Late. Sparse. Not all writing related.
1. Replace my failing router. Do it tomorrow before rebellion occurs. Figure out how to install/configure/whatevertheheck ones does with a router.
2. Finish income taxes. Getting real close on the Federal haven’t started the state.
3. Do my mother-in-law’s taxes. Haven’t started.
4. Blog 10 times.
5. Write/publish 5 articles at Suite 101.
6. Work ten days on the Harmony of the gospels.
7. Somehow keep the dream alive.
Good grief! I missed checking in on my March goals, and setting April goals. Here it is the 4th of April already. Okay, so here is the March report.
1. Blog 12 or more times. This seems a comfortable pace. I’d like to bump this up to about 16 posts a month, but will wait to make that a goal. >>> I bloggd exactly 12 times. Should have done more, but at least I made my goal.
2. Write and post 10 articles at Suite101.com. I think I can do this. >>> I fell one short on this, posting 9 articles at Suite101.
3. Write 1,000 words on In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People. Almost made it in February; might as well try it in March. >>>Well, I did nothing on my novel this month. My attention was pulled to working on the Harmony of the Gospels, and much time that I could have put into the novel, or into Suite articles, instead went to the Harmony. And I’m okay with that. I really got a lot done on it.
4. Work on a new Bible study, about the sacraments. I may have an outline somewhere. I’ll be teaching it in about two months. Time to get to work. >>>I completed quite a bit of work on this. The outline of the lesson series is done; I have a good idea of what it is I want to accomplish; and I’m reading a book for research. I could be much farther along, but I feel good about this.
5. Make three freelance submissions. This is pretty minimal, but I’m working a lot on work stuff still, and will be making a presentation on the 31st and two or three brown bags during the month. I find the time needed to research freelance markets and actually make the submittals tedious, and for some reason if I’m heavy into work stuff, including taking stuff home, I can’t concentrate on freelance. Of course, a couple of the work things I’m working on could make good freelance articles about engineering. Hmmm. >>>Not quite sure how to count this. I made two freelance submissions–or I could count it as five, if I count the articles I submitted to a Suite101 contest as separate submissions. It’s really not as much as I hoped to accomplish.
6. Read 40 pages in writer helps, not including blogs. That’s forty solid pages, books or magazines (not including ads). I would say I read maybe 20 pages, not 40. The research into the Bible study took up much of my reading. That and working logically through my magazine and newsletters pile. The first issue of my subscription to Poets and Writers magazine is next on the pile; I should get to it tomorrow. So this will be an easy thing to do in April.
So, all in all a month with a fair amount of accomplishment, but not as much as I hoped for. Taxes got in the way (as they will in April), as did the church parking lot project (as it will in April also. I’ll come back in a few hours with April goals.
Okay, I’m doing this on the fly. I haven’t thought much about it, since I’ve been so heavy with work related stuff the last two weeks.
1. Blog 12 or more times. This seems a comfortable pace. I’d like to bump this up to about 16 posts a month, but will wait to make that a goal.
2. Write and post 10 articles at Suite101.com. I think I can do this.
3. Write 1,000 words on In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People. Almost made it in February; might as well try it in March.
4. Work on a new Bible study, about the sacraments. I may have an outline somewhere. I’ll be teaching it in about two months. Time to get to work.
5. Make three freelance submissions. This is pretty minimal, but I’m working a lot on work stuff still, and will be making a presentation on the 31st and two or three brown bags during the week. I find the time needed to research freelance markets and actually make the submittals tedious, and for some reason if I’m heavy into work stuff, including taking stuff home, I can’t concentrate on freelance. Of course, a couple of the work things I’m working on could make good freelance articles about engineering. Hmmm.
6. Read 40 pages in writer helps, not including blogs. That’s forty solid pages, books or magazines (not including ads).
That’s it for now. As I said this is on the fly and off the cuff, little thought.
Oops, I didn’t mean to let this blog sit since last Thursday. It was a busy weekend, though.
Here’s my report on February 2010, how I did relative to the goals I set.
1. Blog 12 times or more. >> Blogged 13 times, so met this goal.
2. Write and publish at least 8 articles at Suite101.com. >> Wrote and published 10 articles at Suite 101, so exceeded this goal
3. Consider applying for a feature writer position at Suite101; more on that in a post later today. >> That was kind of a measly goal. “Consider”? Well, I have a kind of measly result. I applied, was one of three candidates, then withdrew my application in a fit of pique at life in general. So I’m going to consider this goal met.
