Tag: goals

December Writing Update: Race to the Finish

Writing in December usually goes one of two ways for me. I either continue on the productivity train from November, or I peter out and don’t write much at all. I’m very glad to say this year, I am still writing my project from November and making EXCELLENT progress.

I want to finish this novel by December 31st and write THE END. I’m getting quite close, and I have almost 90,000 words total (nearly 30K added so far in December), which is almost a novel, but there’s so much plot left to go!

post it note outlines

Thankfully, writing is going well and I’ve been able to get some fantastic writing days in. I hope the trend continues over the few weeks we have left. To reach my goal of 110K, I’ll need to do 2100 words a day, but I’m hoping to double that as many days as I can, especially since I’m thinking the novel will finish somewhere around 120-125K with as far as I am now.

Still, I push forward and hope I can finish another project this year!

 

NaNoWriMo 2023 Week Two Update and Current Thoughts

Week two was a struggle. I feel like I built up all this momentum in week one, all this excitement for the story and then somewhere around the beginning of week 2 (most likely when my outline went off the rails), I started to lose interest.

Thankfully, I got it back and finally I’m now back up to my usual enjoyment of my novel. Other aspects involving the monthly challenge I’m not so enthused about currently, but we’ll get to that here shortly.

Day 8: 2,574 words in 1 hour and 10 minutes

Day 9: 1,772 words in 40 minutes

Day 10: 1,696 words in 52 minutes

Day 11: 1,715 words in 45 minutes

Day 12: 1,917 words in45 minutes

Day 13: 1,892 words in 45 minutes

Day 14: 1,716 words in 40 minutes

Monthly Total: 29,691

Overall, I’m proud of my progress over week two, especially with the lack of motivation I was feeling and everything else going on with the website and certain allegations.

What most of you don’t know is I am a Municipal Liaison (ML) for my county. I’ve been an ML and working with participants since 2015. I started to volunteer for NaNoWriMo because I believed in what they stood for: There’s a novel in everyone, creativity rules, and increased literacy across the globe. I have donated to them, bought merch from them and supported their cause pretty much since I started participating in 2009.

The current allegations are sickening. In fact, the way the company has been trending for the last few years has been sickening. I do not condone what has happened with NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo used to be a place for creatives, a place for the artists and likeminded people to get together and enjoy suffering through writing a novel in a month. It was a place where people who were usually on the outskirts (introverts, book nerds, geeks and anyone else) could be included.

Now, after the recent website changes in 2019, the staff changes throughout the years, the pandemic and these sickening accusations of child endangerment among other things have made it ugly. When complaints surfaced, instead of being heard, users were silenced, banned, blocked and suspended, effectively giving NaNoWriMo a culture of fear and intimidation. That is not what NaNoWriMo should be, but that is what it became.

The forums shut down on November 11th when the board of NaNoWriMo stepped in to investigate. I’ve been reading what should be updates from the board and instead, the forum post is filled with hate, with vitriol toward other users and all around yucky meanness. Users in the forums are throwing anyone and everyone under the bus, including MLs, Staff, HQ and other users. Even TikTok has gotten ahold of the news and has made it a big over conflated mess.

That is not what NaNoWriMo should be. We shouldn’t be fighting with our fellow novelists, discounting the experiences of those vulnerable YWPers who have chosen to share their insights.

I DO NOT CONDONE WHAT NANOWRIMO HAS BECOME.

Currently, I can’t step down from my ML position. I have too many new participants this year that thankfully don’t seem to be on the forums as much. I would love for them to have as good of an experience during their first year as I did. I would love for them to find the good in NaNoWriMo, but I’m not sure how that can happen this year.

After November, and hopefully after the investigations, NaNoWriMo can be better than it was. I’m not sure I’ll be as much of a part of it, if at all.

We’ll see.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep writing and keep creating.

See you next week for another writing update!

 

Camp NaNoWriMo Update: Days 5-9

Between a few days off, a roadtrip and a holiday, the writing still continued smoothly, even though we entered the dreaded week 2!

April 5th

Today was an interesting day. I didn’t start writing until the evening, after a wonderful massage and a nice long hot

bath. I finally had some self care after my long stretch of work days, and it helped. I now have a somewhat loose outline for the main project I want to work on for Camp NaNoWriMo. I wrote a little bit in everything and worked on some blog posts and an outline. Overall a decent writing day.

WC: 1571

April 6th

I woke up early, despite not having to work, and got my words in early in the morning. I did some homework, and worked on my main project in the evening. Overall, a productive day both writing wise and in everything else too.

WC: 1575

April 7th

Writing was split up quite a bit today. A few rushed words in the morning in a few projects, then the rest of it at work. I was hoping to get more words today, since I’m off for a weekend away tomorrow, but beggars can’t be choosers. I did get words in everything and some homework done before the weekend, so really I could it as a win.

WC: 1502

April 8th

Road trip! For most of the day, my fiancé and I drove up to Sacramento to see John Mayer in concert. I got a little writing in the car, but writing definitely was not my priority for the weekend. Still, I managed to get a few sentences in all that I could.

WC: 1135

April 9th

Happy Easter! Another day spent in the car, this time driving home from Sacramento. A very enjoyable roadtrip with the man I love, but once again writing wasn’t a priority. Homework was, and that gave me a pretty good buffer of words once I got home, but not the best writing day.

WC: 665

Camp NaNoWriMo Update Days 1-4

Here we are again in April during Camp NaNoWriMo. Usually I do pretty well in November, and April and July mostly suffer, but I’m hoping to blog every day (or if not every few days) to keep myself accountable for the month.

