sneak a few episodes in here or there... It's. So. GOOD.

    Did you know that in real life Dexter's married to the chick who plays his sister on the show? AND he's in remission from cancer?

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  5. I'm all signed up for Sara's great idea. My month will be called Kareadise, but I give Sara all the credit for the snazzy name.
    LOVED Footloose. Sigh.
    Good luck with your WIP. Just say no to Mario!

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  6. HAHAHA! Your explanations of what you didnt do were too cute! And I wish I was participating...having other jobs and responsibilities grumble grumble but Im mostly there with you. Yay! Cant wait to hear about how much you accomplish!!!!

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  7. This was such a fun post, Heather! Keep up the motivational "_______dise" posts - I love them! :-)

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  8. Woot! Way to get a lot done! I so need to do something this month. I'm taking a break from my MS until Friday. We need some space. :)

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  9. Apparently, both Strickland girls were deemed passible 40-somethings in high school... If you put up yours, I'll put up mine!

    Also, while it is good to focus on your craft, I hope you do give your husband gets some attention every now and then.

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  10. I gave you a blog award! Check it out here

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  11. Good luck on Saradise! Wip it good!
    You can have VHS tapes made into DVDs now. I only have one VHS of my childhood and it's from hs, I want to make a DVD into it because the tape is getting fragile.

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  12. Thanks for the comments, everyone!

    First things first: I know you can put VHS onto a DVD. But a) I really don't want to permanently immortalize that crap. And b) That was my avoidance technique to get people not to try to tell me to post it. Clearly it worked spectacularly, considering that Sara and Kelly and even my own sister Holly have no turned against me and are suggesting I post Heather Embarrassment. So...maybe I will. With a caveat. Stay tuned for details.

    L and L - Thanks!

    Jessica - I will start bothering, er, motivating you, too, if you want! Even if you don't want I'll do it anyway.

    Sara - You are evil. I take back all the nice things I said about you. And I did know all those things about Dexter! Crazy. I heard they caught it early though so he should be fine.

    Karen - Oh, I did say no to Mario. And my husband made this face: :,(

    Frankie - I am shocked and impressed that you didn't dare me, so thanks.

    Shannon - I'm glad the motivation is spreading!

    Elana - Oh yes, I know that feeling. My MS and I weren't speaking for a little while roundabouts January. But now we're bff again. I think the time apart did us good.

    Shelli - Thank you! It was exhausting and I may or may not have fallen asleep at the computer twice, but it was worth it.

    Holly - I spent all day with the hubs yesterday, and he sits next to me while I write. It's not like I banish him to another dimension. (Only because I can't.)

    Jen - Thank you!

    Kelly - Thanks for the luck wishes! And of course I've addressed the VHS/DVD thing...really I'm just a coward.

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  13. I am sooooo glad I never got into Lost in the first place. Okay, it means I'm lost (geddit?) when it's the topic of conversation. But it means more time for writing. So, good reminder Heather!
    Tracy

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  14. That is a lot for one day! I need to join you in the month of WIP focus. Mine WIP needs some love. Maybe I'll unplug next week...

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