Hello, people of the blogosphere. This is an experiment in personal responsibility. And writing.
After many, many years of writing “when I feel like it,” resulting in thousands of creative projects falling victim to my utter lack of self-organization or persistence, this blog is my latest (and hopefully final) attempt at forcing myself into a regular writing schedule. Because what makes things happen more effectively than a regular deadline?
So from now on, I swear to always have at least one project in the writing phase, and another in the editing phase, and it is the job of this blog (and any wonderful people who happen to become interested in it) to hold me accountable to that. So here are the rules:
I will post on this blog twice a week, every week, no excuses. The posts will be:
1) Every Monday, an outline of the progress of my current projects, with an update including word count, and an additional discussion of some aspect of writing: my thoughts on character or plots, a chronicle of my attempts to find a writing-related career (graduation in June, you are terrifying me), a review of a story or blog that I like, or something else related to writing in the larger world.
2) Every Friday, I will post a creative work. This could be a poem, a short story, the beginning of a long story, a character study, a section of a screenplay…you get the idea. These works will vary in all manner of ways, including genre and tone. Your job, whoever you are, is to critique these stories. Tell me what you think. Good? Bad? Incomprehensible? You tell me.
Other posts can (or may not) be added at my discretion, but these two days I must be held to.
So, in the spirit of things, here are my current projects:
In-Writing:“the Bottom of the Garden” (working title): a novella. Currently being written for a creative writing class.
- Theme: yes
- Character designs: yes
- Plot outline: yes
- Word count: 3371
Ultimate deadline: June 6th, 2011 (1 chapter per 1.5 weeks)
Editing:“Prince Charming”: screenplay. Completed last year, intended for entry into Amazon.com screenplay contest.
- Revise ending: no
- Dialogue: no
- Descriptions: no
Ultimate deadline: May 31st, 2011 (contest deadline)
Let the accountability begin!
Yours naively,
M.M. Jordahl
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” -Douglas Adams
M.M. Jordahl 