So far, the writing year has been good to me. I’m hoping to keep that momentum up in April. With any luck, it will be the best month yet.

Here’s the breakdown of the first few days of Camp NaNoWriMo April 2023

April 1st

Overall, a good day. A Saturday, and homework is always due on the weekends, so that means words. Do I like counting words for homework? No, but it does give me a little buffer. It’s a work day too, so that means a decent amount of downtime to get a few words down. I made sure I got words in almost everything I’m tallying this month, which is, a lot. Except I didn’t get any words in the current editing project, nor in the project I am aiming to make the most progress in for Camp NaNo. There is always tomorrow!

WC: 1,445

April 2nd

Once again, homework is important to complete and means more words. Other than that, yet another work day (Day 3/5), which means a few sentences here and there in EVERYTHING this time, plus a little extra when I can. The writing bug has struck and I’m excited for the month!

WC: 2,282

April 3rd

The first Monday of April and oh man did it feel like it. No work done before I left for work (day 4/5!) which meant a lot of fumbling on my phone for words. Still managed to write a little in every project, thankfully, and that was it on the Most Monday feeling Monday.

WC: 1,006

April 4th

Tuesday, I managed to get a lot of words down before work (Day 5/5; I am ready for a few days off!), which means the undeniable tension to write has faded. Writing on a keyboard/laptop is so much nicer than pecking on a phone, though I have been known to do both. Due to some tech/syncing issues, the work I did at home did not sync to my work devices until after I got home. I could have done more work, but tech issues did not help.

WC: 1,440

Not too bad for the first few days of April. Better than I expected, quite honestly, with as disgusting as April has been in the past few years.

I hope I can keep it up over the rest of the month!

WC Total: 6,173

December Results and 2022 Year End Round Up

I cannot believe another year of writing has come and gone! This year has definitely had its ups and downs, but I’m happy I’ve been able to do what I love in writing and creating.

December Results

One Short Story

As much as I wanted to write a short story this month, writing was a bit of a chore. Between all the preparation of reducing my hours at my current job and all the preparation of getting everything settled for the new job, writing took a bit of a backseat. There were several days where I didn’t even write at all. So unfortunately, I still have one and a half short stories that I’m taking with me into the new year.

Continue Edits

December wasn’t really the month for edits. Between finishing up final papers for school, getting everything ready for a new job, and wrapping up things at my current job, things got quite a bit hectic. Though I did make a more solid plan to make sure edits do get done.

Poetry

It took me a little while to get into the groove with the poetry contest, but I finished at least 18 poems and submitted them to the contest just before Christmas. I really enjoyed writing and putting together something I haven’t done in a while. Returning to poetry was fun, and something I might continue into next year.

Non-Writing Related

In December, a lot happened. I worked my butt off at my job, plus filling out paperwork for the new job and eventually started that job right after Christmas. I wrote poetry and technically published said poetry. I wrote some flash fiction and published to Medium.

While this month wasn’t a spectacularly big word count month, it was a big month as far as preparing for the future. Besides publishing to Medium and signing a publishing contract for poetry, I also opened an Etsy store and truly looked in to publishing some of my previous works.

In personal news, I got engaged. I couldn’t be happier.

Word Count: 10,341

Year End Results

As far as the whole year goes, I feel pretty successful. I didn’t manage to reach all of my goals, but I put in a good effort and have a lot to show for it. I feel like I’ve made large leaps and bounds compared to where I was at this time last year, and I hope I’ll have even more to show for it when we reach this time next year.

Here’s how I did on my goals for 2022:

Write Every Day

As hard as I tried to write every single day of the year, it just simply wasn’t possible. Something would come up, or lack of motivation would strike. That being said, I feel like I did the best I could given the circumstances.

January: 100%

February: 100%

March: 83%, with 26/31 days

April: 86%, with 26/30 days

May: 93% with 29/31 days

June: 100%

July: 77% with 24/31 days

August: 80% with 25/31 days

September: 80% with 24/30 days

October: 87% with 27/31 days

November: 100%

December: 55%, with 17/31

Total/Average: 87%, with 317 days of writing.

Short Story a Month

For the short stories, I didn’t always finish them in one span of 30 days, but I did finish 11/12 I set out to do. I think that’s pretty impressive.

Violet

Angie

Sinead

The Red Flower

Trifecta

Fairytales

Inventors of Tomorrow-NYC FF contest round one

Mess is Easier-NYC FF contest round two

The Goodbye Girl – First piece of fiction written for my bachelor’s program

The Way Out

Two of a Kind

Write/Edit Six Novels in 2022

Writing and editing was my big goal for 2022. I figured I could get a lot more done than I did. Due to time constraints and other goals and projects (like school and a full-time job), I did not finish or edit as many projects as I had planned to. Still, I’m happy that I finished the projects I did finish.

Magic and Romance – Finished June 2022 (First Draft)

Ghost House Heart – Finished October 2022 (First Draft)

Speaking From the Soul: Poems of Places Yet Explored – Finished December 2022 (First Draft)

Read at least Four Books

Surprisingly, reading was easier than I expected it to be. I haven’t really kept a great reading schedule over the past few years, whether it was due to school or a hectic work/life balance, but I was quite pleased to get back into reading. Maybe I shouldn’t have spent more time reading than writing, but I have no regrets. I read a lot of great books this year.

