disgruntled_owl | Entries tagged with goals

Status Update

I think I read somewhere once that writing lives go in cycles. Sometimes you can produce a lot, and sometimes things slow to a trickle. In the DIY MFA book, Gabriela Pereira talks about always keeping three parts of a writing life going in some respect: writing, reading, and building community. She adds, though, that each element's share of your time will grow or shrink over time. I write a lot for my job, especially this time of year. It's bureaucratic stuff, but it takes a lot of work to make it clear and to communicate what certain audiences (read: the feds) are looking to read. Lately, by the end of the day my brain is fried from playing word Tetris, which makes working on my personal projects challenging. So for me, this may be one of those times when the writing part shrinks and the reading part grows.

1. Words written this week: 879 words. I didn't meet or exceed my GYWO daily quota (411 words) any day this week.

2. Write 4+ mornings a week: Not quite...maybe two? I think I wrote for an evening or two.

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: Achieved, but in the evening, with tiramisu and coffee probably way too late in the day.

4. Write two original stories: No progress this week.

5. Write to prompts for story ideas: No progress this week.

6. Post personal fanfic: Still chipping away at my Van Helsing/Hammer Horror fic, and wrote some excerpts for a long-ignored WIP and a future Dracula (Bram Stoker) fandom project.

7. Craft on My Commute: Achieved. More DIY MFA reading. I also read and prepared write-ups for a handful of stories for my Short Story 100 project.

What Else Happened This Week

1. Work, of the "10-hour day/work most of the weekend" variety.
2. Tried to be a good spouse. Fortunately, this included fun stuff, like listening for singing frogs in the woods and watching Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse.

Status Update

Aaaaand I am back to real life. Real life in the spring, which means work is a beast and not much is getting written. >_<

1. Words written this week: 925 words. I met or exceeded my GYWO daily quota (411 words) one time. I made my March check-in yesterday and am just over 16 percent of my goal.

2. Write 4+ mornings a week: Nope; I made it to three, max. I think I am going to start tracking writing during any time of day, just to see my patterns and determine if evening/night writing actually works better for me.

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: Achieved. This seems to be the task I complete come hell or high water; maybe this because it comes with coffee and egg sandwiches.

4. Write two original stories: Nope.

5. Write to prompts for story ideas: mmmmmmnope.

6. Post personal fanfic: I didn't get any personal stuff written. I did make some more progress on the Van Helsing fic and I submitted two drabbles to the first 2019 round of the Multifandom Drabble Exchange (see

multifandomdrabble). This is my third time doing the exchange and I've always enjoyed lt, both for satisfying tinkering I get to do with really short pieces Iike drabbles and because I can actually finish a thing, get it to someone, and enjoy the thrill of connecting with and being a recipient.

7. Craft on My Commute: I don't think I hit the "four commute legs" threshold mark this week, but I'm coming back slowly to the DIY MFA book and am rediscovering my appreciation for it.

Status Update

Hooray for annual late winter/early spring writing retreats! I got a room at a bed and breakfast in Portland, Maine and enjoyed a weekend away from my aggravating job. I would get up and write for a few hours in my room, head out in the early afternoon to write some more at a tea house, and then take walks until dinnertime. While a lot of the local attractions were not yet open for the season, the weather allowed for a few pleasant harborside or cemetery strolls. I also spent a lot of time in Portland's many bookstores; if you like vintage paperbacks (especially horror ones), you'll find this city a paradise.

1. Words written this week: 3,127 words. I met or exceeded my GYWO daily quota (411 words) three times, and made it past the 15 percent mark on my 2019 GYWO goal.

2. Write 4+ mornings a week: I didn't check this box this week, but the weekend mornings when I did write were lovely. My room at the bed and breakfast had a desk, a little floor heater, and a white noise machine, and it was lovely to be able to take breaks with a tasty breakfast downstairs or a relaxed shower. I've found on my retreats that I can sometimes get some leeway on when housekeepers visit by telling the innkeepers I'm a writer working in the room, although this time I got a bunch of questions about my work that I didn't really want to answer.

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: Couldn't get this box checked either, but I was able to make up for it later in the weekend.

4. Write two original stories: I finished that draft of my fairy-tale style GYWO Yahtzee entry and a first draft of an art-inspired flash fiction piece (see #5).

