"One Piece Nutshell Chase" by PornoRiviste - deviantART.com
I’ve been dreading this like a walk on the plank, my friends. But the truth must be told! I fell short of my goals this month…very, very short. Scuttle me skiff and send me straight to Davy Jones’s Locker! Argh!
What happened, you ask? Jeez. Do you really want to hear the excuses?…the blue funk, the baby nap/sleep issues, time issues…. nah. Of course you don’t. But I’m owning it. Regardless of what’s going on, I take full responsibility. Truth is, I spent much of the month writing around projects, holding back from committing, trying to figure out things from the beginning and not wading into the midst of things. Most of the problems have stemmed from me not getting to work because I’m convinced I’m going to be interrupted 15 minutes into it — which is usually the case. But 15 minutes is 15 minutes. I gotta start making each minute count.
So here’s what I did do this month:
- Submitted two manuscripts.
- Wrote 19 blog posts (9,593 words) – record day was 21 views.
- New fiction word count: 3,894.
- Read 11 published short stories.
- Brainstormed and developed BLG Project.
- Did a critique for Zoetrope writer.
- Developed and began new short story series.
- Finished extensive rewrite of novella “Suiciders.”
- Received my second rejection of the year.
There’s so much that I didn’t do. I think I’m most disappointed with my dismal word count on new fiction. Like I said in yesterday’s post, I put in the same number of hours a day in front of the computer…I just wasn’t working deep. I got too distracted with too many different tasks on my desk.
But, looking on the bright side, that was last month. Today is March. It’s a whole new ballgame, folks! I’m bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and ready to boogie.
Here’s what I want to do in March (kind of a mixed bag, so bear with me):
- Clean out my email inbox.
- Do a complete back-up of my hard drive.
- Update my anti-virus program.
- Put together BLG Project Proposal/Synopses.
- Do a polish revision of “Suiciders” and submit it.
- Write a comic script of a few scenes of “Suiciders,” along with series proposal, to submit to my brother, Artist Extraordinaire.
- Finish reading “Julie & Julia.”
- Finish reading “Saving Fish From Drowning.”
- Put together screenplay pitches for next month’s Script Frenzy.
- Finish that dad-blasted novel…I’m so close!
- Write first two stories of WofA series.
- Blog every day – beat my record day of 38 views.
- Write ORG* short story.
- Rewrite Kappa short story; submit to writer’s group.
- Submit four new submissions.
- Submit to WOTF contest.
- Sort out business records.
- Write bio.
- Submit poetry.
- Read 31 published short stories.
The difference between this month’s list and last month’s list is I’m more focused on specific tasks than I am on total word count. But that total word count is always in the back of my mind. Why? It seems to be the best barometer to show me how I’m progressing.
Anyway, that’s what I’m setting out to do. It’s a tall order. It always is. I’m a glutton when it comes to these things. Any cheers of encouragement or kicks in the rump are welcome.
Hope everyone out there is doing well and working hard.
Happy March! Now get back to work! Arrrrgh! <cough>