Self-School 102: Making Adjustments

Part of teaching yourself is knowing when to back off. This is not one of those moments. Instead, I've realized that I'm not pushing myself hard enough! I have too much free time, and too much creative energy left over from other endeavors. I need to add more writing to my syllabus.

On that note, I'm announcing the addition to my syllabus of a novel-writing class! This class' aims will be to write about 2,000 words on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday toward a longer fiction work, in addition to the other story writing I'll be doing on Tuesday and Thursday as well.

I say "about" 2,000 words because I find that when I put specific numbers on my progress, they distract me from really getting into the writing. Instead, my focus will be on getting into the "flow" and losing myself in my writing in much the same was as I lose myself in reading - not checking word counts every five minutes. I'm hoping this more holistic approach will help me reach my word goals easier anyway.


How about you guys? Do you find that specific word goals help or distract from your writing (particularly since we're in the throws of NaNoWriMo)? Let me know in the comments!

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