SpellMaker by Charlie N. Holmberg- Feb 2022

The Phantom of the Bathtub by Eugenia Riley – Feb 2022

A Ruin of Roses by K.F. Breene- March 2022

A Throne of Ruin by K.F. Breene- March 2022

A Kingdom of Ruin by K.F. Breene- March 2022

All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter- April 2022

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy-September 2022

Dis-Harmony: A Jigsaw Collection of Misguided Dating by Rachel R. Kovach- September 2022

Love and Lexapro by Emma Alexis Woodard- September 2022

Creative Challenges

For 2022, I had planned on competing in every NYC Midnight competition. As hard as I tried, once again with a busy schedule and hectic life, it simply wasn’t possible to compete in all of them. I did very much enjoy the ones I did compete in though.

NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge: Did Not Compete

This challenge, I signed up for, but had to drop out at the last minute due to procrastination and homework. Unfortunately for the time being, homework and school has to come first.

NYC Midnight Microfiction Challenge (100 Word):

This year, the microfiction challenge was quite fun. I started out with a genre I don’t usually write and had fun with it, even if it was a bit crass. In the first round, I scored 13th place, which meant I got to go on to round 2 and write another 100-word story. I didn’t place in round two, but I had fun writing it and getting feedback.

NYC Midnight Microficiton Challenge (250 Word):

This is the first time I’ve competed in this challenge, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I’m not used to 250 words, but it does give a lot more to play with than 100 words. I’m looking forward to the challenge that round two brings in the upcoming year.

NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge:

This year, I got to write in a genre I’ve never written in before for round one. I enjoyed it and got to play around with some fun futuristic elements. In round two, I got to experiment with some really dark themes and actually scare myself with the piece I wrote.

NYC Midnight Screenwriting Challenge: Did Not Compete

NYC Midnight Short Screenplay Challenge:Did Not Compete

NYC Midnight Rhyming Story Challenge: Did Not Compete

I signed up for this one, but due to several other obligations (mainly homework) I was not able to actually write and submit anything. Instead, I have the prompts saved up for some future plans.

Year End Word Count: 216,988

October Results and November Goals

October started off a bit rocky, with a lot of things that needed to get done, and then simply didn’t get done. The month thankfully picked up a bit more toward the end, which means I was able to hit some goals.

Here’s how I did in October:

October Results

Inktober and Writetober

None of these goals ended up happening. I was so excited to go forth and create and post, but then it just didn’t happen. Whether it was exhaustion from work or lack of motivtation, I only posted one day and then decided I had more important things to work on this month with the little time I have to create and Inktober, Writetober and Instawrimo weren’t those things. Maybe next year, or throughout the year there will be more doodles. We shall see..

Finsh Ghost House Heart

At first, I wasn’t sure if I would finish Ghost House Heart this month. I’ve been working on the project since January of 2020 and it’s been dragging for a long time, but I am pleasantly surprised to reveal that I did finish Ghost House Heart at the end of the month. I am so relieved and happy and so excited to start something new in November.

Continue Edits

I’m still working through edits, even past my self-imposed deadline. I did hit 25K in the edits so far, and I’m counting that as a big accomplishment. I also started something new with my edits, where I have started to edit the book backwards to make the foreshadowing easier. I’m hoping it will help the edits go by a little quicker, especially since we’re quickly approaching November. There are still more edits to be done, but a decent amount of progress has been made.

Prepare for NaNoWriMo

This goal was relatively easy. As it just so happens, last year when I plotted the second novel there was way too much plot for a single novel, so I ended up separating it into two. This gives the characters more bonding time and more time for anguish as they continue their journey toward the crown. This year’s novel is called “Magic and Obligation” and I’m excited to get started on it in November. A few days before NaNoWriMo started, I did finally sit down and plot my big plot points, so I feel like I am adequately prepared.

(Possible) NYC Midnight’s Flash Fiction Challenge Part Three

This goal didn’t happen, which I’m fine with. Over the last few years, I have consistently placed higher and that is good enough for me for the moment. It’s actually better this goal didn’t happen, because that gave me more time to focus on other things I needed to work on, like edits and finishing a novel.

In October, I didn’t submit anything for the Rhyming Story challenge. The deadline snuck up on me and ultimately, school had to come first. Speaking of school: I finished another class. This class was by far my favorite, a short fiction workshop where I got the opportunity to write a short story and have it critiqued by my peers and my instructor. I loved it, but now it’s time to move onto the next class: World Literature II. I was supposed to have dental surgery in October, but it got moved to November, so that’s coming up. A few other opportunities have come up, but I’m not quite ready to reveal those just yet so stay tuned!

Word Count: 20,520

Here’s what I plan to do in November:

November Goals

NaNoWriMo

Every November is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. This year is no exception, even with an upcoming dental surgery and everything else life has been throwing my way lately. I’m hoping after my surgery and a few other important things I have to attend the first week of November that things will settle and I can get some good writing in.

Continue Edits

Am I that crazy person that is going to work on two projects in November during NaNoWriMo. Yes. Edits have been going well and I would like to make more progress than I have been. I would like to get to the halfway point of edits by the end of November, if not sooner. We’ll have to see how the month goes.

One Short Story/Finish a Short Story

This year started off so strong with a short story every month. It’s been more difficult as the year winds down, but I’m hoping I can finish and/or start another short story in November and keep pushing toward 12 short stories by the end of the year. I’ve been encountering the problem where there’s more plot to my ideas than a short story will hold, which isn’t always a bad idea.

NYC Midnight’s 250 Microfiction Competition

Another NYC Midnight Competition popped up and since I didn’t finish or even submit the Rhyming Story Challenge, I figured a 250 word challenge shouldn’t be that difficult. We’ll see if I can fit it into my crazy November schedule.

May Results and June Goals

May Results

Write One Short Story

The short story this month was nowhere near as easy as I had expected it to be. There were several starts and stops and several days where I didn’t do a lot of writing for the short story. Unfortunately, this short story will have to continue into June. I’m still interested in it, and finally found a direction, so I’m thankful for that.