4. Complete an article I’m writing for BiblioBuffet.com and submit it. Ran it through critique group last night, so it’s down to final editing. >> I completed it and submitted it. I heard back from the editor yesterday: She’ll make a decision by Tuesday night. She took some time off in February was the reason for the delay.
5. Make at least three freelance submittals (including BiblioBuffet). >> Made three submittal, exactly on goal
6. Write at least 1000 words in In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People. >> Almost; wrote 860 words. Although I didn’t make it, it felt good to be writing on it again.
7. Read at least 50 pages in a book about writing better. I have four or five at my disposal right now. >> I did this, but in writing magazines, not in books.
Okay, not a bad month relative to goals. Now I need to work us some March goals. Stay tuned.
I’m finding it difficult to set goals this month, as illustrated by the fact that I didn’t get to my goal setting till the 3rd. I’m still feeling the effects of the cold I picked up early last week. Consequently my mind is more on seeing that cured than seeing my words on paper.
Still, without some goals, I won’t make any writing progress. So here’s some to start; perhaps I’ll edit them later (yeah, I always say that).
1. Blog 12 times or more.
2. Write and publish at least 8 articles at Suite101.com.
3. Consider applying for a feature writer position at Suite101; more on that in a post later today.
4. Complete an article I’m writing for BiblioBuffet.com and submit it. Ran it through critique group last night, so it’s down to final editing.
5. Make at least three freelance submittals (including BiblioBuffet).
6. Write at least 1000 words in In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People.
7. Read at least 50 pages in a book about writing better. I have four or five at my disposal right now.
January was not a productive month. I can blame pneumonia, and the stomach flu, and then the cold I had. I could blame the two snowstorms. I could blame a heavy workload at work, after missing almost three weeks and having a must-make deadline on a floodplain project. I could blame having my wife gone much of the month (including my worst sick time), tending to grandson and daughter. And I could blame having the grandson stay with us for over a week and not feeling like writing when I could play with him or rock him to sleep.
For sure the pneumonia kept me from being productive. I never ran a fever, never felt poorly. I just coughed, from deep within, and then had to sit and be quiet to recover. That coughing takes a lot out of you–or me. I had little desire to work at writing after trying to hack my lungs up every five or ten minutes.
So, I think I did poorly on my goals. I’ll paste them in and we’ll see.
1. Blog 12 times. Made this, blogging 14 times.
2. Write and publish 8 articles at Suite101.com. I wrote only two articles at Suite in January. I did some research on two more, but they don’t count.
3. Make at least one freelance submission. I sort of did this, although it’s not really what I intended. I submitted a poem to a poetry contest at Absolute Write. Came in tied for 7th in a vote of forum members, so no prize. No entry fee either.
4. Write 1000 words in In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People. I did nothing on this novel. Maybe February.
5. Begin work with Demand Studios. I looked at their stuff once, including the list of articles I could claim, but didn’t begin writing for them. Maybe February.
One thing I accomplished that wasn’t on the list was writing an article for the Bibliobuffet web site. I’ll show it to critique group tonight, and hopefully submit it tomorrow. It will be a guest column, and I’ve no guarantee they will accept it. If they do, it’s a (small) paying gig.
I think I’m feeling a little better today. I’ve had two days of antibiotics, on the third day of breathing treatments and the strong cough syrup. I’m still coughing, perhaps not as much and not as deeply, and my voice is a little closer to normal. I just washed accumulated dishes, so after sleeping most of the morning away, I’m ready for a couple of hours at the computer.
The 7th is kind of late for January goals, but this is the first time I’ve felt like typing them. Wrote them in my journal on the 4th.
1. Blog 12 times.
2. Write and publish 8 articles at Suite101.com.
3. Make at least one freelance submission.
4. Write 1000 words in In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People.
5. Begin work with Demand Studios articles.
I should probably have more goals than that, but in my reduced capacity I’ll feel good about getting that much done. Last night, while watching the football game on mute, I put together notes for a Bible study I want to write. I looked in the usual places, and didn’t find it. I’d like to get some of it typed today.
I’ve still been sick these past few days. Taking Thursday off didn’t work, for we had a second Christmas dinner, and I did too much with the preparations. Rested that afternoon, as my voice totally left me. Friday I managed to get a little rest, but don’t think I felt any better by the end of the day. I knew then that I’d be resting Saturday and Sunday and going to the doctor on Monday.
