From the Writer's Desk - January in Review

It is the first full week of February. By this time I should have February mapped out in my Bullet Journal, along with my review of January and my focus for February plus a couple of other things I need to write down - like gifts for people. I'm no where I need to be.  The last couple of weeks feel like a crappy mixture of the flu-cold combination crap trying to take over and stress.  At the day job we are going through a leadership change and staffing changes which is causing more work and stress for everyone. I haven't really felt like doing a whole lot of anything. Which really sucks because 2018 feels really promising. 

January Review:
My primary goals were:
+ Write 15 minutes everyday
+ Finish Behind the Masque
+ Work on the Story Bibles for Smuggler's Cove and Bissari Confederation.

What I Accomplished --

I didn't write 15 minutes everyday. In fact, I only wrote 7 days out of the whole month. Here is the interesting part though.  If I only wrote 15 minutes every day in January that equals 465 minutes or 7.75 hours (7 hours 45 minutes). However, 5 out of those 7 days, I wrote more than 15 minutes. I actually wrote 510 minutes or 8.5 hours. If you average 1000 words in an hour, that works out to be 250 words in 15 minutes. So, that would have a monthly total of  7,750 words. What I actually wrote was 6,230 words. That's because some of those 15 minutes I only managed 25 or 85 words, while others I hit 409. A quick scan through my log, shows I average probably 150-175 words every 15 minutes. That's not too bad. Not really. 

I didn't finish Behind the Masque. I thought I was closer to being done. My original word count goal is 7,000 words away. The story end is actually about 30,000 words away. Oh well. I will tell the story to it's completion then worry about word count. I do want to submit Behind the Masque to my publisher by my birthday, so that means I need to have the first draft finished by about the 21st of February. I need to put it up for a couple weeks before I start revising it. 

Working on the story bibles is nice and non-specific. I started them, so the goal is technically accomplished. But, I'm not finished. So, not really.

 Getting sick combined with stress from work definitely worked against me in January. So did I. There were too many days where I didn't feel like it or didn't have enough energy or had too many other things going on to sit down and write. Writing is a very solitary activity, but I really don't solitude. Sometimes I do. I like my own space and my own area. But, I don't have an office right now and I really do need to replace my desk top computer. I also don't meet up with writerly friends. Part of that is - I won't drive far in the wintertime - Michigan roads - especially the highways - can really suck - and be down right dangerous. The other part is money - I don't always have the ability to pay for an extra tank of gas or food if we are meeting someplace for lunch. I need to find a way to meet up with other writers though. I love being around writers and artists - they get it. Most are supportive and encouraging. 

Goals for February:

Finish Behind the Masque by February 21
Write 15 minutes Every Day
Finish the Story Bibles for Smuggler's Cove and Bissari Confederation. 

Goals for THIS WEEK: 

Write 15 minutes Every day
Spend 2 hours on the Smuggler's Cove Story Bible.

Blessings, 
Simone.