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

March accountability

So 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!

Looking for a pick-me-up for your writing this month? Come join me in a March-a-thon—but first, how I did last month.

February accountability

I was really hoping to finish this first draft in February, but (sigh) it didn’t happen. But I’ve been keeping careful track of what I did do:

• Critiques for my CPs
• Blog posts (yay!)
• Newsletter
• Travel for my cousin’s wedding and spend time with my visiting grandparents
• First read through on the novella I finished last month
• And, yes, I did write!

So, in the interest of accountability, how much, exactly, did I write in February? 31,275 words: not too shabby!

Saturday night, I made out a list of all that I need to get done in March, and the deadlines for each task. Then I did the math to figure out how much I need to write or revise or whatever to get it done on time. Woot!

But once again, I’m facing a lot of work. Luckily, I’ve got just the thing to push me onward . . .

March-a-thon!

For the second year in a row, I’m running a March-a-thon! It’s primarily for Authors Incognito, an online writers’ support group where I’m serving as Education Director. We’re setting lofty goals for March and encouraging others with pep talks and other fun events.

What does this mean for you? I’d love for you to join me in the “public” side of the March-a-thon. Come share your goals for March!

Here are mine:

• Project A: incorporate feedback and take this to finished product
• Project B: finish first draft (~28,000 more words)
• Project C (novella): get ready to send to critique partners
• Project D: blog posts!
• Read my library books before they’re due!

Did I mention we’ve got more family stuff this month, so I’m looking to finish this all by the 23rd?

I’m crazy.

You can come be crazy with me! We’ll have regular check-ins here each week and I’ll keep you posted about public sprints on Twitter. Come join in!

How did you do last month? What are your goals for March? Ready for a March-a-thon? Come share!