2017 Live Writing Marathon 6 – It’s the finishing line

Yesterday morning when I blogged I was bewildered by mixed metaphors to some extent. The idea that this extended writing is like a marathon has its uses, but sometimes the metaphor stretches too far … and breaks.

So, here we are at the end of the official marathon period. I set myself 4 clear goals. I think they could be called stretch goals because they were very ambitious indeed. How have I done?

1. A Journey of Wonder – this manuscript was renamed from its working title of “People who inspire me”. In the middle of the marathon I spent quite a lot of time figuring out how to structure it, what to focus on and what the overall shape of the book will be. That was a valuable process that resulted in no words to count, but still a key part of the writing process. I was aiming for 10,000 words written – (drum roll, dramatic pause) – and I actually wrote 9,704. I’m really pleased with that.
2. Coaching ideas book – I had the outline ready for this and was aiming to write 5,000 words. The valuable learning with this is that I can’t focus on two manuscripts at once. These two goals should have been an ‘either / or’ rather than a ‘both / and’. That would have made more sense. I didn’t look at this book idea at all. That’s fine – it can wait until the next writing period.
3. Hang Fire – my latest book of poetry. I wrote two new poems for this. I was aiming for eight – two is good!
4. Live Blogging – I set myself a target of eight posts, one at the beginning and end of each day. This will be the sixth post. I’m pleased with that. There was always the danger that I would overwhelm the reader with too many blog posts. In the end the number of posts I produced has been perfect and it has been a good opportunity to learn from the process. Total word count for blog posts: 2583.

It has been a productive few days. Nearly 10,000 words on the latest book, and clear direction of travel to continue to work on, a couple of poems and a batch of blog posts that represent the learning from the process. Oh, and I even managed to sort my CD collection into alphabetical order on Sunday night whilst thinking about the book’s structure. Even displacement activity can be useful sometimes!

I have learnt that the targets I set need to be more modest – give myself something to beat, rather than something to beat myself up with! If I am looking at two book ideas, see these as an ‘either / or’. The process of structure and what to include is as important as the actual job of writing. It’s important to value that part of the process too.

Thanks for your interest in this exercise. This has been the second time I have tried it. It works for me. I will use the process again – and will also try reduced versions of it comprising a day or half day. You could call them a Writing 10k and a Writing 5k. Coming soon.

Also published on Medium.