It’s June! Yes, it’s June. I can’t believe it. I don’t know what’s happening to the year. But now that we’ve reached halfway through the year, I’m starting to worry about my 2017 writing goals. However, instead of being hard on myself for not meeting my goals, I have decided that I need to focus on doing better.
So, with another new month, it’s time to review my May goals and to make some goals for June.
So, what were my May writing goals? Well, my May writing goals were:
- Writing Goal 1: Finish novel 3rd draft
- Writing Goal 2: Finish planning my psychological horror novella
- Writing Goal 3: Finish Flash Fiction Collection – 4 stories
- Writing Goal 4: Work on ideas for next novel
- Writing Goal 4: Submit to two story submission calls
Result: My novel keeps telling me off for neglecting it. It’s not lying; I have been neglecting it. The problem is that (and I’m sure you all know) the novel is such a huge project that it requires a lot of brain power. I often work on my novel for the last couple of hours before I come off the computer, but because I’m normally tired by then I struggle to concentrate. So, I have decided to work on my novel a bit earlier as long as I have time to do so.
Result: Again, this didn’t happen. However, I have made progress with my character profiles, and the plot is forming. And now that I have time in the evening I will get this done this month. Also, I’m still reading novellas that I listed on my ‘The Novella Challenge’ post. I’m currently reading A Clockwork Orange.
Result: I did it. I finished writing all of my flash fictions near the beginning of May. I now have the difficult job of editing all of my flash fictions.
Result: Sadly, I’ve had no time to sit and work on this, but I do occasionally get ideas pop into my head – this is why a notebook for each project is important. I’m hoping that once I finish planning my novella, I will have time for the next novel.
Result: I managed to submit one short story. I decided not to submit to the other submission call because I didn’t have the time to edit the story properly. Also, my novel needed to come first, so any spare time I have to edit I spend it on my novel.
As you can see, I’ve done better in May than April. While I’ve not completed all of my May goals, I am happy that I managed to finish writing my flash fiction collection and submit a story. So the motivation fairies did help a little; however, I need them to help me, even more, this month.
So now it’s June I have a list of new goals that I hope to achieve.
My June Writing Goals
In June, I have again decided to focus on my novel, flash fiction collection, and the novella. Originally, I was planning to have a month break before starting to edit the flash fictions in my collection, but because I took longer to write the stories than I had planned, I thought it would be best to start editing. I have 56 flash fictions that will be included in my collection, and 49 of them need editing, so if I want the collection finished and published this year, I will need to pull my socks up and start editing. Now I have finished writing my flash fictions I have more time in the evening to work on my novella, which is why I’m hoping I can finish planning and start writing this month, fingers crossed. I still have short stories to edit and submit, so I am aiming to submit at least one this month. I do feel more determined this month, though, so I’m hoping I can achieve more. We’re almost halfway through the year, so if I’m to achieve my writing goals for 2017, I do need to get things finished.
I still love it, though, the writing. It can be hard at times to fit it into daily life, but I’ll never stop. I just need to stop being so easily distracted. Finishing these projects and getting them out there is the only way I can move forward, and achieve my dream of seeing my book in a bookshop window.
I hope everyone is doing well with their writing.
Keep writing, folks!
My latest, The Horror Tree, post can be found at the link below.
http://horrortree.com/setting-self-doubt-on-fire-hey-wheres-my-book-reading-audience/