progress report

Progress Is Progress, No Matter How Small

Lynette M Burrows

Measuring progress as a writer is tricky. You can count words or time or pages. When revising a novel those measurements get trickier. Word counts are deceptive when you delete as many words as you add. So do you count pages? What about when you  have to go back 80 pages because of a plot hole you discovered? And it takes time to figure out how to fix the plot hole. Progress is progress, no matter how small. But it isn’t easy to quantify. Making Since I did not complete any of my April Intentions for Making, I could count this month as a failure. I count words added, words deleted, and time spent. I also keep track of what chapter I’m working on and the book’s total word count. Most importantly, I look at all of those over time. This month I found and solved a plot hole. That meant I had to revisit seven chapters I’d already revised. Staying focused was more difficult this month so the blogging suffered. But I was able to put up something every week. One of the new bits from If I Should Die:  “It’ll be daylight by then.” Miranda chewed her lower […]

I’m Stronger than I Thought

Lynette M Burrows

In January, I had strong intentions for the quarter, but I anticipated very little of what happened and my plans went awry. My life and my writing feel like a jumble of puzzle pieces that don’t fit where they used to fit. It’s the end of the first quarter of 2021 and it’s time to evaluate what I’ve accomplished and where to go from here. And the biggest lesson learned over the past three months is that I’m stronger than I thought. Making Unsurprisingly, revisions of If I Should Die are off course. Only six chapters farther than I was at the end of January is disappointing. I made adjustments to the timeline, which meant shifting chapters around. When I revise a novel, it’s like doing a giant jigsaw puzzle that get’s redrawn in the middle of my efforts. (Does that make sense?) Creative thinking takes more energy than blogging. For both, I struggle with focus and energy, but focusing on writing a blog post is easier because of its length. Managing A friend helped me keep the website updated during February. Since then, I’ve maintained the website. Focusing on the rewrite and blogging, the managing area of my business […]

A February That Broke My Heart Forever

Lynette M Burrows

This was a February that broke my heart forever. If you read my post “A Grievous Loss and a New Life Journey,” you know why. My husband’s death deeply affected me and changed my all goals. Making As things turned out, I worked on the manuscript fifteen days this month. If I Should Die’s revision draft saw five chapters completed. And I published six blog posts. This is far below my goals for this month. And it’s more than okay. I’m pleased I got that much done under the circumstances. Managing There is little that I completed in the managing section. A friend helped me update my website when I couldn’t look at it. I listened to a few podcasts—thank goodness I took notes or I wouldn’t remember a word. And that’s okay, too. Marketing Fortunately, I could continue Amazon marketing efforts. I had plans to do more, but it’s okay. The ads already running produced a few sales, which were a bright spot in an otherwise dreadful month. Home The doctor’s and nurses at Advent Health Shawnee Mission Hospital were caring and professional. Every member of the Hospice team was extraordinarily compassionate. A death causes a lot of paperwork […]