5. Write to prompts for story ideas: I ended up writing for a visual prompt at the Portland Museum of Art, which had one particular sculpture that I found remarkable. I hesitate to say more because I'd to keep the magic going with the story until I can get a second draft done.

6. Post personal fanfic: This was a pretty fic-intensive weekend. I got a bunch more written on my current Hammer Horror fic, though I spent a lot of that time trying to figure out how to give a particular character a convincing development arc. That's always an interesting exercise when writing fic: how do you force a character to grow and change when their creator may not have been that invested in them to begin with?

7. Craft on My Commute: Kept plugging away at the DIY MFA book during the week, though I gave myself the weekend off from all but guilty pleasure reading.

Status Update

This writing week went better than it had a right to, given my work schedule and other stuff going on in my life, but I'll take the little miracles where I can get them.

1. Words written this week: 2,260. I met or exceeded my GYWO daily quota (411 words) four times, and as of Sunday night I crossed the 20,000 word mark.

I'm finding that I can write words relatively quickly in longhand (about 500 on 30 minutes), but when I am entering things into the computer and revising, I slow way down. It gets tricky to balance making progress against my GWYO goal and actually finishing projects by completing second and third drafts that don't generate many new words (unless I find myself doing wholesale rewrites). Sometimes I am drawn to my GYWO goal, which often feels insurmountable and makes me feel guilty for not writing more, but I'll also look at projects I care about and know they need the kind of attention that won't get me closer to my desired word count. I'd try to make progress on both but most days I just don't have the extra time. I guess it's just a matter of figuring out how to work with that tension from day to day.

2. Write 4+ mornings a week: Made it!

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: A quick one, part of which I spent filling out a Congratulations/Best of Luck card for the executive director of the agency where I work, who retired later that day (and sadly, I can't count those words for GYWO). But! This coming Friday, I leave for my long-weekend, out-of-town writing retreat, so I'll be able to make up for any recent short sessions.

4. Write two original stories: I may have inadvertently started something that would qualify for this. I signed up for GYWO Yahtzee (admittedly, without thinking it through all the way) and received a set of five picture prompts. The idea here is that I'll write something for each prompt, and receive a score based on length and whether I hit on certain things during the story. I took a look at the first prompt, started writing, and just...kept going. It's a longhand first draft, so I'm not yet sure how much of what I've written is really usable, but it felt good to run with an original fiction idea.

5. Write to prompts for story ideas: Achieved (see #4). Essentially, I used one prompt to cover multiple writing sessions.

6. Post personal fanfic: I wrote a Van Helsing (Hammer) headcanon that I'm not sure I'll ever post anywhere, but am glad I have recorded for reference.

7. Craft on My Commute: My Gotham Writers Workshop course is over and I didn't really want to go back to the Story Grid, so I started reading the DIY MFA book by Gabriela Pereira (creator of the DIY MFA website). I've been really enjoying it so far. The early chapters are focused on writing productivity and on using the scientific method to identify writing practices that work for you.

Status Update:

Man, March always wipes the floor with me, but gotta keep on keeping on.

1. Words written this week: 1,721. I met or exceeded my GYWO daily quota (411 words) twice.

2. Write 4+ mornings a week: Not quite.

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: Achieved, if not on time. I couldn't pull this off on Friday morning, but I visited a coffee shop on way home.

4. Write two original stories: No specific progress this week.

5. Write to prompts for story ideas: I did a couple of these about my character from my Gotham Writer's Workshop course, who is an original character but who is very much based on people I've met in real life. Character development baby steps, I guess. I did end up liking the 500-word or so pieces I created

6. Post personal fanfic: Some, but very little, going on here. Still, I signed up for

multifandomdrabble so you should see something from me before the month ends.

7. Craft on My Commute: I don't think I read or listened to enough podcasts this week to check this box. I read the rest of the lectures for the Character Development course. Next week I'll be transitioning back into regular books.

Status Update:

1. Words written this week: 1,058. I met or exceeded my GYWO daily quota (411 words) once. Last week I made my February GYWO check-in. As of 3/1, I was at the 10% mark for my 150,000 word goal. March is always a super-stressful month at work, so I don’t have much hope for catching up. I would like to meet the proposed March monthly goal of 12,740 words, but that might be a real long shot.

