BONUS POST: I'm Implementing Quarterly Goals!
Today, I'm taking (yet another) page out of author Jenna Moreci's book.
Ha..."Out of her book" and she's actually got a book published...see what I did there?
I've been watching Jenna's 'Quarterly Goals' updates for quite a while now, but no matter how many times I said to myself, "I should start doing this!", it never stuck.
Procrastination-1, Me-0
Then I realized the key difference between Jenna's quarterly goal method and mine: She publicizes her goals (via her YouTube channel), and holds herself accountable for anything she doesn't accomplish. Writing down my goals, but not sharing them with anyone or taking stock of what I did each quarter, was the perfect excuse to let them slide, whether I meant to or not. In an effort to set, and stick to, my quarterly goals going forward, I'll be posting them here on The Writing Desk! At the end of each quarter, I'll follow up on which goals or tasks I accomplished, and which ones still need a little work. The point is to keep myself on task and increase my writing productivity.
Let's start off with the one major goal from 2016 that I managed to accomplish: Getting my first short story published! This is happening! My short story, 'Set Them Free, If Need Be', was accepted for publication at the end of last year and will be included in a mystery/thriller anthology coming out this summer. The editor described it as "very creepy...in all the right ways", and I'm beyond excited to share the final release information once it's confirmed by the publisher.
Now, on to my goals for the second quarter (Q2) of 2017! Since we're already about one third of the way through the quarter, I won't be giving myself as many goals as I might going forward. If i can accomplish at least half of these, I'll be feeling pretty damn good about myself.
2017-Q2 Goals:
1) Plan and outline my weekly blog posts for the rest of the quarter. (Not counting Bonus Posts, because those suckers just pop up sometimes!)
2) Finish outlining my currently untitled Book Project #1. Yes, I'm moving away from short stories and novellas, and finally focusing on my first novel!
3) Write the first 10,000 words, minimum, of Book Project #1.
4) Announce the release details for the anthology that 'Set Them Free' will appear in. (As soon as the publisher confirms.)
5) Take the short story I finished earlier this year and submit it to my next critique group meeting. Yes, I'm focusing more on my book now, but the story is already written so...why not?
6) Find a competition or publication and submit the above story. Again, why not? It's more of a near-future/science fiction story, so any recommendations are welcome!
7) Clean out my home office (again) and reclaim my writing space.
8) Examine my current writing schedule, which is in kind of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants situation right now, and see if I can come up with a more stable plan.
9) Look into joining Skillshare. If this goes well, we'll have a Writing Resources post to discuss!
10) Find three new methods of utilizing social media to better connect with the online writing/reading community.
There you have it, my first set of publicly declared quarterly goals!
Do any of you out there in Blog Land utilize this method? If so, has it made you more productive? I'd love to discuss the pros and cons.
Also, if you're interested, you can check out Jenna's latest quarterly goals update below!
Ha..."Out of her book" and she's actually got a book published...see what I did there?
I've been watching Jenna's 'Quarterly Goals' updates for quite a while now, but no matter how many times I said to myself, "I should start doing this!", it never stuck. Procrastination-1, Me-0
Then I realized the key difference between Jenna's quarterly goal method and mine: She publicizes her goals (via her YouTube channel), and holds herself accountable for anything she doesn't accomplish. Writing down my goals, but not sharing them with anyone or taking stock of what I did each quarter, was the perfect excuse to let them slide, whether I meant to or not. In an effort to set, and stick to, my quarterly goals going forward, I'll be posting them here on The Writing Desk! At the end of each quarter, I'll follow up on which goals or tasks I accomplished, and which ones still need a little work. The point is to keep myself on task and increase my writing productivity.
Let's start off with the one major goal from 2016 that I managed to accomplish: Getting my first short story published! This is happening! My short story, 'Set Them Free, If Need Be', was accepted for publication at the end of last year and will be included in a mystery/thriller anthology coming out this summer. The editor described it as "very creepy...in all the right ways", and I'm beyond excited to share the final release information once it's confirmed by the publisher.
Now, on to my goals for the second quarter (Q2) of 2017! Since we're already about one third of the way through the quarter, I won't be giving myself as many goals as I might going forward. If i can accomplish at least half of these, I'll be feeling pretty damn good about myself.
2017-Q2 Goals:
1) Plan and outline my weekly blog posts for the rest of the quarter. (Not counting Bonus Posts, because those suckers just pop up sometimes!)
2) Finish outlining my currently untitled Book Project #1. Yes, I'm moving away from short stories and novellas, and finally focusing on my first novel!
3) Write the first 10,000 words, minimum, of Book Project #1.
4) Announce the release details for the anthology that 'Set Them Free' will appear in. (As soon as the publisher confirms.)
5) Take the short story I finished earlier this year and submit it to my next critique group meeting. Yes, I'm focusing more on my book now, but the story is already written so...why not?
6) Find a competition or publication and submit the above story. Again, why not? It's more of a near-future/science fiction story, so any recommendations are welcome!
7) Clean out my home office (again) and reclaim my writing space.
8) Examine my current writing schedule, which is in kind of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants situation right now, and see if I can come up with a more stable plan.
9) Look into joining Skillshare. If this goes well, we'll have a Writing Resources post to discuss!
10) Find three new methods of utilizing social media to better connect with the online writing/reading community.
There you have it, my first set of publicly declared quarterly goals!
Do any of you out there in Blog Land utilize this method? If so, has it made you more productive? I'd love to discuss the pros and cons.
Also, if you're interested, you can check out Jenna's latest quarterly goals update below!
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