Friday, December 10, 2010

The Challenge Continues

As the name suggests, this writer has found herself a far too catchy a tag-line for her to drop it just because the original challenge came to a premature end.

After all, I have rewrites. And roughly thirty pounds to lose. But now, instead of saying that I will do both before 31 December, the challenge will lie in the fact that I must both exercise and write diligently.

For the rewrites, I decided to try out a (from what I read) nifty program called yWriter. It's freeware, so it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of your average novel writing program. Still, it was designed by a SciFi writer who has face pretty much the same challenges as I have. So I'm hoping that the program will help me keep track of the story.

Also for the rewrites, I have started with ponderings. Things related to the story that didn't necessarily go into the main part of the story. World building, basically. Last night I got stuck into the History. I am still far from the present, but I have already learnt a lot of things that are going to work beautifully in all of the stories. Once I'm done with the History, I'm going into Geography. After that the Population, Cultures, Economics, Technology etc. When I get tired of that, I'm going to do something I really really enjoyed.

Character interviews. And this time, I might just chain Darrion to the table until he starts talking. Kidding. I doubt that will help. Sigh.

Weight loss wise, I plan to adapt my eating. Not so much what I eat, since I'm not particularly unhealthy. But rather how much I eat. No... Not starvation dieting, but rather smaller portions aimed at keeping me satisfied instead of glutted. Then, I want to get back to running. Not jogging. Running.

Jogging is boring and exercises the legs. Running keeps me challenged while giving me a full body work out. Why? Have you ever tried to sprint with bad posture? If I run, my entire body has to work in order to get me to my goal point as fast as possible. And... no. I won't get a heart attack, since I'm running in short bursts followed by recovery walks, followed by short bursts... I found it a lot less painful than jogging, which says a lot. One of the main reasons why I stop jogging within days of starting is because my legs seize up from day one. Running? Nope. Not even a little.

Finally, I'll ease myself into muscle toning exercise...

No. I lied. Finally, I'm planning to drink lots and lots of water.

But this is pretty much how I want to live my life from now on. No limits to what I can eat, but rather when and how much. The water will curb the cravings that make me reach for that extra bite.

What about you? Have any of you tried yWriter? What did you think of it? And exercise? Do you do anything to burn away those problem areas (thighs and tums)?

9 comments:

  1. OMG. You aim high with your goals! Please don't lose 30 pounds in one month! It won't be healthy. Instead, maybe try for 5-7 pounds a month. (I need to lose about 20 myself. Damn French food. The cheese. The bread. The yum...) I wish they had Zumba classes in France; they're fun!

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  2. Good luck with your goals-- writerly and otherwise.

    I've never tried novel writing software, but then, my ideas are not usually very plot-driven, maybe not the sort of book the programmers had in mind.

    Let us know how it goes!

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  3. I’m curious to try out this software now. Just downloaded it, and will have a play later.

    As for losing weight, does that mean you won’t want all this chocolate I got you for Christmas now? :p
    The enigmatic, masked blogger

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  4. I need to research these writing software programs! They sound awesome. Anything that can keep me organized is amazing to me! Good luck with your goal of writing and exercising diligently!

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  5. Good luck with those goals! You can do it. :)

    I've never heard of yWriter--I'll have to check it out!

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  6. Water and smaller portions will make a nice difference. That's what I started a little while ago and I feel so much better about myself. I haven't stepped on a scale in about 4 months or more so I donno if it has made a weight difference but, for me, feeling better about myself is enough. When the weather warms up I intend on bicycling again. But, I agree with Samantha. 30lb in one month just sounds scary unhealthy!

    Good luck with your writing!! Hope to hear how the program works out.

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  7. Not just smaller portions, it's good to eat very regularly. Often and at the same times. Eating every two hours is supposed to be good--speeds up your metabolism. It has to work more often and kinda just "stays on." But it's so! hard to do that. Which is dumb. It should be easy!

    Good luck editing :) We kinda have reverse strategies! Which is weird. I spent about 2 weeks really hammering out some world-building so I knew where I was when I started. I kept adding stuff after I started, though, at least technology wise. I haven't done any in-depth character interviews yet. I don't really like doing them... But if I need to do some more character development, I'll definitely whip it out!

    Good luck!

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  8. Lol Samantha I'll never be that insane to try. No, I'm rather aiming for a healthier lifestyle. The difficult part is the fact that I am trying to do this in December, since it's Christmas, my mom's birthday, my uncle's birthday and my birthday... :-)

    Thanks Perri! I'm also more character driven, but I need to whip my plot into shape otherwise I will have a lot of very confused readers...

    Blogger I will never say no to chocolate. I'll just eat them slowly and savor them for a looong time. ;-)

    Meridith, give yWriter a try. I think you might find it useful. Thanks for your good wishes. :-)

    Thanks Golden. :-)

    I agree with you Colene. Both counts. Weight matters very little to me. It's the feel-good factor that makes the difference. And... 30lbs is scary (and dangerous) to lose in a month on a low cal diet.

    That's more or less my plan Jessica. Eating five times a day with more or less (I refuse to calorie count slavishly) 300 calories per meal. So far I'm finding it hard, but for a stupid reason. And one that explains why I've been gaining weight. I'm not hungry despite eating a lot less. Goes to show me how much unnecessary food I've been stuffing myself with.

    I wrote my first draft so that I could get to know my characters and the world they live in. Now that I did, I can see where the questions lie. For example: Why are there portals? Where did so and so come from? So this draft will be a lot richer when I get to it.

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  9. Be food-conscious, and get out there and exercise! Even if it's just going to a Zumba class once a week or something, it'll get your blood pumping and you'll feel a lot better. I'm a dance instructor, and getting out of the computer chair and moving around makes a world of difference. And you never know what crazy story ideas you'll get in the process... your whole self will benefit from the exercise!

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