2. Write 4+ mornings a week: Achieved.

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: Achieved. Turned my ankle on the way to the coffee shop, but I made it there and made it happen.

4. Write two original stories: No specific progress this week. I’m still writing scenes for my Gotham Writers Workshop Character Development course, though.

5. Write to prompts for story ideas: No specific progress this week. A lot of the homework for the Character Development course is oriented toward making lists or trying to capture the characteristics of people I encounter to day-to-day life. It’s useful stuff that’s getting me thinking, but it means that I don’t produce that much in the way of stories or produce many more words that count towards my GYWO total.

6. Post personal fanfic: No specific progress this week. I expect that I’ll be working on my recipient-oriented project for a while. Still, sign-ups open for Round One of the 2019 MultiFandom Drabble Exchange (

multifandomdrabble) this week, so if I do that I’ll get the satisfaction of finishing something, however small.

7. Craft on My Commute: Achieved. I read Gotham Writers Workshop lecture content and listened to more Writing Excuses. I feel bad because I kind of want to give up on the Story Grid. The book is big and hard to trundle around, and I feel like the book would have been better had the author written it about two or three years after he did, and taken the time in the interim to think through his ideas more. That said, I’m about halfway through, and I am learning some stuff, so maybe I can force myself to push through to the end.

Helpful Resources:
- How I Stopped Sabotaging My Writing Goals: Confessions of a Late Bloomer by Andrea Jarrell at Writer's Digest
- Twenty Steps to Writing Great Love Scenes by Karen Wiesner on Writing-World.com
- Maximizing Writing Productivity While Working Full-Time by Audrey Wick at Writer's Digest

Status Update:

1. Words written this week: 2,450. I met or exceeded my GYWO daily quota (411 words) four times.

2. Write 4+ mornings a week: Achieved.

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: Achieved. Unfortunately, during the date I discovered that my laptop may be dying, so I have mixed feelings about this event this week.

4. Write two original stories: No specific progress this week. However, I created a character and wrote a scene for my Gotham Writers Workshop Character Development course this week, so I did do some work in this family.

5. Write to prompts for story ideas: Achieved. I had to make a lot of lists for my Character Development course and I started doing some exercises from the book Naming the World: And Other Exercises for the Creative Writer, which features prompts and exercises provided by a variety of fiction (and perhaps also nonfiction) authors. The exercises in this book are similar to the ones in Steering the Craft in that they include a lot of introductory material and context, which I like.

6. Post personal fanfic: No specific progress this week. I'm still working on the same recipient-oriented gothic horror project from a few weeks ago. I wrote a first draft longhand and now I'm rewriting it as I type it up, and things are going slooooooow.

7. Craft on My Commute: Achieved. This week was a mix of Gotham Writers Workshop lecture content, the Story Grid and podcasts (DIY MFA and Writing Excuses). The Writing Excuses podcasts are particularly useful for commuting because they are about 15-20 minutes long (the length of a painful Green Line connection) and there a ton of them.

Helpful Resources:
- #5onFri: Five Vehicles for Showing Emotion by Becca Puglisi at DIYMFA
- 7 Misconceptions About Revision at Writer's Digest
- 6 Tips for Reading Like a Writer by Chuck Sambuchino at Writer's Digest
- Want to be a Great Writer? Then Don’t Focus on Writing. (Do This Instead) by Sarah Cy at The Writing Cooperative

Status Update:

This was not a good week for writing, given work stress during the week and family stress over the weekend. But here’s an update anyway, because it’s important to record the weeks that don’t go well along with the ones that do.

1. Words written this week: 1,271 words. I missed several writing days this week and met or exceeded my GYWO daily quota (411 words) only one time. I kept going on my longhand first draft of a fic.

2. Write 4+ mornings per week: Nope.

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: Achieved, thankfully.

4. Write two original stories: No progress this week.

5. Write to prompts for story ideas: No progress this week, but my Gotham Writers Workshop online course starts tomorrow, so hopefully activity in this area will pick up next week.

6. Post Personal Fanfic: No progress this week.

7. Craft on My Commute: Achieved. I continued reading The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know. More notes on this book to come.