But Saturday included packing the van for Lynda’s, Sara’s, and Ephraim’s trip to Oklahoma City. Still, I did less of that work than I usually did, Lynda and Sara doing more. At 2:00 PM they drove off, and I hit the couch, probably at the low point. I saw a little of a bowl game, but not much, as I dozed or slept for a few hours. I got on the computer a while last night, but didn’t feel like writing. I finally felt like reading a little.
Today I woke up to find 2 inches of snow on the ground. We were only supposed to get a dusting. Since I parked the pick-up in the drive on Saturday, that meant I had to shovel or else would not be able to get up the slope tomorrow and head to the doc. So I shoveled the part of the drive behind the pick-up. And I felt marvelous doing it. I coughed little, and the fresh air entering my lungs, even though it was around 26 degrees, seemed good to me. I coughed little while I was out, and not much the rest of the day (until the last half hour). I spent a lot of it on the couch, or in my chair.
So I’m behind in my beginning of the month posts. I’ll check in with my December goals now, but will leave January goals till tomorrow. Where I fell short in December, I’ll blame it on two weeks of being sick.
1. Blog 12 times >>> Did this.
2. Post at least 8 articles to Suite101.com >>> Fell two short, posting only six articles.
3. Make my submittals log perfect: all entries made in appropriate places; all acceptances/rejections gathered. >>> “Perfect” is a hard standard to live up to, but I think I accomplished this. I spent an evening early in the month getting things up to date, and don’t think I left anything hanging at the end of the month.
4. Make my ideas notebook perfect: appropriate dividers; hard copies of all ideas in the file. >>> I did quite a bit of work on this, but “perfect”? Probably not. Still, I believe I have a system in place that is significantly more workable than what I had at the beginning of the month.
5. All poems properly filed; includes transferring all poems from my computer at work to the one at home, and making the one at home the official repository of electronic copies; hard copies of all poems in a file. >>> Did almost nothing on this, except dealing with some of the hard copies I had floating around the office and the house.
6. Write 2,000 words in In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People. Last month’s goal was too ambitious, given all that’s going on. >>> Nope, did nothing on this.
7. Finish that appendix in the Harmony of the Gospels. I believe I left it, some months ago, with not much more than a page to finish. I shouldn’t leave it hanging. >>> Yes! After having this for a goal for several months, I finished it. This required that I read through the entire appendix and the related text. After all this time I wasn’t sure what the last page of the appendix was supposed to say. I decided it wasn’t too bad as it was, but did see a few things that needed to be added. Anyway, it’s done, and I actually began working on the next appendix.
8. Continue studies of Demand Studios (tutorials, editorial guides), and begin writing for them. >>> I continued my study of what Demand Studios requires, but I did not begin writing for them. I discovered that they do have some articles available for writing that I can probably write, maybe about $100 to $200 worth. I’m fairly certain this will be a goal in January.
This may be the season to be jolly, but it’s not the season for audacious writing goals, or plans to make tons of progress on creative works. So I’ll back off some on my goals.
1. Blog 12 times
2. Post at least 8 articles to Suite101.com
3. Make my submittals log perfect: all entries made in appropriate places; all acceptances/rejections gathered.
4. Make my ideas notebook perfect: appropriate dividers; hard copies of all ideas in the file.
5. All poems properly filed; includes transferring all poems from my computer at work to the one at home, and making the one at home the official repository of electronic copies; hard copies of all poems in a file.
6. Write 2,000 words in In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People. Last month’s goal was too ambitious, given all that’s going on.
7. Finish that appendix in the Harmony of the Gospels. I believe I left it, some months ago, with not much more than a page to finish. I shouldn’t leave it hanging.
8. Continue studies of Demand Studios (tutorials, editorial guides), and begin writing for them.
December 1st–time to see how I did relative to my November goals.
1. Blog at least 12 times. I blogged 14 times.
2. Post at least 8 articles at Suite101.com Posted 9 articles at Suite.
3. Write 10,000 word in In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People. Only wrote a little over 1,000 words, so way behind on this one.
4. Complete the Bible study writing goal of October. I actually did this. Early in the month I gathered all (well, I think all) of the started or planned Bible studies, listed them, determined where they were relative to the completion continuum, and put them in a semi-organized file. I have a little more to do on this, but I consider it essentially completed.
5. Make at least four writing related submittals. I completed this, making either 4 or 5 submittals. I’ll check my submittals log later tonight and see what the exact number was.
6. Complete the started but as yet unfinished appendix in my Harmony of the Gospels. Did nothing on this.
7. Work on Screwtape’s Good Advice. Did nothing on this.
So, all in all not a very good month as far as writing accomplishment goes. Guess I’ll have to try harder in December.
