If you’ve been following my blog (and paying attention) you’ll know that I participate in two weekly blog hops: the LGBT-oriented Rainbow Snippets on Saturday and the more general Snippet Sunday on… well, on Sunday, obviously. (Although the thread is started on Saturday, just because I don’t have enough trouble knowing what day of the week it is.)
Both are through Face Book and between the two of them there are probably forty to fifty posts each week.
The Rainbow Snippet thread usually starts around noon my time and I post my link and then read and comment until time to go to work, and by the time I get home (I work 3 to 11) the Snippet Sunday thread is up.
Once I’m home from work, the first order of business (after I post the link to my Sunday snippet) is to finish the Rainbow Snippet blog hop. Then, depending how tired I am I either go to bed or start the Sunday Snippets.
I try to stay on top of the posts as best I can while working on weekends, my goal being to have all snippets done either Sunday night or Monday before work at the latest.
I’m usually pretty successful.
Usually.
Sometimes, like last week, for whatever reason, the above plan falls through and just doesn’t happen. (I think I finished last weekend’s blog hops on Friday, just in time to start all over on Saturday.)
Every time I let myself fall behind (thinking I’ll do both hops on my days off) I am reminded of how much easier it is to stay caught up than it is to get caught up.
Why is that?
I don’t know.
I’m thinking it might be because seeing 20+ comments per thread waiting for you to click and read is kind of overwhelming and makes you feel like you’ll never get through all of them so you may as well just throw in the towel before you even start.
All I know for sure is that it seems to be a lot easier if I don’t wait to do it on my days off.
It’s like that with NaNoWriMo, too. It’s much easier to get a good lead and try not to fall too far below par than it is to say “I’ll make up the deficit on my days off.”
Sadly, I seem to have spent a large portion of the last few NaNo events scrambling to get caught up, but I’m hoping this time will be different.
This time I’ll have a detailed outline. (It’s currently at 1800 or so words and still has two weeks to grow and deepen and add layers.) That will help a lot. I know me, and I know that my writing (and later, editing) goes a lot smoother if I am working from an outline – and the more in-depth the better.
Also working in my favor for NaNoWriMo is that I’m taking the 31st off, so I’ll have a nice relaxing day and will be caught up on social media and ready to start writing at midnight. (That’s kind of become my tradition – start writing at midnight and get at least a thousand words in before I go to bed.)
I’m also off the first two days of November, so I’m hoping to be able to get a good jump on my word count. I’d love to hit at least 10K before I go back to work on the third.
And then I need to stay not just caught up, but ahead on word count, because I’m planning on going to the midnight showing of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on the 18th.
Because, you know, I’m sure it won’t stir any more plot bunnies…
Novel Notes 