So it’s finally August 31st, which means it’s time to look at the writing goals that have been hit and those that have been missed. It’s been, eh, victorious in some underdog kind of ways, but not as overall successful as I would have liked. But the goals are still there, and I’m still shooting for them, and besides–I’m only a few months in. :) Peeeeenty of time to get my act together, hmm? :)
So here’s where we stand as of August 31st, with my excuses in color, per usual. XD
ANNUAL GOALS:
[ ] Finish the rough draft of the “Hope City” novel (which is my current novel project) *Ugh, this hasn’t moved forward at all. I’ll get to it, I’ll get to it… It’s the next project, after “Old Shore.”
[ ] Summary draft/Begin a prose draft of new novel project *The old oerboek is rearing her ugly head again, spilling promises of ease and success and innovation from her whispering lips. However, I have cut out a lot of extraneous stuff, reduced the cast of characters by about a million, restructured the plot, and mined out the pieces I love, leaving them with some semblance of being fresh. Maybe, just maybe, if this one sticks around and doesn’t poo on itself, it could be the next summary draft. We’ll see, though. Hope City first, and we’ll see.
[ 4 / 60 ] Make 60 submissions attempts (submit 60 times) *One more out! Working on getting more stories finished to submit, and hopefully I’ll hear back on the four I’ve got out so I can send them out again!
MONTHLY GOALS:
[ 2 / 12 ] Finish “The Thief Dilemma” with 1 chapter posted per month (July-June 2012). *Done and done! Chapter 19 is finished and up, and got a little extra done on Chapter 20 also.
[ 2 / 12 ] Read 1 “old” book (pre-2009) in genre (ex: Rendezvous with Rama) *Making progress, bit by bit! Finished The Day of the Triffids and The Man in the High Castle, at long last! I’m still one behind on this, but I’ve been chugging through Dhalgren (and loving it!), and I’m eyeing a few others on my shelf that should do nicely to help catch up a bit.
[ 0 / 12 ] Read 1 “new” book (post-2009) in genre (ex: Zoo City) *Of course, all the progress I made above was completely gained on account of not finishing *any* new genre books. FAIL.
DAILY GOALS:
[ 30/ 30 ] Write 500 words /OR/ edit for 30 minutes + 15 minutes of practice writing *Met this one with flying colors, though with a caveat–since reworking my schedule, I now work on fiction for 2 hrs every weekday and then take the weekends to recuperate. Since starting that regiment, I’ve actually averaged closer to 1000 words a day, and on specific projects, which means things are actually getting completed! :) Next month, this one may be rephrased to 2hrs/5xweek.
[ 3 /30 ] Read 1 short story per day *This caved this month–or at least, I’ve been reading more in general, including short stories, but not specifically trying to get a story a day. Now that med school has kicked in with vigor, I should be able to squeak the time in and maybe jump back on this bandwagon.
So there’s progress being made in some areas, typically at the expense of progress in other spots. But if nothing less, this should give me a good perspective on what are reasonable goals for me. :) If I can hit all of the annual goals, and match the monthly goals ONCE during the year, I think I’ll feel pretty good about that.
Onward and upward! Next month, please! :)
Also: Keep an eye open for Danger_Slater‘s THREE QUESTIONS going up tomorrow!