Finally Checking In

Okay, here I am. Whew. I did some things though, so be proud.

1. Blog Again. A post. Yeppers.
2. Edit my MG Novel. A few changes, but there will be more since I submitted it to my writer’s group.
3. Enter at least 2 writing contests. No progress here either.
4. Regularly attend my writer’s group. I almost forgot. We were watching Squid Game when my phone reminded me. Whew!
5. Bonus Goal: Write the sequel to my MG fantasy during NaNoWriMo. At least it’s still October, right?

An itty bitty baby does keep you busier than you think. Remember in college when you had all the time in the world somehow? I feel like I did. I could play Diablo until the wee hours of the morning and still have enough time to get my homework done. Ah, Diablo. The good old days. Ah, video games. The good old days.

What are you missing about your good old days? Are you hitting your goals? Let me know!

Photo by Lisa on Pexels.com

#Row80 Mid Week Update

So, yeah, I totally spaced this. You see, Mr. Z decided to do the truffle shuffle in the poop leaking from his diaper among other things. They tell you there’s a lot of poop, but you don’t really get it until you get it.

Did I accomplish any of my goals? To quote Eddie Huang from Fresh Off the Boat, “Aw, hell naw.” Except, I guess, that I blogged about it. Check!

But the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. So let’s put one foot in front of the other, and soon we’ll be walking out the door. Hey, hey!

#Row80 Begins!

I’ve been waiting almost a month for this. I know the Row80 folks wouldn’t have minded if I jumped in late on the last round, but I like to officially start things, so here I am. For those of you who don’t know about Row80, you basically list goals you want to accomplish. And then you spend the next few months accomplishing them and reporting in. For a writer, it’s often very good to have some accountability somewhere. That’s why I love it. I haven’t done it in years, but I’m ready to roll.

Goals

1. Blog Again. It’s a simple goal, but it’s more about making it habit. The old saying was 21 days, but apparently that’s all over the board now. Regardless, habits can’t be made until they happen often, right? So here we go!
   
2. Edit my MG Novel. We’ll just call this one Tower. It’s a Middle-Grade Fantasy and I’m super excited about it. I really think this is the one for publishing. It’s been fun changing to middle-grade because I’ve done YA and Adult for so long. The most helpful thing I’ve done for this transition is to read middle-grade books to get in the language zone. Anyways, polishing is a writer’s life, so I want to do that. I’ve already haphazardly edited it, but now I want to get it really shiny for submission next year.
   
3. Enter at least 2 writing contests. I don’t know if there will be 2 contests I’ll want to enter this year per se, but I want to at the very least have two submissions ready to go for whatever contests I select. Preferably flash or short fiction.
   
4. Regularly attend my writer’s group. We’ve been meeting online since the pandemic started. They might be back in person, I’m not sure. But either way I want to start participating again. There’s some real synergy that comes from sharing goals and ideas with other writers.
   
5. Bonus Goal: Write the sequel to my MG fantasy during NaNoWriMo. I don’t know how much of this will be possible and I don’t know that I’ll be able to win, because of my little guy, but you don’t make any progress if you don’t try. Right?

Let’s do this!

Photo by Luke Webb on Pexels.com

What about you? What are your goals for this Row80? Or just in general?

Getting Closer to #Row80

I’m getting excited to start up this new round of #Row80. I’m hoping it’ll help keep me accountable for my goals and blogging. I’ve wanted to get back into blogging for some time, but I’ve been too sleep deprived. Now I’m finally ready!

I have three stories I’m working on. Two of which are really close to submitting with agents. I’m not sure if I want to submit via email or wait for a conference to see them in person. Or both. I feel in person is better because you basically get to the front of their submission list line.

Do you ever feel like you have a million stories in you waiting to get out, but you’ve got to polish up what you’ve got or you’ll never get anywhere? I guess that’s why I’m more of a plotter, I can more or less write the story in outline form and then it’s ready to go at some point instead of just bouncing around in my head.

Another thing I’m interested in trying is flash fiction contests. I used to be hardcore about reading and writing short stories to bring up my novel game. Because you have to catch the audience’s attention so quickly, it helps you realize what is important and then you can eliminate a bit more fluff from your novel. Obviously it’s not exactly the same, but it helps substantially. I used to read a lot of Anton Chekhov, I may start doing that again.

And what about you guys? How many stories are you working on? Are you close to submitting to any agents or self-publishing? How have you gotten back into blogging or any activity after a long absence?

Row80 January 21st

Okay, finally back in the game. Seriously, I can say thanks enough to Row80 for existing to keep me on task for accomplishing things. I think I would fall into super lazy mode otherwise. I think it’s just this time of the year. Too cold to ride my bike and skiing is snow dependent. 😉

THE GOALS

I haven’t yet stated my Row80 goals, so here they be, whether overly ambitious or not, I’m still gonna give it a go.

Outline the rest of Codename Clemmings. I need to turn this novelette into a novel. I think it has great potential, but originally I only saw it as a novelette, so it’s been doing nothing after 5 chapters. I’ve had some vague ideas, but I haven’t really put in the effort. Time to make it so.

Finish “The Fire in Fiction” and read two fiction books.  I don’t know why TFIF just wasn’t happening for me, but that’s what another Row80 is for. I also have a few unread books on my Kindle for the fiction option I should be able to cram in. Last time I got three fiction books in with a goal of one, so certainly I can make two.

Write Codename Clemmings. I want to get a first draft off. Preferably a semi-edited draft, but a full draft in some form. I think this is possible considering I’ve already got the first 5 chapters and this is a YA.

Do writing exercises at least once a week. I got a few writing exercises from a forum at a conference and I believe they’ve already strengthened my writing with what little I’ve used them. I want every story I write to be even better than the last one and I want my skill to continuously improve. I never want to become one of those writers that gets lazy just because they’ve made it. I want my readers to keep coming back because they know I’m putting in my best efforts for them and for it to show. That takes practice. So writing exercises. Once a week. Yep.

BONUS GOALS: # 1 Get five chapters in to my Codename BFF project. If I’m hoping to accomplish the above goals, this may not be possible, but that’s why they’re BONUS goals. 😉

#2 Plot out a screenplay. This is really shooting for the moon here, but just a plot session might be possible. I did major in film in school and this short series project keeps coming to my mind. Plus I have friends in the independent biz and if it turns out clever I might be able to get them interested. But can’t do any of that without getting the idea out first, right?

Okay, go ambition, go! Still, remembering what I accomplished last session I think many of these things are possible. How are you coming on your goals already? Or have you also just started with new ones?