I Think I Can! I Think I Can!

Well, I'm getting ready to head off to my MFA program for the last time. I have super mixed feelings about it. On the one hand...

1. I am beyond excited to get up to school and spend time with my Nerd Herd (I don't think they know I refer to them as that, but they probably will now. And I think they'll like it.)
2. I love the classes and can't wait to be in a physical classroom again learning.
3. I love the location of my program and just feel so at home there. I mean, where I live now it awesome, but there is soooo much more up there. 
4. And I'm really excited to be nearing the end of my degree and all that means.

But on the other hand...

1. I'm going to be done with my degree before I know it. No more fun classes. No more going to Nerd Camp.
2. I have to leave my new husband for 6 weeks.
3. I will miss my husband's birthday... 
4. Did I mention that I'll miss my husband?
5. I won't have any income for 6 weeks.

So there's a lot swirling around in my mind. The lists above only scratch the surface. But don't take away the wrong idea. I'm not unhappy, just conflicted. 


But my ramblings are not the full focus of this post. This post is about writing, believe it or not. And my own writing to boot. 


I'll go more into this in a future post, but I've been tracking my word count, day by day, for almost a month now. I have been forcing myself to sit down at the computer and just write damn it. Some days I'll only get a few hundred words. Other days, I'll get a couple thousand down on the page. Are they all the final words? Hell no! They are my road map. I know that there are blanks that I need to go and fill in, but that's for another draft. 


This draft will be my first, complete draft of my novel. I have been working on it for around five years now. Why has it taken me that long to write one full draft? 


Here's why:

• I didn't force myself to write as much as I have in the last few weeks
• I've been working on this for several different workshop style classes and in those classes people want to read your stuff, critique it, and then see the changes. I'll tell you I've had countless drafts of Chapter One, but only one draft of chapters 10, 11, and 12. 
• I'm lazy
• I'm not pushing myself to be a writer. <------ THIS IS BAD

So, the whole point of this is to pass along some more advice to you. Don't be like me. Or, well, the old me. Don't over edit a few chapter while never writing any of the others. Be like the new me. Write as often as you can and take notes on what you know you need to add in later. 


However, this way might not work for everyone. What's your writing style?