Reach 100K or Finish the 2021 NaNoWriMo Novel

I barely reached 100K on the last day of the month, but I did reach it. I was very behind for most of the month, but thankfully, I was able to find some motivation and get my butt moving. At first, writing a lot in a short amount of time absolutely sucked. I’ve been out of it so long I feel like it was hard to get a routine again. The last few days of the month helped me build it up again and I am so excited to see where the end of this novel goes next month.

Edit Something

I’m happy to say that I have edited something this month. I started editing an old manuscript, one of my favorite ones I’ve ever written, and I managed to reach somewhere between the 20% mark by editing a chapter every couple of days. I plan to continue the editing through June and hopefully complete it in July.

Word Count: 9,874

June Goals

Write One Short Story/Finish the short story from May

I’m really enjoying writing about a short story a month, but sometimes the story is so long, or the month is so short that one short story doesn’t fit or vice versa. This month, I’m finishing 5e short story from May and starting a new one for June. I already have everything set up, but the only thing will be finding time to write.

NYC Midnight’s Flash Fiction Challenge

This is one of my favorite challenges from NYC Midnight. A mystery prompt with a setting, an object and a genre and 48 hours to write a story in 1000 words or less. I really enjoy the quickness of the whole thing and the brevity of it all. It’s a fun challenge where I can’t take myself too seriously and I get to play around.

Finish the 2021 NaNoWriMo Novel

I’m nearly done with the novel and June is going to be the month that I finish it. It’s been sitting around too long and I need to put the words “THE END” on it and move onto another project. I’m excited to see how the plot unfolds and what surprises I can give myself as I work toward completing the novel.

January Results and February Goals

January Results

Write One Short Story

I succeeded in writing a short story, and actually reaching the end at the end of the month. If I had focused more on writing this month, I could have finished it a lot earlier and had a lot less stress, but it’s all a learning experience. I guess that’s the first lesson I’m taking in to February when I write the next short story.

Finish an Open Project

Technically, because I finished the short story this month, I finished an open project. That was not my intention, to count the short story as finishing something, but technically I did finish something this month. I still have a massive pile of things to finish, but I at least accomplished something over the last 31 days.

Compete in NYC Midnight’s Short Story Challenge

Unfortunately, between being in school and working full time, procrastination hit me hard when it came to the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge. I wasn’t super inspired by the genre, I had a larger amount of homework due than I expected, so I reluctantly had to pull out of the challenge to focus on what needed to be done. I’m looking forward to the next challenge that comes my way though!

Word Count: 14,035

February Goals

Write One Short Story

Writing a short story in January could have gone better, but I persevered and got it done. I’m hoping to continue the trend in February and add another short story to my growing collection. One short story a month for the year 2022 is going pretty well and I would like to continue the trend.

Finish An Open Project

Yet again, I have the goal to finish one of my open projects. I’m hoping to finish my project from last year’s NaNoWrimo, or even the novel I started back in 2020, but we shall see how the month goes. I’m hoping I can finish something so I can move back into editing in the next couple months.

Read One Book

My list of half read books is ever growing again and it’s time to finish reading something and refill the creative well. There are several contenders of what I can finish this month, and what I might possibly start reading once I finish another book.

What are your plans for February?

December Results and 2021 Year End Wrap Up

December Results

Finish an Open Project

December seemed to get away from me this year. I had lots of plans to write and create and finish an open project, but with getting sick (thankfully not COVID, but a nasty chest cold), working long hours through December and finishing up a class for my Bachelor’s program, finishing a writing project wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. I still made a lot of progress and wrote every day, but some projects will need to be extended into 2022.

Read One Book (That isn’t related to school)

In December I managed to start a lot of books, mainly non-fiction. I have a few novels I’ve started to read and then had to put down, but I am happy to say, I finished a book. And even better than that, it was an actual print book. I can’t remember the last time I sat down and read an actual book with pages. Even better than that, the book also has a sequel so I definitely know what I’m reading next. Stay tuned!

Word Count: 9,643

2021 Year End Wrap Up

Write every day of 2021:

As hard as I tried this year, it was not possible to write every day. Whether it was a distraction such as a new job, or taking a day off for vacation or studies, this year it simply wasn’t possible to write every single day. While there were some days where not writing was necessary, a lot of it also had to do with sheer laziness or distraction. Still, I persisted and toward the later half of the year I set up good habits for myself

Here are my percentages for the months of 2021:

January: 97%, with a total of 30/31 days.

February: 96%, with a total of 27/28 days.

March: 77%, with a total of 24/31 days.

April: 33.3%, with a total of 10/30 days.

May: 67%, with a total of 21/31 days

June: 100%

July: 100%

August: 100%

September: 100%

October: 100%

November: 100%

December: 100%

Finish writing at least 4 novels:

  1. Strange Birds- Finished February 4th, 2021
  2. Coming Back as We Are- Finished July 24th, 2021
  3. My Heart With You- Finished September 29th, 2021

Read at least 6 books:

  1. Piece By Piece- Tori Amos and Ann Powers- finished February 2021
  2. A Court of Silver Flames- Sarah J. Maas- finished March 2021
  3. Bridge of Souls-Victoria/V.E Schwab- finished May 2021
  4. Shakespeare Sonnets and Plays: Henry V, Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, Hamlet- September to October 2021
  5. Steal Like An Artist/Show Your Work- Austin Kleon- Finished October 2021
  6. Spellbreaker- Charlie N Holmberg- Finished December 2021

Gain More Confidence in my writing abilities:

  1. Participated in NYC Midnight’s Short Story competition- January 2021
    Unfortunately, for this competition, I didn’t make it past round one. It was definitely fun to write something in a genre I never have before.
  2. Participated in NYC Midnight’s Microfiction Competition- May 2021
    Unfortunately, I didn’t make it past round one in this competition. Still, I put myself out there and had some fun writing a story in under 100 words.
  3. Participated in NYC Midnight’s Flash Fiction Competition- July 2021
    This year, I really enjoyed the Flash Fiction Competition. My first genre was historical fiction, but the round I had the most fun with was the second round where I got to write a horror story. I was super excited to get second place with my horror story. I didn’t quite make it to round three, but I am quite proud of my work.

