THE WINNER and Trying to be Productive

First off, thanks to everyone who participated in Spread the Awesome and thanks for all of your comments and book recommendations! I now have more books on my TBR list than I could read in a year, but I'm excited to dive in.

I selected a winner this morning using Random.org. The winner of a copy of When You Reach Me is Christina Lee! Congratulations Christina! I'll email you to get your address.

Now onto today's post.

My kids get out of school in four weeks. Once summer comes they will be at home 24 hours a day. I'm really excited about this actually. I love having them home. I love walks to the park and lazy afternoons in the backyard.

But... I know my writing (and blogging) will have to move to a back burner. And that is why this month needs to be productive. I've been working on the same first draft since November and I need to get it done before summer comes. I have a few REALLY good excuses for taking so long to write it, but my excuses have run out and now I just need to get it done.

So, for the rest of May I am committing to write 1000 words a day and finish this manuscript.

I've mentioned before that I do better with deadlines than daily word counts so I'm also going to set a date for finishing. I will be done with my first draft by Monday, May 31.

Do you have something you need to finish? If you need a kick in the pants to get something done I urge you to join me. Let me know what you plan to accomplish in May. It will be fun.

Something's Gotta Give

As much as I hate it, that something needs to be blogging. This next month is going to be busy, and I need to cut out as many distractions as possible.

I'll still might read a few blogs, I'll probably post once or twice, but for the most part I'm going to be absent from the blogging world for the next four or five weeks.

I'll miss everyone! May you all get agents and book deals while I'm away.

Keep Moving Forward

Have you seen the Disney movie Meet the Robinson's? It's funny, you should see it. It's about a kid inventor whose inventions don't always work. He learns that if he can "keep moving forward," keep working hard trying to get things right, eventually things his creations will work and change the world.

I've made very little progress on my WIP this last month. I have a hundred excuses for why I haven't done more, and some of them are really good. I have to keep reminding myself that I am making progress, I am moving forward, and eventually this book is going to get done.

And that is kind of the beauty of writing without being published. I have time. It's not a race. I really want to finish my manuscript, but I also want to be a good mom. Last month doing both of those things wasn't possible. Hopefully it will be they will be this month. But I am happy that I made some progress, even though it was small.

Are you moving forward with your work? Do you ever have times when you don't make as much progress as you'd like?

Best Laid Plans

Ah yes, well a few weeks ago I made some goals. I stuck to these goals for exactly 2 days. Then it was the weekend. The next week we were going out of town and I was kind of busy. This week they just seemed too hard.

I suck at keeping goals. I don't know why I even try.

I am, however, fairly good at meeting deadlines. So I am going to resist the urge to manage my time in any organized person sort of way, and I am just going to set a deadline for myself.

I will have a rough draft of my next novel done by November 30.

I probably won't write everyday. I will probably read blogs, and books from my massive TO READ list. I will probably take naps. I may even do a little cleaning. But I WILL finish by the 30th, even if I have to pull an all-nighter on the 29th.

Do any of you suffer from a serious lack of organizational skills? How do you get your books done (daily goals, deadlines, mad rushes of inspiration, you don't--you've been working on the same book for 20 years)?