Last year, my goals were to get published, and to get a new job. I did get published in 2012 in the form of 2 short stories and a pattern, but I'd like to get something a little more substantial out there in 2013: a novel and/or a knitting book.
I am still looking for a new job.
I'm not the type of person who does resolutions. For example, if I made if my new years resolution to get into shape, you can bet that I'd spend the next six months watching tv and eating bonbons instead of lifting weights or doing yoga or whatever. I would like to start working out more, but quite honestly, it's not that important to me. I get bored. I'd rather be writing or knitting, so that's what I'm concentrating on.
Normally, I'll set a goal or two in January, then revise it on my birthday (at the end of June) and take another look in the fall, around the time I would normally go back to school--I haven't been an "adult" long enough to train myself out of thinking of September as a new beginning. I may still do that, but this year I want to try setting monthly goals, too, that will help me reach those yearly goals. So here are my goals for January:
1. Finish short story--deadline Jan. 15
2. Finish vol. 1 of TSB (current novel)
3. Get the next pattern for "Censored" prepared
4. Look into/apply for 3 jobs per week.
The short story is maybe 1/3 complete, and I'm about 1/2 done with the novel. I have the chart prepped for the pattern, but nothing written out yet. And while I only applied to one job this week, I did spend some time looking into three different work from home sites. I decided they were all dodgy and will try something else next week.
February
1. Outline vol. 2 of TSB
2. Write first chapter of TSB
3. look into/apply for 3 jobs per week
4. Get last month's pattern test knit
5. Write out next pattern
6. finish book proposal
March
1. send out book proposal
2. 2 more patterns
3. write another short story
4. Look into/apply for 3 jobs per week
April
1. last pattern
2. wrap up TSB vol. 2
3. Begin revising LIAZ.
4. Look into/apply for 3 jobs per week
I'm not going to plan any further ahead than that, since for me it's a recipe for disaster. I plan, the universe laughs. We'll see if I make it through January on schedule first, eh?
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Monday, January 7, 2013
Monday, November 12, 2012
Nano Progress
Such an uncreative title, I know. But most of my energy has been sucked into NaNoWriMo. The counts are in, and in the past two weeks I've cranked out just over 24,000 words. People, I never write this much consistently in one go. I might write 5k one day, then 3 the next, and then I might not write anything other than blog posts and journal entries for a month.
Obviously, I'm not 100% satisfied with all of the words I've written, but the point is, they are down on the page now, where they belong, instead of floating around in my head where it's so easy for them to get lost. I've written an average of 2k every day for the past two weeks, and have only taken one day off (NaNo thinks it was two, but it wasn't. I just forgot to update my word count until after midnight).
There are a couple of problems with this: 1) it's taking away time normally spent knitting and designing, which is delaying the next pattern release and my Giftmas knitting. For those who have anxiously been awaiting the next pattern/the book I promised, fear not, it is still in the works. Realistically, though, I knew it would be a major challenge to get it out before Christmas, and now I see that it's pretty much impossible. The [Censored] pattern book shall have to wait until after New Years (this probably would have been the case even without NaNo, but this is just making it clear that there is NO POSSIBLE WAY for me to write the book, transcribe the patterns, create the charts, and do all of the necessary formatting--which is extremely fiddly, by the way--for 8-12 patterns in six weeks. Not on my own, at least.)
2) I am just shy of 25k, which marks the halfway point in the 50k that is NaNo. The problem is that I am 2/3 of the way through the book. I sense some serious word padding in my future.
Much as I would love to do NaNo on a typewriter, it is not practical for me to do so this year. I did, however, manage to resurrect my very first laptop (the one I got ages ago when I started college). It's slower than mollassas, but it gets me on NaNo, Google, and all of those other writerly time-sinks, and is just barely within the requirements for Storyist, which is the software I downloaded to write on (more on that next week).
It feels good to be this productive. I've struggled in a few paces, but I've discovered that I work best right after I wake up and right before bed. I usually do about 900-1200 words either before work or as soon as I get home. Then I hit a wall, start pulling my hair out, and go play Threads of Mystery on Facebook for a while. Then I'll come back, and tell myself, "You're only 400 words away from your daily goal," or "Another hundred words, and you'll break 24k" or whatever the next benchmark is, and I'll force myself to hit that target, even if the words are crap. And then I usually keep going and wind up with something close to 2,000 or 2,500 words when all is said and done.
The rampaging Rhino might still decide to scrap everything I've written, or to run down a completely different path. Or he might abandon me completely (he seems to be spending an awful lot of time with Theanab from the Typewriter brigade thread). But in the mean time, I'm going to ride this wave while I've got it, however small it is.
