Almost Over…
We are almost at that moment when new writer’s wake up and sort of wonder what happened to all those great goals they had early in the year.
What happened was family, gardens, summer vacations, travel, sports, and so on and so on.
I had some fine writers who powered through the Time of Great Forgetting because of a challenge with me. I’m finishing up reading everything this coming week and it has been great fun to watch the writers return their focus back to writing after vacations, after life took them away. It was a honor to watch them all get through the challenges and everyone was a winner in my book.
So what happens if you now suddenly look back at the summer and wonder what happened? What do you do?
Reset goals for the last four months. Do not mope or try to catch up.
Focus for the last four months, set goals for those four months, and everything at the end of the year will feel great. And the summer really will be forgotten.
Short Stories
As I said a few nights ago, I need to do some stories for Smith’s Monthly, so even though slow has been my operative word so far this month, I am dinging along on some short stories. I’ll talk more about them later on.
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Trying to get to a million words this year. Currently at 628,000 so it’s doable. My goal is to average 25,000 words a week, which will get me safely done before December 31. The only distraction I can foresee is a trip to Egypt this December. While it’s a research trip for a novel and a series of articles, it takes some discipline to hit that word count in the middle of Cairo. I did it the last time I was there, though! Mostly by writing at night.
That’s terrific! Keep at it.
The Time of Great Forgetting is a wonderful and painfully accurate name, Dean. Thank you for the reset reminder to make me jump off the worry track for my missed (and vaguely set) summer goals.
And for the many of us who did not make goals in January, now may be a good time to think of them. Words, words, words. A friend of mine has that tattooed on his arm. It serves as a daily reminder.
So I will leave this post and write down three goals. First is to write every day — something! Second and third are to be determined.
Thank you for the wisdom and the example.
Participating in Nanowrimo July is how I keep on track over the summer, especially since the format of the challenge is (I think) more friendly and productive than in November. You are able to set your own goal, and chose a group to team up with. I enjoy being in a chat group with friends where we can encourage each other. Although I have to admit I slowed down in August, for those summer reasons, family and travel. But I found that the enthusiasm for the novel I started in July gave me momentum to keep writing (although slower) for at least a little time each day.