paper graffiti

I didn’t make my goal of 1000 words last night.

I got distracted by updating my contacts in Address Book, upgrading my Mac operating system, and then consoling my best friend on the phone after a very bad hair salon experience. By the time I got all that accomplished, it was well past time to go to bed.

I always feel guilty when I don’t meet my goals, especially when I post them out for all and sundry to see. I need that accountability, but when I put myself out there and then fail, I feel like my failure is broadcast even louder than my success.

I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that there is no police force, Internet or otherwise, that is going to come and smack me around if I miss my goal. The only thing I can do is just keep pushing ahead. I can’t go back to yesterday and meet the goal I set for myself–I just have to meet, and even exceed, the goal that I make for myself TODAY. Beating myself up about missing a writing goal, or not missing a day of blogging, is not going to do anything but make me feel bad about myself.

The most important thing is to keep going. When you lose confidence in yourself and in your writing, you’ll start missing goal after goal because you convince yourself that it’s pointless to write anyway–your writing isn’t good enough, or you’ll never finish, or you’ll never get it published. Don’t lose sight of WHY you write in the first place. That’s the important thing to remember as you forge ahead on your project, not the word count or your goal accomplishements. Write because you love to write and forget all the rest.

Word Counts - Today: 0 | May: 4,473 | 2008: 4,473

I always get ideas in the most inconvenient places. I know a lot of writers and other creative types suffer from the same problem–the ideas flow best when you’re not really trying, when you’re occupied with something else, and most likely when it is difficult to record your idea to remember for later.

The lightbulb always turns on for me when I’m driving, when I’m in the shower, or right before I’m about to fall asleep. All these situations make perfect sense, because those are probably the only time I’m actually letting my thought processes rest. But how am I possibly going to capture those ideas before they get away? I’ve lost too many great snippets of poetry or song lyrics, pieces of dialog, or plot ideas because I had no way to safely and quickly record them. So how can I manage inspiration when it hits out of the blue? Here are a few tools that I’ve found invaluable:

1. Evernote - I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again–Evernote is a killer writing tool. When I have an idea that hits right before I fall asleep, I’ll grab my Windows Mobile phone off the nightstand (I use it as an alarm clock, so it’s always handy), fire up Evernote, jot down the idea, and then sync the note to my Evernote account. It’s then accessible from the desktop version of Evernote (Mac or Windows), my mobile device, or the Evernote web interface. I can tag the note with a story name or other identifier so that it’s easy to call up later when I’m ready to use it. I honestly don’t know how I got by without Evernote on all my devices.

2. Jott - I have a long commute to work each day, and some of the best ideas hit me when I’m in the middle of the highway. I can’t exactly pull over and grab my notebook, and it’s not very safe to try and use Evernote while I drive. Jott to the rescue! Jott is a phone service that allows you to manage your life hands-free–you can take quick notes, add appointments and get schedule reminders, add to your to-do list, Twitter right from your phone, blog, and more! I added the secret Evernote email address (Tip: Check your Settings page to find your own Evernote address!) as one of my addresses in Jott. The Evernote email address allows you to email yourself notes that get automatically added to your Evernote account. Adding it to Jott means I can call up, Jott to myself, and the note will get transcribed into Evernote. Now I can take notes on the go without ever lifting my hands from the steering wheel.

3. Circa 3×5 PDA - This is my favorite analog writing tool for managing ideas. If I’m at home, or sitting at my desk at work, or anywhere that I can write things down the good ol’ fashioned way, I use notecards. They help me break my ideas down into plot points, character cards, important notes, etc. Then I punch the cards using my awesome Levenger Circa punch and file them on a set of rings set up to handle 3×5 cards.  I even made hard plastic covers for each end of the Circa PDA to protect my notes. I am experimenting with entering my notes into an interface like StorYbook or SuperNotecard to have a digital backup of all my analog inspirations.

How do you manage inspiration?

Word Counts - Today: 0 | May: 4,473 | 2008: 4,473

I have been incredibly lax in writing for a number of reasons over the past few weeks–work has gotten crazy busy on me, I’ve had some more important things to attend to in my personal life, and I’ve been trying to get our apartment organized. The first two have been real motivation killers, but the organization has been boosting my creativity like you wouldn’t believe. I can’t wait to get my office/craft room completely finished (I’m about 50-60% of the way there as of today) so that I can use it, because I’m chomping at the bit to get in there and CREATE.

I think that the environment you write in can be as important as what you’re writing about. It should be a place that you feel productive, creative, and happy. I have not been able to write or work very well in my home office in quite a while. The problem was twofold: the desk was too small to comfortably hold everything I needed it to (all-in-one printer, 19″ LCD monitor, external DVD drive, external hard drive, wireless keyboard and mouse), and we didn’t have any storage for anything. It’s difficult to put things away when all you have is a very, very overstuffed small bookcase.

Thankfully our trip to IKEA this weekend was fruitful and now I have a very large worktable, a set of drawers on casters that fits perfectly underneath it, and a tall, wide bookcase with plenty of room for books as well as baskets or boxes to store odds and ends. I have a new desk lamp that illuminates the room without it being too bright (I hate overhead lights) and room to spread out all my notes and ideas.

I have a table on the other side of the room for sewing, crafting, or whatever other crafty thing I am into at the moment, and having it all come together in an organized manner is spurring me on to use the space creatively.  I’m slowly adding personal touches that make the room feel more homey and comfortable.

What is your writing space like? Does it make you want to write, or does it drive you to the nearest coffee shop in hopes of getting something done?

Word Counts - Today: 0 | May: 4,473 | 2008: 4,473