Status Update:

1. Words written this week: 3,127. I wrote every day this week and met or exceeded my GYWO daily quota (411 words) five times, up from previous weeks. This week I wrote most of a shitty first draft, as Hemingway would say, longhand for a fic in a Gothic horror fandom. I find that it’s easier to plow through a story idea when I write on paper as opposed to on a computer, mostly because it’s materially more difficult to tinker or go backward. I know my next draft is going to need a lot of clean up, which is intimidating, but my hope is that I'll be able to give every section of my story a consistent amount of revisions and edits.

2. Write 4+ mornings per week: Close but no cigar according to the rules I established last week.

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: Achieved! I actually got my act together the night before and got in a whole hour-and-a-half of writing time Friday morning.

4. Write two original stories: No progress this week.

5. Write to prompts for story ideas: No progress this week—all of my writing energy went to working on the fic. I’m starting a three-week Gotham Writers Workshop online course on character development soon, so hopefully that will enable me to check this box in future weeks.

6. Post Personal Fanfic: No progress this week. I realized that the fic I'm writing is one that I'll want to give to a specific recipient because 1) they offered the specific prompt that inspired me to write it, and 2) I am really encouraged by the fact that I can find fans of the source material that may actually want to read it. The recipient I had in mind included the prompt in their recent Yuletide sign-up, so this may be a good candidate for the New Years Resolutions collection. Fortunately I have a slew of other WIPs that would meet the criteria for this personal fic goal, as long as I can make myself finish them.

7. Craft on My Commute: This week I started The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne, who also created the Story Grid website. This book is geared much more toward questions of structure than the LeGuin book. It also is written by an editor rather than a novelist. I've found it helpful to include books by editors and sometimes even agents in my reading list because they see a large volume of manuscripts and can common on patterns, particularly in stories that don't quite work.

I decided this week that this writing goal needs some structure, too. I can mark this goal complete for the week if I read a Craft on My Commute book for at least four of my 10 commute trips per week.

Helpful articles and resources this week:

- Interviewing Techniques for Researching Your Novel by Stephen Harper at Writer's Digest
- Character description: 7 ways to avoid weak imagery at the Now Novel blog

1. Words Written this Week: 2,959. This week I primarily wrote brainstorming notes and draft text for my fic, which I hope to finish by the middle of this month. I achieved the daily word quota for my Get Your Words Out pledge level (411 words) three days this week. I also completed my first GYWO check-in for January. As of 1/31, I wrote 7,053 words, putting me around 5 percent of my 2019 goal (150,000 words). This is still behind where I need to be, but I did surpass the mini-goal I set last week (6,370 words for the month), given that I started the GYWO challenge about halfway through January. Gotta keep my head down and run my own race.

2. Write in the Morning 4+ Days per Week: Achieved, mostly by moving my Craft on My Commute reading to my ride home. I realized that I should have some more specific rules for this item. So, to be able to check this box, I need to write for 20 minutes or more before noon.

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: Achieved. I also found a hotel in Maine for my late winter/early spring writing retreat so I now have a longer term treat to anticipate.

4. Write Two Original Stories: No progress this week (see #5).

5. Write to Prompts for Story Ideas: Achieved a little bit. I did one or two exercises from the LeGuin book but mostly focused on my fic (#1). I realized that I needed to reframe this exercise so it will be more useful.
( Thoughts and feelings about this under the cut )

6. Post Personal Fanfic: Some progress this week (see #1).

7. Craft on My Commute: I read most days this week and finished up Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K. LeGuin. I also listened to part of Episode 234 of the DIY MFA Radio podcast, in whch the host interviewed David Corbett, author of The Art of Character. It was interesting to learn more about the interests and writing strategies of the author of one of the best (if intimidating) writing guides I’ve read. The podcast option continues to be helpful for this project because I carry a change of clothes and shoes to work during the winter (two on gym days) and sometimes it’s nice not to have to carry a book on top of everything else.

Status Update:

1. Words Written this Week: 2,288. This week I mostly wrote for prompts and did some "shadow story" (documentation of "off-screen" events) writing for a fic I'd like to post around Valentine's Day/International Fanworks Day. I achieved the GYWO daily word quota for my pledge level (411 words) two days this week. I'm feeling a bit behind on my word count but I did start my pledge in the middle of the month, so I'll be satisfied if I can hit half the January goal (6,370 words) by February 1.

