Camy's Writing Diary

I went to a conference last week and praise the Lord! my IBS didn't act up at all while I was there. Of course, I was downing digestive enzymes like they were candy, so that probably helped. I thought I'd have more intestinal issues after I got back from the conference, but surprisingly, my bouts of pain and nausea haven't been too bad, not enough to prevent me from working for very long. I kept up my dictation streak while at the conference, although in hindsight, I probably should have just decided not to write during the days of the conference and during the travel days. However, since I was dictating into my phone, it was very easy to just whip out my phone and dictate for 5 minutes in order to keep up my streak. It's a lot easier than using a voice recorder and then taking the time to feed it into Dragon on my computer, although it's not quite as accurate. I finally got Dragon installed on my computer, but I haven't set up my profile yet since I want ...

And once again, I did not get to writing first thing after I woke up today. I knew I had to take time to pack today, and that I wasn't going to get a lot of writing done. Now that I think about it, I probably could've done a few minutes of dictation before I started packing, but it didn't occur to me. Also, considering how things on my to-do list tend to distract me while I'm writing, the thought of all my packing might've distracted me while I was working. So I took all day to pack, and then I did a little less than 13 minutes of dictation. Editing took eight minutes. So far, when I dictate using Dragon Anywhere, my editing takes about half the amount of time it takes for me to dictate. I can't get too excited about that, though, because I don't dictate as quickly when I use Dragon Anywhere on my phone, so my words per hour rate is much lower. When I dictate into a voice recorder, my words per hour rate ranges from about 2500 to 3000 words an hour, but ...

I wasn't able to work first thing after I woke up this morning because I had a bad sinus headache and an IBS flareup that was causing nausea. Since I wasn't able to concentrate very well, I decided to do other things besides writing prose. I had been thinking about dictating directly into my computer using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, so I decided to bite the bullet and set that up. I should have known that getting Dragon NaturallySpeaking onto my laptop was going to be painful. First I had to renew my subscription to Parallels for Mac, and since I’m an idiot, I signed up for the Pro upgrade for higher processing speeds. I get a discount for the first year but next year Parallels is going to cost $200. And of course since I’m buying Parallels, I also have to get Windows. I thought I could get away with using Windows 10, but it turns out my MacBook Pro has a chip that can’t play nice with the ISO file for Windows 10. So I have to download Windows 11. All this to run ONE PRO...

I forgot that one of the problems I had before with dictation is that there were some days I had to do blocking before I could start writing work on the scene. I tried a few times to block all the scenes of a book before I started writing it, but I found it very tedious work, and sometimes I would change my mind about what happened in the scenes, or which scenes to include, which made my work pointless later. So today I did not get a lot of dictation done on the scene because I spent about an hour blocking it first. However, the time I spend blocking enables me to actually write the scene a LOT faster, and without as many problems. My biggest problem when writing is usually making decisions—where the conversation should go and how it should get there, what a character should do, how a character would feel, what problems the character would encounter in the scene. It’s easier to make all those decisions ahead of time before I start writing so that I don’t get sucked out of the creativ...

I decided to start blogging again because I decided to pick up dictation again. Oh, and just to fill you in on what’s happened since my last post, I made it to 714 days for my writing streak (writing at least 5 minutes every day). But then I accidentally broke it when I forgot to write on a Friday. I actually wasn’t too heartbroken about breaking the streak, because I’d been having a tough time writing on Sundays and over holidays. So this year I didn’t have to write over Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s, which was FANTASTIC. New Year’s especially would have been really hard because I was busy every day for the 4 days before New Year’s Eve, helping my mom prepare for our family’s New Year’s breakfast and dinner, which is pretty big for us. Anyway, back to dictation: When comparing my writing using dictation versus typing, I still felt that my writing while typing was better quality, although only by a small margin. I think it is because when I type, I edit as I type, and ...

I normally don’t blog on Sundays, but I today marks 500 consecutive days that I’ve been writing a little bit every single day! It helps that my bare minimum is very small and doable—5 minutes of writing work or 100 words. And in honor of the fact it was St. Patrick’s Day on Friday, I used a clover-themed graphic. :) Today, since it’s Sunday and I typically only do the bare minimum anyway, I did 5 minutes of editing work in book 6 of my Regency series. I was tempted to do more work today, but I refrained since I realize I need to take a break from the writing at least one day a week. So, I would definitely recommend trying a writing streak. If you want a more detailed analysis of what I did and why I think it worked, check out the post I did on day 731 .

It’s my 300 day writing streak! I have written at least 100 words on my manuscript every single day for 300 consecutive days! I’ve blogged a lot about the value of a writing streak. I honestly never thought a writing streak would work for me since my health is so bad, and there were some days I didn’t want to get out of bed. But it helped that my bare minimum is so small (only 100 words), and the streak has really helped me a lot to keep up my writing momentum and keep pushing on in my writing, even when my IBS got really bad. I’m starting to realize that it takes a while for me to get started in the morning. I think it’s because I’m not a morning person. (But I was listening to a podcast, and two other authors who are not morning people find that they actually write the best in the morning, so I totally want to try that.) I did all my frogs before I started on work today. Later, I wondered if maybe I should've done the editing first, since I more likely to procrastinate st...