Send out something for Publishing:

This year, I started with an editing plan. I was going to finish editing this novel I’ve been sitting on for years, send it out and hopefully hear back by the time 2022 rolled around. Unfortunately, with distractions and new projects and everything else going on, I didn’t send out anything original for publishing. I did however post a lot of pieces online and through Fanfiction websites.

Miscellaneous, but Writing Related

  1. Started a creative writing bachelor’s program.
  2. Built some book shelves, got chairs, a new desk lamp, and a new office chair to make a true writing space for myself.
  3. Created a new instagram for my doodles.
  4. Participated in Instawrimo and Inktober and built up my online presence.

Yearly Word Count: 221,122

One Final Note: Thank you to you, reading this. Thank you for spending some time with me in 2021 as I create and blog. May 2022 be a great year for us both!

October Results and November Goals

Another month has come and passed and more goals have been attempted and achieved. October has been fun and I am excited for all the progress I’ve made. Here’s how I did on my goals for October:

October Results

Instawrimo

Instawrimo went very well this year. It was wonderful to get reacquainted with instagram and do something out of the ordinary. I’m used to writing, and keeping to myself for the most part, but it was nice to expand my creative horizons and share more of myself with the world. You can see my progress in Instawrimo (here)

Inktober

Inktober was quite interesting this year. I doodled and created. As hectic as this month was, doodling was so calming, it made me want to continue and reduce my stress further. In the past few years I have played around with making a social media for my doodles, and so I finally did. You can see my progress from Inktober (here).

NaNoWriMo Preparation

Preparation for NaNoWriMo went rather well this year. I found which direction I wanted to go, and for a lot of the days it felt like something new came up and helped get the story into place. I am so excited to finally start writing something new in November. Hopefully this will be something I can finish in a relatively speedy manner.

Finish an Original Novel

I wrote quite a lot in October. I chugged away every day on my original novel that’s been patient while I shove it to the side to work on other things. While it wasn’t necessarily the writing progress I wanted, I still managed to make a lot of progress. Now I feel more confident in my ability to finish the novel (hopefully in December!). I have finally reached the fun part, just in time to put it away and start something new.

In October, I started a new instagram for my doodles. I also completed my Shakespeare class (Thank Goodness!) and started a new class in my Bachelor’s program. At my job, I have been given more responsibilities, which is nice, but also makes writing and creating harder some days. Still, my job makes me happier than I was at the previous place so I am in no way complaining.

In October, I also found out I placed second in the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Contest and the joy was such a relief after a difficult work week. Unfortunately, I did not get to compete in round 3 of the competition, but I will definitely take the win. There’s always next year!

Word Count: 11,347

November Goals

NaNoWriMo

This year for NaNoWriMo I am writing a sequel to a novel I finished in 2019. I loved writing the first book, but a lot of plot points got shoved into the last few chapters. I realized a sequel would be the perfect remedy, so that’s what I’m writing this year. You can see all the details I have so far (here).

Doodle More

Last Month, during Inktober, I really enjoyed doodling and making something with my hands. Writing is an interesting hobby because for most of the time it’s looking at a screen and typing but having nothing truly physical to show for it. There are times that I feel like I really want to make something with my hands, so I’m hoping doodling will cure that itch and help me to stress less.

June Results and July Goals

The year is now half over, and I can’t believe how fast it’s been going. While June has been very productive for me, I still have some work to do in July.

First, here’s how June went:

June Results

Finish at least one open project

I unfortunately did not reach my goal of finishing one open project. As hard as I tried, I just had way too much fun working on as many open projects as I could at the same time. I made decent progress in all of the projects I do have open and paved the way for them to be finished someday hopefully soon. This month, I added words to projects that haven’t been touched in months, years, and it felt so good.

Reach the Halfway Point of Edits in BOOK A

I like to set lofty goals for myself, and this goal is definitely one of them. I’m relatively new to editing and sometimes I need to be reminded that editing isn’t writing. Sometimes editing isn’t even close to writing. This month, while I did make progress, I did not get anywhere near as close as I wanted to toward the halfway point. The good news is, I made it through a few scenes and sections and I’m now more invested in my edits.

Blog More

This month, blogging did not go as I expected it to go. Wednesdays came and went and any time I had for blog posts was eaten up by other things. Over the past month, I’ve been finding it difficult to work on short pieces when my longer pieces are looming over me begging to be finished. I do hope to continue blogging and building more connections through the blog. Hopefully, once I get some works finished, I can dedicate more time to the blog.

Word Count: 13,713

In June, I officially finished my first class in my Creative Writing Bachelor’s program. It was a history class and while history isn’t directly related to my major, I did end up enjoying it a lot and doing well in the class. Next up is Literature!

Also in June, I celebrated turning another decade older (and hopefully wiser!). One of my goals by this time was to be a published author, but I’m still working on that goal, slowly but surely. I am finally taking steps toward that goal that are more action oriented than sitting and writing more. This is a big accomplishment for me.

