NYR Update - 7 Months

1. I will have complete THINKING OF YOU's ready for query first round of revisions. I went back over the first six chapters, then sent them to two of my critique partners. This concludes the small revisions.
2. I will have two new first drafts. I finished plotting the marriage dystopian which I have entitled OBJECTION.
3. I will win National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo).
4. I will submit at least two short stories to two anthologies, journals, ezines, and/or contests. I have decided to submit a poem I wrote at camp to Vine Leaves Literary Journal after I edit it.
5. I will read at least one hundred books. I read five books this month and am currently reading three others. Goodreads says that I am eleven books behind.
6. I will post at least one vlog a month. I made and posted a video where I talk about the first part of Fahrenheit 451.
7. I will exercise in some way once a week. For the first two weeks (July 1-14) I was at my grandparents' where I took many neighborhood walks. The fourth week (July 22-28) I went swimming for an hour.

July went much better than June overall. Right now my two biggest concerns are the reading and the exercising. These seem to be the goals that I am doing the worst on. On Michael's suggestion, I downloaded an app called My Fitness Pal. It allows me to log when I exercise. Not only it is a motivator, but these records will be a big help as I often forget when I've exercised. As for the reading, I don't know what I can do besides set aside more time for it. I already have plenty of material to read.

I do wish to celebrate a breakthrough I've made on my revisions of THINKING OF YOU. The revising schedule idea did not go so well (I managed two or three days in a row), but my fear of revisions has finally subsided. Before the thought of so much change and having no idea how to implement that change scared the crap out of me, probably the reason it's taken me so long to do so little. I believe I've gotten over this and can get some real work done now.

This month, however, the goal that I am putting most of my efforts into is the second. I'm using Camp NaNoWriMo to finish my first draft of OBJECTION. For current updates on my word count and goals, I suggestion you look at my Tumblr.

Anything special you're focusing on this month?