I did not do any dictation yesterday since it was a Sunday, which is usually when I don’t do any writing except 100 words to keep up my writing streak. (A part of me thinks I just shouldn’t write at all on Sunday, but another part of me doesn’t want to break the streak. I probably could just say that Sundays aren’t included in my writing streak, but that would seem a bit like cheating to me. So I just write 100 words on Sundays as the bare minimum to keep the streak alive.) I was listening to a podcast and the host was talking about his own writing. He also hates editing! Gosh, I seriously thought I was the only one. Anyway, he also mentions how he does cycling, although he calls it “circling,” and apparently Dean Wesley Smith wrote about it in his book on writing. In addition, the host talked about giving yourself some time before doing the edits, because it helps make the editing better. I totally agree that it does, but since I hate editing, I have to do it right away or else,...

I was listening to Joanna Penn’s Productivity For Authors audiobook. I have listened to it before, one or two years ago, and I enjoyed it at the time and found it helpful. But this time as I was listening, I noticed something about myself. The audiobook was talking about how to motivate yourself to sit down and write every day and form a writing habit. She talked about how difficult it could be to get yourself to write. I clearly remember feeling like that before, but I realized that since I started my writing streak experiment, it hasn’t been a problem for me. So the writing streak, even though it was really difficult for me when I started it, ended up helping me overcome that hurdle of motivating myself to write when I didn’t feel like it. I think it’s because I got into the habit of writing every day, even when the IBS made me feel really sick. My bare minimum is so small—only 100 words—that it’s easy to get that much done no matter how crappy I’m feeling. It’s a small enoug...

Today marks 250 consecutive days where I’ve written at least 100 words in my manuscript every single day! Doing this streak has been really great for me, because (at least for my personality type) it motivates me to do at least a little work every single day so that I don’t break my streak. I don’t often only do the bare minimum of 100 words—most of the time I do much more. But even on days when the IBS is especially painful, I know I can do at least 100 words without too much effort, so it’s easy to force myself to sit down at my computer and work on my book. And on days when I’m feeling lazy rather than sick, just a few minutes working usually turns into at least an hour. I got a late start this morning because of IBS, but I’m done feeling guilty about that—if I’m in pain, I’m in pain. All I can do is do my best to work around it. I ended up getting other stuff done because I was feeling too uncomfortable to do writing, but I was able to do a bunch of Japanese flashcards and so...

I’ve spent most of the last two weeks sick from the usual IBS issues, and I’m starting to wonder if a day will ever come when I’m not feeling pain from my IBS. This time, I honestly don’t know what I’ve been eating to cause the IBS, and I’ve had to simply make guesses. So I don’t know if I’ll start to feel better in a few days, I’ll just have to wait and see. I’ve been doing the bare minimum of work every day, although some days I do a bit more than that, but I’ve only been doing about 3 hours of work on the days I feel better. I’ve noticed a pattern in the IBS, where the most pain is between 6 am and 2 pm. I recently read a book, Change Your Schedule, Change Your Life , and apparently the intestines are most active at certain times of the day, based on the circadian rhythm, which would explain why my IBS is worst at certain times of the day. Because of that, I decided to try to brainstorm ways to work around the IBS and still get work done. The problem is that pretty much everything o...

Today marks 210 consecutive days where I’ve written at least the bare minimum on my Regency series every single day! When I first started this writing streak, it was really hard. I was suffering from some bad IBS flare-ups and some days I felt so sick that I actually resented the fact that I had to write a little bit. The streak didn’t cause a feeling of achievement at that point, because I was forcing myself to work through some terrible pain. When I first started, I both loved and hated my writing streak. I think the key to my keeping up the streak was the fact that I deliberately made my bare minimum extremely doable—100 words or 5 minutes. Even if I’m feeling like roadkill, I can do at least 100 words. I might suffer through it, but it’s such a small amount that it makes it a lot easier for me to make sure I do it and keep up my streak. Also, a small amount like 100 words is something I can do on my phone if I don’t want to (or can’t) sit down at my computer. I have a friend who ha...

I had a couple sick days because I caught a cold, but I managed to do the bare minimum of work on my Regency novel every day to keep my streak going. It’s amazing, the power of this streak. It’s over 200 days now, so I feel anxious if I don’t get writing done because I don’t want to break it. Since my bare minimum is so low (only 100 words or 5 minutes), it’s easy to do even when I’m feeling sick. I admit, the first couple weeks of the streak were probably the hardest, especially because I was in the midst of a pretty bad IBS flare-up and didn’t want to get to work. This was before I found medication to relieve the symptoms so that I could get at least a few hours of work done. I felt absolutely terrible on Saturday because of my cold, but I managed to get words written anyway since it was only 100 words. Keeping my streak keeps me invested in my manuscript so that I don’t have long stretches of time where I don’t work on it because of illness. It helps me be more efficient when I am f...