On the plus side, for the first time in months, I have managed to write every single day of the month.

July Goals

NYC Midnight’s Flash Fiction Contest Round One

This is the second year I will be competing in the Flash Fiction Contest. I had so much fun last year, I figured why not do it all again and work on something that is short and sweet. Something that will hopefully be a palate cleanser and maybe even show me a genre I have yet to write in before.

NYC Midnight’s Microfiction Contest Round Two

As it just so happens, both NYC Midnight writing competitions land in the same month, just different rounds. I’m hoping I did well enough in Round One of the Microfiction Contest that I get a shot at round two. For now, this goal is tentative.

Camp NaNoWriMo

This year for Camp NaNoWriMo’s July session, I am going to be editing. Rather than working on something new, or something I have yet to finish, I am going to focus on some of the short stories I have written over the last few years and polish them up. The ultimate goal is to send a few of them out and get a few rejections before I send out a full length novel (AKA something I have poured myself into for years) as a way to soften the blow, or best case scenario, get published.

Send Something out for Publishing

This month, I would like to get at least one short story fully edited and ready to query. I am starting with something small to metaphorically get my toes wet in the publishing industry. I’m hoping the process goes smoothly, and I can gather my courage and take the next leap.

Wish me luck!

April Results and May Goals

April has come and gone much quicker than I anticipated. Sadly, with the training at the new job and other busy changes, my goals this month have been lacking.

Here’s a look at how I did:

Camp NaNoWriMo

Camp NaNoWriMo happened for a few days this month, but mainly it fell by the wayside. Unfortunately, this sometimes happens with the Camp sessions of NaNoWriMo. I had hoped to keep more of a balance while training at this new job, but unfortunately the new job takes precedence.

Round Two of the Short Story Competition

Round Two didn’t happen. Unfortunately, I did not place with my short story, but honestly I wasn’t expecting a whole lot of accolades for a genre I have never written before. While I did get some good feedback, the main point was to try something new and have fun. I had a lot more fun than I expected with this attempt.

Continue edits on BOOK A

A few sections got edited this month, but it was nowhere near what I was expecting for April. These edits should not be rushed, but I would at least like to sit and work with the story and the plot more than I have.

Send Out Something Small for Publishing

Nothing got sent out for publishing this month, but with everything else going on I let myself have a pass on this one. There was too much going on to focus on this goal this month.

Surprisingly (or really not at all), training for this new job took up a lot of my time this month, but so far I’m really enjoying it. No projects or books were finished. Hopefully May will be a lot better for some goals and I can get a few more things moving and some progress made.

Word Count: 4,371

For May, I am trying something new. A lot of changes came in March and April so I’m not setting solid goals, so I don’t disappoint myself. For the next few weeks, I’m going for quality not quantity.

Here’s what I hope to accomplish:

May Goals

NYC Midnight’s Microfiction contest Round One

One of my side goals this year (which I am just coming up with now) is to compete in every one of NYC Midnight’s fiction contests. I enjoy playing with genres I wouldn’t usually write, or prompts I’ve never used and Microfiction seemed like the perfect challenge. 100 words or less. I can’t remember the last time I wrote anything that was 100 words or less.

Make Progress on any open project

I have a ton of open projects and it is starting to get ridiculous. I want to get something finished or at least close to finished this month, or even just make some progress through. I’ve been getting the itch to work on new things, and I’m hoping the Microfiction will take away that temptation and I can get back into what I really want to work on. I’ve let way too many things sit for too long and it’s time to finish them or officially put them away for a few months.

Make Progress on Edits of BOOK A

I have a feeling this will be one of my goals for the next few months. As much as I want to sit and edit for hours and hours, that simply isn’t possible in my life right now. For the next few weeks and months, it will be a section (maybe two) at a time. I had hoped to have the book ready to go by June (and maybe that might still happen, with any luck) but that will probably have to extend into the next few months.

Bring Back Wednesday Works Regularly

For the last few months, Wednesday Works and other aspects of this blog have not been as regular as I would like. I’m hoping this month (or maybe the next few months) things will become more regular.

How are your goals coming along for 2021?

March Results and April Goals

Wow! March flew by in a flurry of days and I can’t believe we’re already in April!

March Results:

Continue Edits on BOOK A

Editing was quite a slow process through March. There were several other projects going, not to mention a bunch of work and personal life changes. Some days it was so hard to just sit and edit when I could be doing so much more. Slow progress is still progress and I’m further than I was when the month started. I’m happy with any progress at this point.

Continue to work on Open Projects

Unfortunately, none of the projects I wanted to finish this month got finished. Excellent progress was made on some days, and other days it was a complete stand still. Progress was slow, but I still had more words than I did when the month started, so I am definitely not complaining in the least. Hopefully in April I can finally get a schedule down that works better for me and my writing goals.

Attend a Writing Conference Online

So this goal was very interesting. I didn’t actually attend anything live, because that week just happened to be the busiest week in March (Go figure!). Lucky for me, everything was recorded and I have 6 months to watch it all. Slowly but surely I’m listening to the presentations as I do my daily walks and get a little exercise in too! I’m learning so many new things and I’m so excited I’m able to access it and still learn even though I wasn’t able to attend.

Prepare for Camp NaNoWriMo

For a brief moment, I wasn’t sure I would get to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo this year. Luckily, an idea came to me and I began to plot it (as much as I can without itching to write it too much) and I made a beautiful cover.

In March I completed quite a few things that were not quite writing goal related:

I went to a castle (thankfully local and hidden away) for a much needed vacation and celebrated and relaxed in a way I haven’t in quite a long time. I haven’t relaxed that much since I started working. It was so wonderful to go and have fun and let loose a little. The time away really put a lot of things into perspective for me, and now I have a bit more direction when looking forward to the future.

