Midweek #ROW80 Check-In

Well, we’re starting a new month, so it seems sensible to review my goals for this round and see how I’m doing.

  • Write 20 out of every 30 days. Did this.  Barely.
  • Push my daily minimum from 600 to 700.  Didn’t make this one.  My daily minimum averaged out to be just over 500 for April.  My total for the month was 10,046.  I totally pushed for that last night because I couldn’t be within 250 words and NOT do it.
  • Finish Riven.  Well I ended up making some significant changes this month.  I axed a fair chunk, figured out how to salvage a little darling plot thread, which has necessitated a fair amount of tweaking and adding.  But all the changes are made, Act 4 re-outlined AGAIN, and I’m into that final stretch.  I’m shooting to finish by the end of this month.
  • Write a short story.  This won’t be until I’m done with Riven, but I have three potential candidates.  One ties in to one of my already released books.  One is a prequel story to my next project.  And one ties in to a planned future book.  So, we’ll see what sparks my fancy at the end of the month.
  • Test out my own version of fast drafting on my next project.  Again, this won’t be until I’m done with Riven.
  • Finish prepping my Psych and Law class for fall.  I’m working on the Chapter 11 lecture this week.  Out of 15 total.
  • Work on getting off the sugar.  This has been mostly successful.  I’m down to the occasional chocolate square.
  • Read a craft book.  I’m working my way through James Scott Bell’s The Art of War for Writers, which I’m loving.  Also dipping into Holly Lisle’s Create a Plot Clinic.
  • Incorporate daily meditation.  I’ve had limited success with this.  The actual meditation I’ve been doing is 5 minutes and it goes not too badly when I remember to do it.  But I often don’t remember to do it.
  • Play.  I know I’ve been making an effort here, but just this moment I can’t tell you what I’ve been doing.  Need more caffeine.
  • I wound up with 19 plotting days this month.  6 of those were devoted to reworking things in Riven.  10 were on my next YA project.  2 were on the next Mirus book.  One was one of those short stories.  And one was for another resident for my planned contemporary series.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with the outcome this month.  I’m not feeling the same level of pressure I usually do.  There’s a lot to do, but I’m just…not stressing about it.  It’ll get done when it gets done.  As long as I’m making some kind of progress, I’m good.

And your daily belly laugh: Willie Nelson’s audition for Gandalf in the Hobbit 2.

 

4 thoughts on “Midweek #ROW80 Check-In

  1. It looks like you’re doing a fine job on your goals. It’s hard to hit everything perfectly. I’m glad you’re letting go of some of the perfectionism that leads to stress. Learning to chill and just doing the best you can without killing yourself might just make things go a little more smoothly. 🙂

  2. You’re getting lots done, Kait! I was telling a friend yesterday how terrible I am at being still and meditation because I’m too fidgety and my brain runs around like hamster wheels. I need to get better at just relaxing…and not just when I’m asleep.

    I’m curious to know what your version of Fast Draft will be. I’ve been calling mine Faster Draft (and now Revision Purgatory…because it’s not quite Revision Hell). I got a first draft in a month, not two weeks. But I’m super-happy with that.

    Enjoy The Art of War for Writers! I read that last round, and it had some great pithy advice. Have a wonderful week! (We’ll miss you at DFW Con.)

    1. It’ll be more like UBER OUTLINE rather than DRAFT per sae. It’s semantics, but calling it a draft makes me feel like I screwed up epically if I have more than one… MISS Y’ALL TOO!!!!

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