I’ve been suffering from seasonal allergies for a few days and took several sick days. Today is yet another one, but I wanted to be sure to post because today marks 180 consecutive days of writing at least the bare minimum every single day. I’m so proud of myself for keeping up this streak. It means I have kept moving forward on this book even when I didn’t feel well, which means I have gotten a lot more done than I would have if I’d simply done nothing on my sick days. I hope to feel better soon, but until then I’ll make sure to at least do 100 words or 5 minutes of work on my Regency series every single day.

I don’t usually blog on Sundays, but today marks 150 consecutive days where I’ve written at least the bare minimum on my manuscript every day! I usually only write the bare minimum (100 words or 5 minutes) on Sundays, and lately I’ve only done the bare minimum on days I was working on our taxes. I will also do the bare minimum even if I feel sick that day, although lately I’ve been getting a better handle on my IBS and so I’ve been able to take medication and wait out the pain until it’s manageable, and then do a regular amount of work. Doing only 100 words a day doesn’t really do all that much to increase my word count and help me finish the book, especially since I want to release several books a year. But keeping the story at the forefront of my mind has been very helpful for me to dive right back into the story the next day I feel better. Before, when I didn’t write on days I felt sick, I had to waste too much time re-reading what I’d written before to get my head back into th...

Today marks 120 consecutive days of writing prose every single day! Maybe because of my Achievement-based personality, the streak has helped me a lot to force me to work on my novel at least a little every day despite struggling with a chronic illness. I progress in my manuscript every day, a bare minimum of 100 words and a daily goal of 500 words. The bare minimum is low enough that I could easily do it even on days I’m feeling more sick than normal (I could even do the 100 words on my phone while in bed). I keep my mind refreshed daily with the story and characters so I don’t forget things and need to waste time re-reading to remember them. I’m much more efficient in my writing time and get more done. So despite the fact I didn’t think it would work at all, keeping a writing streak has actually helped me a great deal to get stuff done and be more productive. As has been the case for the past several days, I woke up feeling very sick from the IBS, and had to wait a couple hours for it...

I hate it when I get a late start to the day, but I was up late last night with some pain and discomfort, which made me get up later today, and then I had a bunch of house chores that needed to be done before I could start work. I’m also still feeling some IBS pain, but I took some medication and I’m just waiting for it to kick in.  Once again, I’m practicing patience with my health. I don’t know why I’m the type of person to throw in the towel so easily when I’m feeling sick, but that’s how I am. When I feel really terrible, I want to just quit and not think about work for the rest of the day. But I’m trying to learn how to be patient and wait to see if I feel better. So far, I usually only need to wait a few minutes or at most a couple hours before I feel well enough to get to work. I haven’t had a really bad day recently, so hopefully all this practice will help me to do the same when one of those hits. I realized that I’m also learning how to work through a little bit of discom...

I haven’t blogged recently even though I probably should have, for accountability. But honestly, not much has happened. My IBS is better although not entirely under control—I still get some bouts of discomfort and pain at random moments during the day. However, they’re mild enough that some medication can clear them up within about 30 minutes, and I’ve been able to get some writing done every day. Most days I get about 2-3 hours, although there were a few days where I only did the bare minimum. I’ve realized that trying to work while battling this IBS has forced me to be patient and flexible. If I’m not feeling well at the moment I sit down to work, I try to remember just to take some medication and wait a little while before trying again. Granted, there were some days I was so unhappy that I just threw in the towel and did the bare minimum for the day, and then didn’t look at my computer for the rest of the day. That happened about 25% of the time. But the other 75% of the time,...

Despite the fact that I’ve kept up my writing streak for over 90 days now, I’m still woefully lacking in discipline in other areas of my life, which is rather frustrating. I suppose I had hoped that if I can develop discipline in one area, then the discipline would come easier in other areas. It does help that I have a daily checklist of things to accomplish each day. I have to check off my Japanese language study, my writing streak, and my blocking streak. I don’t have streaks going, but I also have boxes to check off for checking email, reading Regency novels to keep my head in the language of the time period, reading nonfiction for research, and also reading my Bible every day. I also have a box to check off for doing one task from my writing-related business To Do list, and also a box for doing 30 minutes updating my book catalog (it’s a huge project because it’s incomplete and out of date). I don’t always check off on reading nonfiction for research, or doing a writing-related...

Marketing is a necessary aspect of writing, whether you’re published traditionally or self-published. Unfortunately since I’ve published in two genres, I have two newsletters for marketing. While I can usually find something to write about in my Regency newsletter, recently I’ve had difficulty figuring out what to do about my contemporary romantic suspense newsletter when I’m not writing a contemporary novel at the moment, and I don’t have plans to release one until after I finish the Regency series. I’ve been trying to adhere to the “one a month” marketing strategy. It’s hard sometimes to have something of value to include in my contemporary newsletter. Actually, sometimes it’s hard to have something of value to include in my Regency newsletter too, but at least I can write about the book I’m working on. Mostly I’ve been blogging about “extra” tidbits that relate to my books. That includes recipes of food mentioned in the books, knitting patterns of knitted items mentioned in the ...