Wednesday, February 01, 2012

NYR Update - 1 Month

February 1st. Already one month into the year. A twelfth of the time I have to fulfill my New Year's Resolutions gone, just like that. And because it was just like that, I realized I have to focus on my goals. I can't get distracted or 2012 will be over before I know it.

So, I decided that at the beginning of each month I will write up a report on how I did the previous month. I will not be grading my progress, only stating what I've been doing toward each respective goal. My hope is that this will keep me working by both serving as a reminder of what I want and making me accountable for my actions.
  1. I will have THINKING OF YOU ready for query. I imported the document to Scrivener and formatted it (mostly) to my liking. I went over my first chapter critiques and revised my first chapter. I noted some changes I need to make later in the novel.
  2. I will have two new first drafts. NA
  3. I will win National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo). NA
  4. I will submit at least two short stories to anthologies and/or contests. I made a small list of contests and places to submit. I came up with a basic idea for a story that I will be entering in one such contest.
  5. I will read at least one hundred books. I read nine books. Goodreads tells me that I'm right on track.
  6. I will post at least one vlog a month. I posted my vlog for January. I decided on the vlog idea for February.
  7. I will exercise. I ran twice, once for thirty minutes and once for twenty. I am also making a slight revision to this resolution to make it more specific. I have found this makes it easier to stay on course. I will exercise in some way once a week.
I tried another method to keep myself on track, as well. I made myself a list of goals for each day. It sort of worked, and I liked it. While it reminded me of what I had to do, I thought of it as a flexible outline, keeping away the stress. I still want to play with it, however. Perhaps I'll try a list per week, or a list per three days.

Tell me about your progress, whether it be on your WIP, your New Year's Resolutions, or other goals and projects you might have. What do you do to keep yourself focused?

    14 comments:

    1. It's a really great idea to track your progress like this. There's something magic about writing things down.

      Well done, you.

      Me-- not so good

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      1. Yes, that's why I write. ^^

        I'm sure you're not doing as bad as you think you are.

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    2. 100 books? Reading ones that only have 10-pages and are full of pictures don't count. Try getting through some 1000 pagers like George R.R. Martin or Haruki Murakami.

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      1. Pssh, I know that Michael. My books are a variety of lengths. I don't really think George R. R. Martin is my thing, but I may try 1Q84.

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    3. Specific goals are helpful. And self-discipline. Sometimes I have to crack the whip on the WIP and say, "I'm working on you today whether I feel like or not. "

      Great job keeping yourself accountable. There's a fun group of us on twitter who use the hashtag #wipmadness. We set goals at the beginning of each month, check-in with each other every Monday, and then report progress at the end of the month. We take turns hosting on our blogs. All are welcome.

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      1. I need a little bit of that second thing. I have some, but it's wimpy. Kind of like me.

        Thanks for letting me know, but Twitter isn't really my thing. ^^

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    4. This is such a great idea! And you have a lot of resolutions! I admire you for keeping on top of them all. My only resolution right now is to survive the next month or so before I have this baby. Then I can think about other things. lol. :)

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      1. I actually feel like this was manageable and not near as busy as last year. XD I can't wait to see your new nursery and everything! I love babies. ^^

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    5. My progress is on track, but I could be doing more, to make up for the time I will be away from home later in the year. I COULD be doing more...but am not. hehe

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      1. I second that. Especially with regards to THINKING OF YOU. I think my goals for this week are 1) to edit the first three chapters of TOY 2) to finish Prompt #50 (so slow) and 3) to start working on that short story idea I mentioned above.

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    6. Some hefty resolutions! Good job. I'm like you....I made like eight resolutions, all of them big things. Not sure I'll get them done, but I'm going to try!

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    7. I agree that being specific is really important--and so is being achievable! I'm keeping to my word count goal every day and not beating myself up about it (too much) if I don't make it one day. That said, I always try to make up for it later. So far, so good!

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      1. Yes, achievable is also a big part of goals! That's why I made some things smaller than I could have. ^^ I feel this is much more manageable than all the stuff I tried to do last year.

        I'm glad you're doing good with your goals. ^^

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