Today marks the start of a new month. I didn’t get a lot done last month, so I think it is time for me to set some goals for myself. The first goal will be to finish this short story/novella that I am writing about a huntress who finds out what it is like to be hunted. It is a post-apocalyptic horror story, and I’m still working out what kind of character development needs to be worked into the tale, but I have most of the plot figured out already. I started it a few weeks ago, and have been working on a major rewrite this last weekend. I have the edits about halfway done, and have already chopped about 1000 words out of the first draft. I want to finish it and have it ready for submission by the end of August.
Speaking of submissions, I heard last week that the editors of the Big Book of Bizarro (the ones that bought my short story “Losing Control”) have been working hard on getting the final proof done, and are hoping to have the author copies (and payments) ready in the next couple of weeks. I’ll be sure to post an update as soon as I have my copy. I’m also looking forward to spending my payment on additional copies for family and friends.
I have been thinking about goals recently, and I am starting to wonder whether or not I should have stuck with the ROW80 group. I miss the support I always had from them, and it wasn’t that hard to keep up. Kait is also cool with letting participants post updates with however best works for them. She also says that you don’t necessarily have to join at the start of the quarter, so I may pop back in if I start jonesing for my friends.
That being said, my second goal is to spend less time on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and other social nightmare media websites, and spend the time on writing. I also need to spend more time on my exercise bike. Being a writer means a lot of sitting as I write, and I need to get more exercise. Maybe I can use my Dragon Naturally Speaking software to do my writing. The only question is how well the software will be able to recognize my speech if I am out of breath from my workout. I’ll also need to figure out where to put my laptop so that I will be able to see the screen as I ride. Does anyone have any thoughts/experience with this problem? I have heard about people setting up a treadmill desk, but I’m not so sure about a bike desk. On the plus side, it is a recumbent, so I’ve got that going for me.
So that’s three goals for August:
- Finish short story/novella “The Hunt”
- Cut back on social media.
- Get more exercise.
That’s about enough for now. I’ll be checking in again on Thursday. See you then!
Author in Progress 