2. Write in the Morning 4+ Days per Week: Achieved, just barely.

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: Achieved! Going forward, I am going to try to wake up earlier so I can make these sessions a little longer.

4. Write Two Original Stories: Some progress this week. I started writing for an idea that I'm not sure will crack the 1,000 word story threshold I've set, but I'm interested to see where the concept goes.

5. Write to Prompts for Story Ideas: Achieved! I wrote responses to several prose style exercises from my current Craft on My Commute book (see #7). I also kept doing the art postcard exercises, which have been fruitful for me thus far (and give me an excuse to buy more art postcards).

6. Post Personal Fanfic: Some progress this week (see #1).

7. Craft on My Commute: Achieved! I started a new book this week: Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K. LeGuin. I also listened to Episode 236 of the DIY MFA Radio podcast on writing on a morning when reading proved difficult. It was pretty good; I'll try out a few more episodes to see if I'll want to keep listening on a regular basis.

Helpful articles and resources this week:
- #5onFri: Five Steps to Creating Characters of Color by Andrea J. Johnson at DIY MFA
- One Simple Tip To Improve Your Description by Robert Wood at the Standout Books blog

1. Words Written this Week: 1,470. I spent most of my writing time working on two fics for

fandom_stocking, which totaled about 1,000 words when they were done. I also did a little bit of prompt writing (see #5). I achieved the GYWO daily word quota for my level (411 words) twice this week. I'll need to do a bit more to get my numbers up to stay on track, and will work on that next week.

2. Write in the Morning 4+ Days per Week: Achieved!

3. Friday Morning Writer Date: Achieved! My work week was trash and I was glad to have this practice as a something to anticipate and use to cheer myself up.

4. Write Two Original Stories: No progress this week.

5. Write to Prompts for Story Ideas: Achieved. I spent most of my morning writing time on the Fandom Stocking stories but I did do a few "postcard" exercises where I looked at some random art postcards from my collection and tried to come up with a story based on the images. I'm not sure I'd turn any of the specific results into longer stories, but I was intrigued by some of the themes that emerged.

6. Post Personal Fanfic: No progress this week.

7. Craft on My Commute: Achieved! I read for at least one leg of my commute each of my five workdays and finished James Scott Bell's Just Write: Creating Unforgettable Fiction and a Rewarding Writing Life. I'd recommend this one if you haven't read a craft book in a while and are looking for topics of interest; this one offers bite-size pieces of advice on subjects ranging from plot development to productivity to marketing, which may help you identify areas you'd like to focus on. I also bought a notebook to take notes on these craft books in longhand, which I hope will help me retain the information better.

1. This year I pledged to write 150,000 words (or more) in a year via

getyourwordsout. It took me a while to land on this pledge level and it's still going to be a stretch, but I'm excited to be doing it as part of a community and I'm hoping it incentivizes me to keep up with the other things in this list.

2. Write in the morning at least four days per week. I did this off and on in 2018, often for a half-hour or so by candlelight before the sun came up. I've missed a number of days lately because mornings are so dark and I so want to sleep. Yet when I pull it off I'm glad. Morning is probably my most productive time and most of it ends up going to my job, but when I can get the writing done I feel like I've made an investment in myself.

3. Continue my Friday morning "writer date" at a coffee shop before work. I started doing this in December and so far it's something I've found myself happily anticipating, even if I have to force myself out of bed to make sure I have enough time to make progress on my writing project before I shuffle into work.

4. Draft at least two original stories longer than 1,000 words.

5. Generate ideas for original fiction by regularly writing to prompts. I'm struggling to come up with original plots and characters, and right now this feels like a good way to push through that and make progress on Goal #4.

6. Post at least one fanfic longer than 500 words that's not for an exchange, fest, or specific recipient. I've got a lot of WIPs that not only focus on things I love about the source material but also reveal themes and ideas that resonate personally with me. I want to work harder to get those out there.

7. Continue the Craft on My Commute self-study project I started in 2018. I've gotten a lot out of the books I've read thus far, but I need better ways of retaining the information so I can access it when I'm trying to solve specific problems in my writing.

Friends, if you have writing goals, I'd love to hear about them!