March-a-thon final report & April goals

I use the first Friday of the month as my writing goal accountability here—come join in!

March accountability

marchathon 2013So for March, I set some lofty goals to conquer as part of the March-a-thon I ran for my writers’ support/education group. Here’s my progress report:

  • Project A: incorporate feedback and take this to finished product. Verdict: took longer than it should have, largely due to technical issues, but accomplished!
  • Project B: finish first draft (~28,000 more words). Verdict: Weep. 18,000 words to go.
  • Project C (novella): get ready to send to critique partners Verdict: Finished the paper edit early in the month, but the type-in took forever. Still in progress.
  • Project D: blog posts! Verdict: I’ve gotten ahead in most of my series, so I’d have to say accomplished—but I’d never say no to a guest post!
  • Read my library books before they’re due! Verdict: accomplished!
  • SUPER SECRET PROJECT: Verdict: accomplished! Look for more about this on Monday!

I was also able to keep up with my critique partners, which was actually quite the feat this month. (I forgive you 😉 )

Though on any given day, it felt like these lofty goals were completely unattainable, I actually accomplish quite a bit! The daily pep talks from my group and our live chats & Twitter #marchathon Saturdays were a big help.

Lesson of the month: no matter how long it took in the past, everything can take longer than you expect.

April goals

After pushing myself very hard, I’m giving myself a break. So in April, I’m hoping to:

  • Finalize my presentation for LDStorymakers next month.
  • Get those last 12,000 words done? Maybe?
  • Take care of business (yay. taxes.)
  • Do a final read-through for each of my critique partners
  • Finish inputting the paper edits and incorporate my critique partners’ feedback on my novella
  • Read!

It sounds like a lot, but I’m hoping to limit myself to one or two tasks a day (not including reading; that’s not a task!).

Anticipated lesson of the month: sleep is really important.

How did you do in March? What do you hope to accomplish in April? Come share!