Another month has gone, and that means I have completed all of my writing goals for April. Ha, yeah right, I wish that was the case. Instead, another month has flown by, and I’m left wondering what the hell happened. Every month I hope that I will finally achieve my goals, but every time I write these monthly goal posts, I realise that I’m not making great progress. It’s frustrating, and I often scold myself for not completing my goals, which isn’t helpful by the way, but I am determined to keep trying until I can finally say, ‘I’ve completed all of my goals for the month.’
So, what were my April writing goals? Well, my April writing goals were:
- Writing Goal 1: Novel 4th draft – edit 50,000 words
Result: I didn’t have much time to work on my novel, and whenever I did find the time, I would again spend ages editing one sentence. I fear that if I don’t complete this 4th draft soon, then I won’t have a submission ready novel by the end of 2018. Man, I’m so mad at myself, which as I said before doesn’t really help. I need to not only find more time but also be more productive when I do have time. - Writing Goal 2: Write 15,000 words of my psychological horror novella
Result: I didn’t write 15,000 words, but I did write roughly 1,800. I am, however, starting to feel unsure about this novella. I keep feeling like I should put it aside and work on something else, but I don’t know why. However, I’ll stick with it for now and see how May goes. I need to figure out why I’m feeling this way about the novella. - Writing Goal 3: Do outline for 2nd standalone novel
Result: I didn’t work on my 2nd novel at all in April. I’ve been working late, and I also decided to finally do a writing group assignment (It was a monologue assignment, which I did complete), so that took up most of my evenings. I also had days where I was too tired to plan anything. - Writing Goal 4: OWG anthology – finalise 1 story/poem
Result: This one is nearly finished. I need to give it a final once over before I mark it as completed. - Writing Goal 5: Read Prince Lestat by Anne Rice
Result: I’ve nearly finished reading this book. It’s taken me a lot longer than normal to finish reading a book, but that’s probably because the stories not gripping me. I shall finish this soon though, which I’m glad about because I’m eager to read something else. - Writing Goal 6: Read The Restorer by Amanda Stevens
Result: I’ve not read this because I’m still reading Prince Lestat. - Writing Goal 7: Read a short story – ‘Rip Van Winkle’ by Washington Irving
Result: I’ve not read this because I’m still reading Prince Lestat – I normally read the short story in between novels.
So, now it’s May, it’s time to create some new writing goals. Well, they are actually last month’s goals.
My May Writing Goals
- Novel 4th draft – edit 50,000 words (I will eventually complete this)
- Write 15,000 words of my psychological horror novella (It would be easier if the novella wrote itself)
- Do outline for 2nd standalone novel (Yeah, I’m trying again)
- OWG anthology – finalise 2 story/poem
- Submit one short story
- Read Prince Lestat by Anne Rice
- Read The Restorer by Amanda Stevens
- Read a short story – ‘Rip Van Winkle’ by Washington Irving
- Read a short story – ‘Désirée’s Baby’ by Kate Chopin (Trying to catch up with my reading goals)
As you can see, I’ve kept most, ok all, of the goals from last month, but I have added some extra stuff. I will be finalising two stories or poems for my Oldbury Writing Group anthology because I have nearly finished the one, so I could possibly complete two. I’ve also added an extra short story to read, so I can catch up on those goals. And as I mentioned in my ‘March 2018 Writing Goals Review and April 2018 Writing Goals’ I will be working on my short stories again, but my bigger projects will take priority.
I do hope I do better this month than I did the last four months. I suppose all I can do is keep trying and hopefully one day I will complete my goals.
How did you do in April? Feel free to comment below. I’d love to hear how everyone else is doing.
Keep writing, folks!
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