Deadlines (WFMAD Day 16)

Let's face it: the only thing that could ever motivate me to finish my homework was the looming arrival of the test or assignment due date. (And if I'm being honest, even that didn't motivate me a whole lot this past year.) Deadlines, it seems, provide great external motivation.

The problem, I find, is that I suck at applying deadlines to my own personal projects. I tend to overestimate my abilities, and how much I can actually get done in a set amount of time. So when I do set deadlines, they pass easily without my project or goal being completed, which leaves me feeling frustrated and dejected and even more unmotivated than I was before.

The only exception to this, it seems, is this blog.

Aside from the brief period of time after the school year (in which I seemed to be unmotivated to do anything other than play Sims), I've been really good at updating this blog. I said I'd update every Friday, and for the most part, I've nailed it, every time. Even now, in the midst of a blog-a-day challenge, I have yet to fail. (Unless you count posting after midnight failing, which I don't. Cut me some slack!)

So what's the difference between this, and my other projects? Why can't my deadlines be as successful for everything else?

Maybe my other projects are simply too big. Maybe my deadlines are unrealistic; the work too big to complete in the given time. Maybe I need to develop a new routine, or a new method to working on my projects.

Or maybe, I just need to dive right back into it.

I'll be honest; now that I'm taking a break from school, and working mostly full time, the pressure is on. To make real progress on my writing, my art, and other creative projects. Before, with my focus always on school, this had always just seemed like a hobby.

It's not just a hobby anymore.

So maybe, despite all the times I failed before, it's time to give it another shot.


Until later,

- Justyne

Wangin' It

Wangin' it: A term created by a close friend of mine, originally intended to be a past tense form of the term "wingin' it" (i.e. "I wang it" instead of "I winged it". Because the latter just didn't sound right to her, apparently). She quickly forgot how to use this term in the proper context and began replacing the original term all together.

Example: I have no idea what I'm doing. I have never written a blog before. I am wangin' it.

Was it necessary to introduce a fake word to your vocabulary? Probably not. But I did it anyway. Like I said, I'm new to this. I'm wangin' it. ("Wingin' it" just doesn't do it for me anymore. Too boring.)

My name is Justyne. Pronounced Just-een (please note that I am a girl), and spelled with a 'y', not an 'i'. You'd be surprised how many people get that wrong.

I am a first-year university student at the University of Prince Edward Island, or UPEI. This doesn't mean that I'm a starving college student; I have an unlimited meal plan, thank-you-very-much. This does mean, however, that I'm basically broke. (Warning to any high school seniors out there: textbooks are expensive. Buy used.)

I am a Canadian. This doesn't mean that I live in an igloo, and it doesn't mean that I ride a dog sled to school. It does mean that I speak French (somewhat badly), and eat poutine. A lot. (Probably a contributing factor to me being broke.)

And I am a writer. This doesn't mean that I'm published. (The title of this blog should have been the first hint to that.) This doesn't mean that I know absolutely everything there is to know about writing. On the contrary, I'm basically just making it up as I go. Like right now, for instance.

Put simply, I am wangin' it.

I created this blog a couple of years ago, with the intention of getting my name out there as a writer, and in general just having fun.

I forgot about it after a day.

About a year later, I found this blog again. I changed the layout, and resolved to start posting things.

Once again, I forgot about it after a day.

And now, here we are. I am choosing to ignore my lack of experience blogging (unless you count ranting about about school or fangirling about television on Tumblr, which I don't), and just sort of jump into it. I hope to write mostly about...well, writing. I hope to get a new post out every Friday. (Or very, very early Saturday morning, judging from past procrastination habits.)

For now, though, that's all I have to say. You can follow me on Twitter to stay up-to-date on other random stuff I'm doing. I hope to see you again (figuratively speaking, I won't actually see you) next Friday, when I'll be rambling on about another topic and continuing to 'wang' this whole blogging thing.

Until later,

- Justyne