I finished A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas. What a much needed reading break! I’m one of those readers that once I start a good book, I can’t put it down until I finish it. This book was such a nice change from the crazy work stuff going on and a great lesson on certain aspects that I would like to add into my own writing.

As for other things, I mentioned last month that I was having a lot of changes at work and that was definitely an understatement. As of March 31st, I quit my old job. At the beginning of April, I start a brand new job. Same field, same degree, but way different hours and different responsibilities. I’m really hoping this new job will help with the work life balance that’s been lacking more and more since I started working night shift.

I have also started the process of applying for my bachelors degree. I made an attempt in 2017-2019, but with job changes and new stresses of night shift, I had to pull out of it. I’m two classes away from a BSN, but nursing doesn’t make me happy and the 2 years of that program were practically torture. If I am spending money and furthering my degree, I want to do it in something I absolutely love. I’m looking at getting my bachelor’s degree in creative writing, and I’m hoping to get started in the next few months.

Word Count: 12,695

April Goals

Camp NaNoWriMo

Camp NaNoWriMo is here once more! I’m excited to start a new project (along with my new job) and get the creative juices flowing again. This year for Camp NaNoWriMo, I’m writing a piece called The Hollow Opus and I am so excited for it. I first got the idea for it in January, but haven’t been able to plot it out until March.

The dancer in the snow globe has always watched him from the time he was a small boy. As he grew up into a man, something bloomed within her. She would give anything to be human and stay with him forever, but when the magic goes wrong, they must work together to go under the bed and find the Toy Master and make things right.

Round Two of the Short Story Competition

Round one of the Short Story Competition was in January and I had fun, even though it was a genre I have never written in before. I’m hoping my writing was good enough and I get to advance to round two, so keep your fingers crossed. I should know the first week in April and round two takes place the second weekend in April. If not, then that gives me more time to work on other projects that weren’t finished in the first few months of the year.

Continue edits on BOOK A

I had wanted to finish edits for BOOK A by this month, but that simply didn’t happen, so now I’m pushing through it and letting it go at its own pace. As much as I would like for edits to be done as fast as possible, some of them need time to breathe, so I’m making my way through slowly. If I get through at least a page of my outline, I’ll be happy with that. Even if I do less, that is still more progress and is better than nothing.

Send Out Something Small for Publishing

I have several short stories I’ve written over the last few years, and quite honestly I’ve been surprised at the quality as I go through and edit them. Hopefully this month I’ll be able to send at least one (maybe more) out for publishing and see what happens.

Wish me luck!

January Results and February Goals

January is now gone (and has been for a few days), and February is in full swing! I made a few writing goals last month, and there are always more goals to come! Here’s how I did in January:

January Results

Write at least 500 words a day:

As hard as I tried to write 500 words a day, it just simply didn’t happen. There were several days where 500 words was just too difficult with work and training. I got the second dose of the COVID vaccine and it knocked me out for at least a week. There were also other days where I got over 1000 without any issue. I did write quite a lot this month, but there were several days where I had zero days on more projects than days I did write. In the upcoming months, I would like to work on finding a balance that works best for me.

Start Edits on another book:

Official edits weren’t started, but notes and outlines and organization happened, so I am officially counting that as a win. I’m ready to get down to editing now that I know what I need to fix and where I need to go.

Round one of the NYC Midnight Short Story Contest:

Despite getting a genre for round one that I was apprehensive about and honestly quite scared to write during these volatile times (political satire), I wrote my short story and submitted it, even though I knew it wasn’t perfect. I’m definitely counting that as a win and growth on my part.

Word Count: 19,076

February Goals

Finish the NaNoWrimo Novel from 2020

I had planned to finish the NaNo novel by the end of January, but it is unfortunately going to be extended into February. There’s still a little novel left to write, but I’m getting quite a bit closer to the end.

Start Official Edits on BOOK A

BOOK A is now outlined and notated and ready to go through another round of edits. I’m hoping to get the final edits done by April of this year so I can start querying.

Continue to Work on open Projects

I still have several open projects open either from last year or a few years ago. I’m hoping to finish at least one of them, if not multiple by the time February is over. February is the shortest month of the year, but I’m hoping I can still be productive and make big changes over the next few weeks.

Wish me luck!

What are some of your goals in the upcoming months?

November Results and December Goals

November was a strange mix of fast and slow, creativity and drought, and work and play. It’s hard to believe it’s already over and we’re now in the last month of 2020.

Here’s how my month went and how much I accomplished:

November Results:

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo 2020 went great as far as the straight challenge goes. I did reach 50K and “won”, but I did not reach my personal goal of 60K (or 2K/day). I did get nearly 75% through the plot though, so I’m taking it as a win.

Finish Several Open Projects

Not much progress was made on any other projects besides my NaNo project this year, but I planned for this goal to work through December too.

Read One Book

I actually did this one! I read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab and I absolutely loved it. Reading books has always been a favorite activity of mine, but I have never seemed to have enough time. It was really great being able to return to it.

Word Total: 54,182

December Goals:

Finish My NaNoWriMo 2020 Project

As I said, I got a good portion through the plot during November, and I would really like to finish it before the end of 2020.

Finish Several Open Projects

I have several novels and short stories to get through by the end of the calendar year, so I can start fresh once 2020 is over. I’m hoping I’ll make decent progress in these pieces (Ghost House Heart, Fan fiction part 3, and a few miscellaneous others) during the month of November and into December.

Read One Book

I’m hoping to get some time away from writing and refill the tank and read something new. I’m working through something nonfiction for the first time in a while, so we’ll have to see how that goes.