Baby steps. It's all in the baby steps.
Obviously, I'm not 100% satisfied with all of the words I've written, but the point is, they are down on the page now, where they belong, instead of floating around in my head where it's so easy for them to get lost. I've written an average of 2k every day for the past two weeks, and have only taken one day off (NaNo thinks it was two, but it wasn't. I just forgot to update my word count until after midnight).
There are a couple of problems with this: 1) it's taking away time normally spent knitting and designing, which is delaying the next pattern release and my Giftmas knitting. For those who have anxiously been awaiting the next pattern/the book I promised, fear not, it is still in the works. Realistically, though, I knew it would be a major challenge to get it out before Christmas, and now I see that it's pretty much impossible. The [Censored] pattern book shall have to wait until after New Years (this probably would have been the case even without NaNo, but this is just making it clear that there is NO POSSIBLE WAY for me to write the book, transcribe the patterns, create the charts, and do all of the necessary formatting--which is extremely fiddly, by the way--for 8-12 patterns in six weeks. Not on my own, at least.)
2) I am just shy of 25k, which marks the halfway point in the 50k that is NaNo. The problem is that I am 2/3 of the way through the book. I sense some serious word padding in my future.
Much as I would love to do NaNo on a typewriter, it is not practical for me to do so this year. I did, however, manage to resurrect my very first laptop (the one I got ages ago when I started college). It's slower than mollassas, but it gets me on NaNo, Google, and all of those other writerly time-sinks, and is just barely within the requirements for Storyist, which is the software I downloaded to write on (more on that next week).
It feels good to be this productive. I've struggled in a few paces, but I've discovered that I work best right after I wake up and right before bed. I usually do about 900-1200 words either before work or as soon as I get home. Then I hit a wall, start pulling my hair out, and go play Threads of Mystery on Facebook for a while. Then I'll come back, and tell myself, "You're only 400 words away from your daily goal," or "Another hundred words, and you'll break 24k" or whatever the next benchmark is, and I'll force myself to hit that target, even if the words are crap. And then I usually keep going and wind up with something close to 2,000 or 2,500 words when all is said and done.
The rampaging Rhino might still decide to scrap everything I've written, or to run down a completely different path. Or he might abandon me completely (he seems to be spending an awful lot of time with Theanab from the Typewriter brigade thread). But in the mean time, I'm going to ride this wave while I've got it, however small it is.
Baby steps. It's all in the baby steps.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year
Normally, I don't do resolutions. But this year, I have two. Two goals that I am very determined to reach:
1. Get a new job.
2. Get published.
Please note that 1 & 2 are not mutually exclusive.
Cheers.
1. Get a new job.
2. Get published.
Please note that 1 & 2 are not mutually exclusive.
Cheers.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Keeping with tradtion
I'm not much into New Years resolutions. If you'll remember, last year my New Years Resolutions were posted on January 7, and I figure that's a good place to start this year. For me, January 1 has never meant much. It's the start of the school term that really encourages a fresh outlook, so September, mid January, and June are usually when I set my goals. Well, not so much June, but since I started college more work needs to be done during my "off" time.
Honestly, I wasn't even planning on making resolutions this year, other than "figure out what I want to do with my life" and "get a job." Then I was watching tv before bed the other night and stumbled across What I Hate About Me. I'd seen the commercials and thought it had the potential to be really good or really bad. So I watched an episode, and lo and behold, it was pretty good! If you don't know what this show is, the person they shadow for each episode picks 10 things they don't like about themselves. They can be cosmetic, health related, something about their house, or even mental/emotional issues.
The show inspired me to write a list of my own, but I took it two steps further. I wrote down ten things that I dislike about myself, and then I made a list of things I could do that might help me change them. Like, I have really bad mood swings. So I need to try to eat better and exercise more, and I'm going to try meditating. I also know that I get moody in winter when there's no sunshine, so I'm going to make an attempt to go outside for just a little bit every day. In addition, I made a list of ten things that I like about myself, like I think I have pretty good money sense when I don't let myself be influenced by others. Basically, the lists boiled down into a short list of resolutions and goals. Now remember, for me, there is a difference. A resolution is something that doesn't really have a finish line. Maybe you wake up one morning and realize that it's been achieved, but it's really something that you need to work on for a lifetime. A goal has a definitive point where you can check it off the list.
Resolutions:
Learn to ask questions--I'm very bad at this. I never know how to get more information (or even that I need it) until I'm neck deep in "what the hell am I doing?"
