My Goals

Today I thought I would revisit the goals and deadlines I have set out for myself.  This isn't a new topic by any means.  I've discussed my goals on here more times than I care to count.  Unfortunately, I have yet to be able to actually finish a goal.  Somehow I always end up behind on every deadline I set for myself.

I've always wondered why I could do nano so well, but my own goals seem to be pushed to the wayside and never seems to happen.

It could be because nano is a deadline that's been set out by another person.  Rather than just the arbitrary goals I come up with in my head.  I have something that tells me how far I am to my goal, something that reminds me how long I have to complete the goal.  It's something I can't change, because it's not a goal that I came up with.

So, I've come up with some more goals for myself, and I'm hoping that I won't flake out on them like I normally do.  I'm going to really try hard not to.

The Goals:

Finish editing to chapter 20 of Pandora by Friday August 17th.  This dead line has obviously already passed, and sadly I have no accomplished it yet.  I'm working on chapter 14 right now, so I'm actually not even close.  Which means that I'm going to have to push back all of my deadlines for Pandora.  I'm going to have a tentative goal of finishing the second draft by the end of September, and ready for submissions by the end of January.

Finish planning Aliens Stole My Socks by the end of August.  I'm actually on track for this one.  I've broken it down into steps, and set goals for those steps.  The next part I'm working on is a point by point outline for it.  After which will come character bibles (of which I have about six or seven) and then a full plot.  I think I can keep on track for this one.  I kind of need to, because I have two more books to plan out before the beginning of November, and I only have two more months to do it.

Which brings me to my next two goals, which I'm going to lump together.  Finish the planning for the last two novels I will be writing in November. I'm giving each novel (one about a world were air is a valuable commodity, and the other about a Phoenix.) a single month.


At this point I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it all done.  I hope I can, but I definitely can't guarantee it.  There's a lot of work to do.  Each of the novels I'm writing in November is a new project, which means that new worlds need to be explored.  I can't put them off too long.  I'd have to start planning each new novel on the first day of each month.

Plus, I really can't put off Pandora, because there's no reason to continue writing new projects if I never get my work out there.  I actually need to finish a book, all the way through to a final draft.  I can't just sit on it anymore.  I want people to read my work, which means that I need to send it out into the world.  I can't continue to constantly work on new projects.

So I'm going to commit myself to these goals.  I may not make them all, but I'm going to damn well try my best.  If I don't succeed, at least I'll know that I did everything I could.

Being Productive

Normally I procrastinate so much that I don't get much done.  Especially when I'm editing.  I find it so hard to make myself actually want to start fixing and changing my story.  You all know exactly how much I love editing, of course, and I am very good at making sure I do everything but the editing that I'm supposed to be doing.

In a conversation with a friend this week (one B. A. Matthews) I started expressing my frustration with the fact that I'm really not getting anywhere with my stories.  That was when I realized something.  I can't be frustrated with not going anywhere, because the reason I'm not is because of all the procrastinating I've been doing.  It's not my manuscript's fault that I'm looking everywhere but at it.  It's not my characters' fault when they're constantly shouting at me about what they want to happen in the next book, or the one after that.  I can't write those stories, though, not when I'm not even done the first book.

No, there's only one person at fault in this whole scenario, and it's me.

I've been getting frustrated with myself.  I claim to want to write for a living.  To want to be a published author who is taken seriously and has a following, but how can I do that when I'm playing useless games on facebook instead of editing or writing?  How can I say that I want fans, when I can't guarantee that I'll be able to focus enough on the story in front of me to get it past the first draft?

So I'm making a new promise tonight.  I've done this before, I know.  I've committed myself to my writing more times than I can really count, but I'm still going to do it again, and I'm hoping to actually stick with it.

My first promise:  I am going to stop complaining about editing.  Especially on my blog.  I'm sure you're all as tired to hear it as I am to type it out.  Because, let's face it, complaining about editing is really just another way to avoid doing it.  And that's just a vicious cycle that I'll never be rid of if I let myself continue down that road.

My second promise: Get my manuscript out to beta readers by May 15th.  I currently have 2 beta readers anxiously awaiting (at least in my head) the arrival of my manuscript.  Having an actual due date, rather than an arbitrary goal, I'm hoping that I can actually do it.  I'm also still looking for a third beta reader.  If anyone's interested, please let me know.

My third promise: I'm going to go out of my way to try and find someway to like editing.  It may never work, but I'm certainly going to try.  I don't want to spend my entire life hating this part of writing, so I just have to look for that part of it that I like and latch onto it.

I'm hoping that I can keep these promises for longer than I've kept most of my previous ones (for the record, I have stuck with getting my blog posts up, but none of my editing/writing promises have been stuck to.)

Now it's time for me to start putting these promises into action.