Personal Growth

The month of November has shown me I need to make some changes and do some growing and changing if I want to have the life I strive for. I’m not entirely sure yet what personal growth will include, but stay tuned!

November was really productive and I hope the streak continues in December!

August Results and September Goals

August is now behind us and September has only just begun. I’m very pleased to say August was a very productive month for me and I can only hope the productivity continues well into September and the rest of the year.

August Results

Finish edits on book one.

I’m very pleased to say I finished the first round of edits five full days ahead of time.

Flash Fiction Contest

Round Two is now completed and submitted. Round One results have been received. There will be more on all of this later, so stay tuned!

Read at least one book

I read one book for sure, and started a few more. I really had fun reading published fiction again and plan to make it a habit. Stay tuned, there may be a few book reviews coming up.

More Blogging

Stay tuned for more fun posts coming up!

Total Words: 27,457

September Goals

Reach the 50% mark in Ghost House Heart

I’ve been working on this novel since March or April, but it’s been on the back burner with edits and everything else going on. I’m hoping to make some progress and get to the 50% mark (or more) so I can finish in October.

Instawrimo

It is now September, which means it is officially NaNoWriMo prep season. Usually, instawrimo is a whole month long, but thanks to COVID, nothing is the same this year, but Instawrimo will be a few weeks instead of a month. I’m still participating as the ML for my region.

Read at least one book

I’m really getting into reading novels again and one a month is relatively manageable.

Possibly “Go” to a Writing Conference

I say “go” because like everything else this year, COVID has struck again. The writing conference will be over zoom and while I was excited to go when it was in person, I’m not sure I want to sit in a zoom meeting for three to four days. I’m debating if I want to go or not.

June Results and July Goals

Another month here and gone!

Results for June:

  • FInish Edits on Book One of the Series
    • Unfortunately, I did not finish edits this month. There was too much to do, and simply not enough time. I have extended this goal into July.
  • Write one short story
    • I did not write a short story this month, even though I wanted to and had several ideas. Self care came first this month.
  • Prep Ghost House Heart for Continuation in July
    • My plans for Camp NaNoWriMo have changed. I’m putting GHH on hold again and working on edits and additions for the first book of my fantasy series.
  • Continue to Blog
    • Wednesday Works are back!

I did make good progress on a lot of smaller projects, but didn’t quite finish anything. I read two books this month, which I haven’t read a novel all the way through in quite a while.

Total: 11,683

Goals for July:

  • Camp NaNoWriMo
    • 35K, but I’m sure there will have to be more words than that if I’m planning on finishing edits.
  • Flash Fiction Contest
    • I signed up for NYC Midnight’s Flash Fiction Contest. It’s new and exciting!
  • Finish Edits on Book One of the series.
    • Everything is outlined and ready to go. Just need butt in chair and hands on keys.
  • Continue to blog
    • Slowly but surely, things are coming back and there are new things on the way!

Wish me luck!

May Results and June Goals

Here we are as one month wraps up and another begins. May was a productive month (for the most part). Here’s how I did:

Results from May:

  • Continue Ghost House Heart
    • 443 words added
  • Start editing previous books in the series.
    • I started with book one and got a total of 19,911 words (more about the editing process later)
  • Write 30,000 words of anything.
    • Completed the May Blog Challenge in the 31 days I set forth to do it: 3,050
    • Typed up a handwritten short story from February: 3626

Total: 27,030

Goals for June:

  • FInish Edits on Book One of the Series
    • I’m about 20% through and have a direction, all I need is time to sit down and actually do the work.
  • Write one short story
    • With editing going on, I find I need to stay focused in that world for the time being. Short stories don’t take me out for too long and let me write through the angst of editing.
  • Prep Ghost House Heart for Continuation in July
    • May wasn’t a good month to continue the novel, so I’m pushing it off until the next session of Camp NaNoWriMo in July.
  • Continue to Blog
    • I have some great ideas for June. Certain things are coming back.

June is here and I have a lot of goals to smash. Wish me luck!

April Results and May Goals

Well, another month of writing and goals done. April is always a bit of a tough month for me, with difficult anniversaries, but it ended up working out well in the end.

Goals from April:

  • Camp NaNoWriMo: 40,180
  • Ghost House Heart: 14,770
  • I finished Under Grey Skies with a total of 138,799 words and 11,247 words of notes. ( with 24,501 words during Camp NaNo)

Goals for May

  • Continue Ghost House Heart
  • Start Editing previous books in the series
  • Write 30,000 words of anything and everything (Look out for new blog content!)
This month was hit and miss to start, but in the end I smashed goals!
Finally, after months, this beast is complete.

February Results and March Goals

Wow, compared to January, February seemed to take forever, and March is already flying by in a blur.

In February 2020:

  • Wrote 6,396 words in various projects
  • Wrote a Short Story, BY HAND!

Unfortunately, I didn’t do much else as far as writing goes. Sometimes, other things in the world come first before my writing and this month, my health affected me in a big way. Breaking news, it is alright for other things to come before writing sometimes. I plan to make March a better month for writing and goals.

Goals for March 2020:

  • Finish Under Grey Skies (I mean it this time!)
    • I have several chapters left, a direction and a plot, I just need to put my butt in the chair and get writing.
  • Prepare for Camp NaNoWriMo in April.
    • I have an idea, some plotting done and a cover created. Let’s see how far I get before the burn to write strikes again.
  • Write another short story by hand
    • New goal that I came up with in the middle of last month. There is just something so freeing about writing by hand (even if it skews my monthly writing totals).

Stay tuned for updates during the month!