Last week’s whiny and meandering post had a lot to do with a writing funk I’ve been in. There’s so much I want to do and so little time, blah blah blah, and I found myself paralyzed. This week, however, I FOUND THE SOLUTION! (Repeat that with manic abandon. Go on, do it, you’ll feel good.)

Ever-Suffering Writer Mama: [on the phone with Homes] I did it! I FOUND THE SOLUTION!

Homes: To what?

ESWM: To my malaaaaaise. I FOUND THE SOLUTION!

Homes: By the tone of your voice, I can only guess the solution was crack.

ESWM: Hahahahaha! No! The solution is…

Homes:

ESWM: [sighs] The solution is a LIST!

And Homes, bless him, didn’t even snark. He just said: Huh. It’s been awhile since you used a list.

Because he knows me.

Why did neither of us think of this? Whenever I’m bummed or in a funk, all I’ve got to do is write up a list of tasks (writing-, housework-, or exercise-related) and start working on them. As soon as I cross off the first item, it’s like MAGIC. I feel accomplished, productive, and a hundred times more beautiful.

Because I’d been paralyzed and listless (haha! Get it? That was totally an accident) and focusless in writing, I made a list of writing tasks. And because everyone else is doing NaNoWriMo but I don’t even want to try, I’m doing my own version: NaNoWhateverMo. Each of the tasks is fiction-related, some of it drafting, some of it craft-learning, and a lot of it revising. I get to work on two different projects. The tasks are small enough that I can finish them in an hour or less.

NaNoWhateverMo: Thirty Fiction Tasks in Thirty Days

1. Do GMC (Goal-Motivation-Conflict) for TR
2. Do plot points for TR
3. Re-map ATRS with index cards (um, already started this one. It takes WAY longer than an hour. Days.)
4. Write synopsis of TR
5. Rewrite opening of ATRS
6. Maass workbook exercise on character for TR
7. Freewrite how to make big moments bigger for ATRS
8. Rewrite a big moment for ATRS
9. Maass workbook exercise for ATRS
10.  Rewrite another big moment for ATRS
11. Write scene for TR
12. Write scene for TR
13. 3 pages freewriting on TR
14. Put new structure for ATRS in Scrivener
15. Write new scene for ATRS
16. Brainstorm new ATRS ending ideas
17. Rewrite a big moment in ATRS
18. Maass workbook exercise for ATRS
19. Maass workbook exercise for TR
20. Write scene for TR
21. Write scene for TR
22. Scene/character chart for Jameson
23. Read how-to chapter on synopses
24. Write ATRS synopsis
25. Write new ATRS scene
26. Write scene for TR
27. Maass workbook exercise for TR
28. Write scene for TR
29. Rewrite a big moment in ATRS
30. Add Maass exercise stuff to ATRS Scrivener file

I’ll try to post progress on Twitter…but notice social networking is NOT on the list. With limited time, we’ve got to prioritize, and writing wins. Anyone else skittish about NaNoWriMo and wanting to commit to something a little less intense?