Get in shape
Take more risks--I'm tired of standing on the sidelines watching everyone else have fun.
Be neater--I'm a slob and I'm sick of it.
Goals:
Get published
Find a life goal
Hopefully this list goes better than last year's. I don't think I accomplished a single thing on it.
No pictures of Hermes, but I do have a funny story. He's been spending a lot of time hiding from my parent's dogs, and for the longest time we couldn't figure out where. Then last night I looked for him in the living room, and caught him climbing out of the sofa! We have a sectional with two recliners built in. The fabric on the back isn't sewn in place to allow the seat to recline. He managed to squeeze back there and was hiding in the empty space inside the seat! Clever boy, isn't he?
Honestly, I wasn't even planning on making resolutions this year, other than "figure out what I want to do with my life" and "get a job." Then I was watching tv before bed the other night and stumbled across What I Hate About Me. I'd seen the commercials and thought it had the potential to be really good or really bad. So I watched an episode, and lo and behold, it was pretty good! If you don't know what this show is, the person they shadow for each episode picks 10 things they don't like about themselves. They can be cosmetic, health related, something about their house, or even mental/emotional issues.
The show inspired me to write a list of my own, but I took it two steps further. I wrote down ten things that I dislike about myself, and then I made a list of things I could do that might help me change them. Like, I have really bad mood swings. So I need to try to eat better and exercise more, and I'm going to try meditating. I also know that I get moody in winter when there's no sunshine, so I'm going to make an attempt to go outside for just a little bit every day. In addition, I made a list of ten things that I like about myself, like I think I have pretty good money sense when I don't let myself be influenced by others. Basically, the lists boiled down into a short list of resolutions and goals. Now remember, for me, there is a difference. A resolution is something that doesn't really have a finish line. Maybe you wake up one morning and realize that it's been achieved, but it's really something that you need to work on for a lifetime. A goal has a definitive point where you can check it off the list.
Resolutions:
Learn to ask questions--I'm very bad at this. I never know how to get more information (or even that I need it) until I'm neck deep in "what the hell am I doing?"
Get in shape
Take more risks--I'm tired of standing on the sidelines watching everyone else have fun.
Be neater--I'm a slob and I'm sick of it.
Goals:
Get published
Find a life goal
Hopefully this list goes better than last year's. I don't think I accomplished a single thing on it.
No pictures of Hermes, but I do have a funny story. He's been spending a lot of time hiding from my parent's dogs, and for the longest time we couldn't figure out where. Then last night I looked for him in the living room, and caught him climbing out of the sofa! We have a sectional with two recliners built in. The fabric on the back isn't sewn in place to allow the seat to recline. He managed to squeeze back there and was hiding in the empty space inside the seat! Clever boy, isn't he?
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Wish List
As of this week, I've officially completed my 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge. I'm working my way up to 75, but I thought I'd make a list of the books that I want to read in in the next year:
Wuthering Heights
The Man in the Iron Mask
Fire Study
Walker Papers #5
Wizard's Squared
Bewitching Mysteries #6
The Negotiator #5
Will Trent #3
For the titles with # signs, I don't know the titles yet, because they haven't been released. I'm sure that this list with grow and morph of the next few weeks.Also on my list, I want to get caught up on the Dresden Files books (considering I've only gotten up to book 3, that could take a while).
----
Today is our last day of break, and it is consisting mostly of killing time until we can go to the airport. I'm sick, tired, my bags weigh a ton, and I simply don't have the energy to go anywhere I don't have to. Neither Alice nor I have slept well the past two nights, so once we finish up here with the internet we'll probably head to Victoria Coach Station and catch our bus to the airport, where I'll mostly likely end up in a coner and try to sleep before the plane comes and do my best not to cough loudly and draw attention to myself.
Wuthering Heights
The Man in the Iron Mask
Fire Study
Walker Papers #5
Wizard's Squared
Bewitching Mysteries #6
The Negotiator #5
Will Trent #3
For the titles with # signs, I don't know the titles yet, because they haven't been released. I'm sure that this list with grow and morph of the next few weeks.Also on my list, I want to get caught up on the Dresden Files books (considering I've only gotten up to book 3, that could take a while).
----
Today is our last day of break, and it is consisting mostly of killing time until we can go to the airport. I'm sick, tired, my bags weigh a ton, and I simply don't have the energy to go anywhere I don't have to. Neither Alice nor I have slept well the past two nights, so once we finish up here with the internet we'll probably head to Victoria Coach Station and catch our bus to the airport, where I'll mostly likely end up in a coner and try to sleep before the plane comes and do my best not to cough loudly and draw attention to myself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)